President Trump highlighted a key moment during Wednesday’s impeachment hearing to suggest the case against him was decidedly undercut by the witnesses, despite claims to the contrary by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and fellow Democrats.
After reviewing the circumstances of Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, asked the witnesses to state what impeachable offense Trump committed with the call. He did not get an answer.
“.@RepRatcliffe asked the two ‘star’ witnesses, ‘where is the impeachable event in that call?’ Both stared straight ahead with a blank look on their face, remained silent, & were unable to answer the question,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning. “That would be the end of a case run by normal people! – but not Shifty!”
.@RepRatcliffe asked the two “star” witnesses, “where is the impeachable event in that call?” Both stared straight ahead with a blank look on their face, remained silent, & were unable to answer the question. That would be the end of a case run by normal people! – but not Shifty!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 14, 2019
The case hinges on Trump’s effort to convince Ukraine to launch politically advantageous investigations, and the question of whether he withheld U.S. aid to get what he wanted.
Ratcliffe had asked top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor about whether Zelensky was aware of any hold on military aid when the July 25 call discussing those probes took place, and Taylor confirmed that he was not. Ratcliffe asserted that this was proof that Trump could not have used the call to pressure Zelensky into investigating the Bidens. Ratcliffe also noted that Trump eventually released the aid without any investigation taking place. – READ MORE