Trump Unleashes on Democrats After Impeachment Articles Are Announced
President Donald Trump unleashed Tuesday on House Democrats, who earlier announced they were pursuing two articles of impeachment against him.
The articles accuse Trump of “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress.”
“It is an impeachable offense for the president to exercise the powers of his public office to obtain an improper personal benefit while ignoring or injuring the national interest,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York said at a news conference Tuesday.
“That is exactly what President Trump did when he solicited and pressured Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 presidential election.”
Alleging a quid pro quo, Democrats have taken issue with a July 25 call phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
While Trump did ask Zelensky to look into allegations of shady dealings involving former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in Ukraine, Democrats have taken things a step further, claiming Trump planned to withhold about $400 million in military aid unless Ukraine publicly announced an investigation of his political opponent (Joe Biden).
While he was vice president, Biden pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who had investigated Burisma Holdings, an energy company where Hunter sat on the board.
Trump eventually released the aid to Ukraine, even though an investigation into the Bidens was never launched.
As for “obstruction of Congress,” Nadler said, “A president who declares himself above accountability, above the American people and above congress’ power of impeachment — which is meant to protect against threats to our democratic institutions — is the president who sees himself as above the law.”
In a series of tweets Tuesday, Trump came down hard on the Democrats who are pushing for his impeachment, singling out Nadler in particular.
“Nadler just said that I ‘pressured Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 Election.’ Ridiculous, and he knows that is not true,” Trump wrote.
Nadler just said that I “pressured Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 Election.” Ridiculous, and he knows that is not true. Both the President & Foreign Minister of Ukraine said, many times, that there “WAS NO PRESSURE.” Nadler and the Dems know this, but refuse to acknowledge!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019
“Both the President & Foreign Minister of Ukraine said, many times, that there ‘WAS NO PRESSURE.’ Nadler and the Dems know this, but refuse to acknowledge!”
Trump wasn’t done.
“WITCH HUNT!” he added in a follow-up post.
WITCH HUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019
Next, Trump had strong words for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, who famously fabricated quotes from Trump during a hearing in September, though he claimed he was just joking.
Shifty Schiff, a totally corrupt politician, made up a horrible and fraudulent statement, read it to Congress, and said those words came from me. He got caught, was very embarrassed, yet nothing happened to him for committing this fraud. He’ll eventually have to answer for this!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019
“Shifty Schiff, a totally corrupt politician, made up a horrible and fraudulent statement, read it to Congress, and said those words came from me,” Trump said. “He got caught, was very embarrassed, yet nothing happened to him for committing this fraud. He’ll eventually have to answer for this!”
Trump also referred to the part in the transcript of his call with Zelensky where he said: “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.”
“Read the Transcripts!” Trump tweeted, noting that “‘us’ is a reference to USA, not me!”
Read the Transcripts! “us” is a reference to USA, not me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019
According to Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale, Democrats are pushing impeachment because they know they can’t beat Trump in the general election.
“For months, Nancy Pelosi said she wouldn’t move forward on impeachment because it was too divisive and it needed bipartisan support,” Parscale said in a statement, according to The Washington Post.
“Well, it is divisive and only the Democrats are pushing it, but she’s doing it anyway,” Parscale added. “Americans don’t agree with this rank partisanship, but Democrats are putting on this political theater because they don’t have a viable candidate for 2020 and they know it.”
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