Texas Sen. Cornyn blasts Dems: 'First time in history a president has been impeached for a non-crime'

Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn did not hold back on congressional Democrats on Sunday morning.

In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation," the top GOP senator ripped the Democratic-led impeachment of President Donald Trump over his dealings with Ukraine.

"This is the first time in history where a President has been impeached for a non-crime for events that never occurred," Cornyn told host Margaret Brennan, adding that the charges against Trump were "really unique" and will be taken "very seriously" by his Senate colleagues.

Cornyn, who is a former judge, also correctly noted that the article of impeachment against the president alleging "abuse of power" is not a crime within itself. "He's been charged with abuse of power, which is not treason, which is not bribery, which is not a high crime and misdemeanor," he said.

'Grifters and other hanger-ons'

Brennan pressed Cornyn on whether recent allegations by Lev Parnas, who claimed in an MSNBC interview that Rudy Giuliani acted as a personal lawyer to Trump when he went to Ukraine in order to gather evidence against the Bidens, should be included in the Senate trial.

"I would be careful before crediting the veracity of someone who is under indictment...and trying to get leniency from prosecutors," Cornyn responded while pointing out it was not the first time someone has exaggerated their proximity to Trump and his team.

"There's no question that there have been a series of grifters and other hanger-ons that have associated themselves with the president's campaign and claimed to have a special relationship with the president," Cornyn explained.

'Constitutionally invalid'

Cornyn's scathing criticism of the Democrats' impeachment case come as Trump's lawyers have blasted the articles of impeachment against the president as "constitutionally invalid" and "nothing more than a dangerous attack on the American people."

In a six-page formal response to the Democrats' allegations that was released on Saturday evening, White House lawyers Alan Sekulow and Pat A. Cipollone argued the charges levied by House Democrats do not withstand scrutiny.

"The Articles of Impeachment are constitutionally invalid on their face. They fail to engage any crime or violation of law whatsoever, let alone 'high Crimes and Misdemeanors,' as required by the Constitution," the document read.

"In the end, the entire process is nothing more than a dangerous attack on the American people themselves and their fundamental right to vote," Sekulow and Cipollone concluded.