Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY
P. 2
A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 14 November 2019
Continued from Front They took some guys off
The first public hearing of television. You know, I’m
the impeachment inquiry not surprised to see it be-
opened with two career cause Schiff can’t do his
public servants raising their own questions.”
hands and swearing an Schiff is overseeing the im-
oath to tell the truth. Trump peachment hearings as
pushed back vigorously, chairman of the House In-
insisting that the impeach- telligence Committee.
ment process is illegitimate “New hoax. Same swamp,”
and that he did nothing read one tweet from the
wrong in his dealings with White House that Trump
Ukraine. retweeted. He quoted his
Although claiming not to defenders and lashed out
watch, Trump had tweeted at the first witnesses to tes-
and retweeted complaints tify publicly, labeling Wil-
about the inquiry more liam Taylor, the charge
than 30 times by late af- d’affaires in Ukraine,
ternoon and couldn’t resist and George Kent, a ca-
taking a swipe at Demo- reer diplomat, as “NEVER
cratic Rep. Adam Schiff, TRUMPERS!”
a principal political foe on Taylor and Kent worked for
Capitol Hill. both Republican and Dem- President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Er-
dogan and his wife Emine Erdogan to the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, in Washington.
“It’s a witch hunt, it’s a ocratic administrations. Associated Press
hoax, I’m too busy to watch There is no evidence that
it,” Trump told reporters. either engaged in partisan asked during the hearing. ing a July phone call with controlled House ultimately
“There’s nothing there. I activity opposing Trump, In one new development, another diplomat, asking votes to make Trump only
see they’re using lawyers and both denied being Taylor said a member of his about “the investigations.” the third American presi-
that are television lawyers. “Never Trumpers” when staff overheard Trump, dur- The Democrats have been dent to be impeached,
trying to make the case few expect the Republi-
that the president tried to can-controlled Senate to
extort Ukraine to investi- remove Trump from office.
gate former Vice President And although a number
Joe Biden and held up U.S. of the president's advis-
military aid as leverage. ers believe that impeach-
Trump was asked about ment could be a political
the phone call during a winner for Trump on the
news conference with Er- campaign trail next year,
dogan. “I know nothing the president has reacted
about that,” he said, add- angrily to the probe. He
ing that he “did not recall” defends his phone call with
the conversation. Ukraine's leader, which is at
Among Trump’s tweets, the heart of the inquiry, as
the president circulated a "perfect" while deriding the
video in which he deemed impeachment effort as a
the impeachment pro- conspiracy among Demo-
ceedings “the single great- crats and the "deep state."
est scam in the history of Trump has long been frus-
American politics.” trated by the inability of his
“Our country is at stake like own White House staff and
never before,” he said in his Republican cohorts on
the video. "They're trying to Capitol Hill to change the
stop me because I'm fight- narrative of the impeach-
ing for you. And I'll never ment inquiry and has urged
let that happen." The hear- them to mount a more ro-
ing, the first on television for bust defense.
the nation to see, provided Trump allies seemed to
hours of partisan back- settle on two talking points
and-forth but no singular Wednesday: that the hear-
moment to be etched in ings were “boring” and
the public consciousness as that the Ukraine matter
grounds for removing the was not an impeachable
45th president from office. offense but a foreign policy
Even if the Democratic- disagreement. q
