- President Donald Trump went on a Twitter bender on Wednesday, tweeting and retweeting more than 60 times by 11:30 a.m. ET.
- The spree highlighted Trump's preoccupation with his looming impeachment and a recent Justice Department report that threw a wrench into his conspiracy theories about the FBI's Russia probe.
- These are some of the tweets that populated the president's timeline - and why they have no basis in fact.
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One of the defining characteristics of the modern political era is that anyone, anywhere in the world can log onto Twitter and immediately know what's on President Donald Trump's mind.
Right now, it's impeachment and a recent Justice Department inspector general's report that threw a wrench into all of Trump's conspiracy theories about the FBI's Russia investigation.
On Wednesday, the president went on a bender and posted 60 tweets or retweets by 11:30 a.m. ET.
The majority of his timeline consisted of retweets of prominent conservative and far-right commentators who have come out swinging in Trump's defense in the wake of Congress' impeachment inquiry and the IG report.
At the center of the impeachment inquiry are Trump's efforts to solicit Ukraine's interference in the 2020 election while withholding critical security assistance and a White House meeting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky desperately wanted.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday unveiled two articles of impeachment against Trump: one charges him with abuse of power, and the second with obstruction of Congress.
The IG report, meanwhile, found that contrary to Trump's claims, the FBI had an "authorized purpose" in launching the Russia probe in July 2016. And while inspector general Michael Horowitz found irregularities in the FBI's application for a warrant to surveil the former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, he concluded the decision was not impacted by anti-Trump bias or corrupt motives.
The president and his allies have come out strongly against both impeachment and the IG report, claiming Trump did nothing wrong and that the IG's report was actually more damaging than the public knew.
Here are some of the tweets that populated Trump's timeline on Wednesday:
Fact check: The House Intelligence Committee proceeded according to normal rules and protocol when conducting closed-door impeachment hearings with fact witnesses to gather evidence against Trump. The reason the hearings went on behind closed doors was because lawmakers wanted to make sure witnesses were truthful and didn't align their testimonies beforehand.
Once the public hearings started in both the intelligence and judiciary committees, the president's lawyers were invited to participate but declined to do so. Republicans were also allowed to call witnesses, and some of their requests were granted. The only requests that were denied were those that tried to out the whistleblower who filed a lawful complaint against Trump, and those that trafficked in unfounded conspiracy theories.
Fact check: Trump Jr. was referring to Attorney General William Barr's baseless assertion that the FBI acted in "bad faith" when it launched the Russia probe. This was directly contradicted by the IG's report, which found that while there were some bureaucratic problems with the surveillance conducted on Page, the FBI was justified in launching the investigation and met the evidentiary threshold required to do so.
Fact check: The House of Representatives has the sole power to impeach a sitting president for treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. Congress also cannot be guilty of obstructing itself.
Fact check: The president's "confidential FBI records" this tweet refers to are Comey's own memos about his interactions with Trump. The IG found in a separate investigation that while Comey violated FBI protocol by retaining copies of some of the memos, there was "no evidence that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos."
Fact check: Over a dozen witnesses have testified to Trump's use of his public office for private gain, and of his efforts to leverage US foreign policy in exchange for his political benefit. The White House also blocked every single executive branch employee and agency from complying with lawful congressional subpoenas for documents and witness testimony.
While Trump's impeachment is certainly unprecedented, the conduct underlying the probe is also unique and has no historical precedent.
Fact check: The "horrible and fraudulent statement" Trump is referring to here was when Schiff paraphrased Trump's comments during the July 25 phone call. The president said Schiff's actions make him guilty of treason, which is punishable by death.
Fact check: A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows six prospective 2020 Democratic presidential nominees beating Trump in a head-to-head match-up.
Fact check: The White House's memo of the July 25 phone call depicts Trump asking Zelensky to "do us a favor, though," after Zelensky told him Ukraine wanted to purchase more weapons from the US. The "favor" Trump wanted were politically motivated investigations into his 2020 rival and the Democrats.
Laura Cooper, a top Pentagon official, testified that the State Department received two separate inquiries about the status of security assistance to Ukraine on the day of the Trump-Zelensky phone call.
Zelensky, moreover, was getting ready to cave to Trump's demands and had scheduled an interview on CNN for September 13, in which he was going to publicly commit to the investigations Trump wanted. He didn't end up doing it because Congress and the public became aware of the whistleblower's complaint days before; Trump released the aid on September 11.
Fact check: Legal experts have said that Trump's conduct violated at least four laws: soliciting foreign interference in a domestic election, bribery, extortion, and misappropriation of taxpayer funds.
An impeachable offense, moreover, does not have to be something that violated a law.
How @HouseDemocrats run a kangaroo court: Ignore the rules, refuse to recognize legitimate objections, stream roll the minority, and railroad @realDonaldTrump.
This entire impeachment has been a farce - without any semblance of fairness for a minority or @POTUS response. https://t.co/WuQoA3TPIU
- Rep. Jody Hice (@CongressmanHice) December 11, 2019He's 100% right to think that. Does anyone actually believe Comey, Strozk, etc etc acted in good faith towards @realdonaldtrump?
Barr thinks FBI may have acted in bad faith in probing Trump campaign https://t.co/tV5dPwRE6y via @nbcnews
- Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 10, 2019With this disgusting impeachment charade, House Democrats have proven themselves guilty of Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress.
- Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) December 10, 2019Mr. Comey stole @realDonaldTrump's confidential FBI records and leaked them. And lied about it to investigators. https://t.co/OrZRheAuCI
- Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) December 10, 2019FIVE INDISPUTABLE FACTS:
1. No evidence of wrongdoing by @POTUS
2. Ukraine said there was no pressure
3. Lethal aid to Ukraine wouldn't exist w/o @realDonaldTrump
4. There's no obstruction whatsoever
5. This is an unfair & unprecedented impeachment process
- Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) December 9, 2019Shifty 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, 2019You're witnessing the Democratic Party self-destruct. #ImpeachmentSham
- Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) December 10, 2019As @Jim_Jordan reminds us, Democrats forget the facts.
They forget we have the call transcript.
They forget the two men on the call say no pressure.
They forget Ukraine didn't know the aid was held at time of the call.
And they forget Ukraine did nothing to get aid released. pic.twitter.com/wZtr1qUrr6
- Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) December 9, 2019"Zero evidence that any law was broken. They're not even alleging that a law was broken. This is an abuse of the Constitution. It is using Impeachment as a campaign tool." @SenTedCruz
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2019