Trump goes on a Twitter-tantrum after Democrats announce 2 articles of impeachment against him
- President Donald Trump took to Twitter shortly after articles of impeachment were announced against him and unloaded on House Democrats.
- Trump accused House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of lying in their allegations of his conduct toward Ukraine.
- In his tweet referencing Schiff, the president said: "He'll eventually have to answer for this!"
- Two articles of impeachment were introduced, one for abuse of power and another for obstruction of Congress.
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday ripped into House Democrats in a series of tweets less than an hour after they announced articles of impeachment against him.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler introduced two articles of impeachment while standing alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders: one article for abuse of power and another for obstruction of Congress.
Nadler accused Trump of soliciting foreign interference in the 2020 election by urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, and a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
Trump mentioned these investigations in a July 25 phone call with Zelensky that led to a whistleblower complaint from a US intelligence official that spiraled into the impeachment inquiry.
"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," Nadler said on Tuesday. "That is exactly what President Trump did when he solicited and pressured Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 presidential election,
Later, Trump tweeted: "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!"
Zelensky has publicly stated that Trump did not pressure him during the July 25 phone call. But testimony from impeachment witnesses suggests the Ukrainian president would never admit to feeling pressured, particularly given how much Kiev relies on US aid amid an ongoing, bloody conflict against pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country.
'WITCH HUNT!'
After tweeting about Nadler, Trump continued to unload on the Democrats. In one tweet, he once again referred to the impeachment inquiry as a "WITCH HUNT!"
In another tweet, Trump then went on to refer to House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff as a "totally corrupt politician" because of the California Democrat's paraphrasing of a White House summary of the July 25 phone.
Trump said Schiff "made up a horrible and fraudulent statement, read it to Congress, and said those words came from me," addding: "He got caught, was very embarrassed, yet nothing happened to him for committing this fraud. He'll eventually have to answer for this!"
The president has raged over this subject before, and called on Schiff to resign.
'Read the Transcripts!'
After targeting Schiff, the president then went on to tweet: "Read the Transcripts! 'us' is a reference to USA, not me!"
Trump was referencing the portion of the White House summary of his call with Zelensky in which he says he would like the Ukrainian leader to "do us a favor." Trump said this shortly after Zelensky mentioned US military assistance to Ukraine, and shortly before mentioning the investigations into his political rivals.
At the time of the call, Trump had put on hold roughly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine.
Trump has offered a number of inconsistent defenses as to why he froze the security assistance, ranging from claims over concerns about corruption to consternation over European countries not doing more to support Ukraine. Impeachment witnesses have contradicted the corruption narrative, and Trump's assertions about Europe not aiding Ukraine have also been debunked.
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