Donald Trump claimed Sunday morning that Adam Schiff is a ‘sick man’ as he continued to attack the impeachment proceedings as a partisan ‘hoax.’
‘Shifty Adam Schiff is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN, and probably a very sick man. He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!’ Trump tweeted regarding the lead Democratic impeachment manager.
Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman, led the impeachment inquiry in the House and is now heading the team of representatives prosecuting the president in the Senate trial.
The California representative has become the focus of the president’s ire against the Democrats’ efforts to remove him from office – which Trump said is just an attempt to stop him from winning reelection in November.
‘The Impeachment Hoax is a massive election interference the likes of which has never been seen before,’ Trump asserted in another tweet Sunday morning. ‘In just two hours the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats have seen their phony case absolutely shredded. Shifty is now exposed for illegally making up my phone call, & more!’
Donald Trump slammed Rep. Adam Schiff Sunday, claiming the prosecution’s lead impeachment manager is a ‘very sick man’
He also made reference, in another tweet, to the House’s impeachment inquiry where the Intelligence chairman claimed he was doing a ‘parody’ of Trump’s call with his Ukrainian counterpart when he mischaracterized the president’s words
Trump’s legal team made Schiff a main focus of their defense, taking several hits at the California Democrat while presenting opening arguments Friday and Saturday
Trump was referencing the time during the House’s investigation when during a hearing Schiff mischaracterized the president’s July 25 phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, the event central to the impeachment effort.
Schiff said when he was paraphrasing Trump’s conversation, he meant to be doing a ‘parody’ of the call rather than exact quotes.
During Trump’s defense’s presentation, the team repeatedly attacked Schiff and his credibility, specifically calling out the ‘parody’ call.
‘That’s fake. That’s not the real call. That’s not the evidence here,’ deputy White House counsel Mike Purpura said of Schiff’s past remarks.
But Schiff has continued to defend himself against attacks against his credibility.
‘They don’t contest the basic architecture of this scheme,’ Schiff told reporters Saturday. ‘They do not contest that the president solicited a foreign nation to interfere in our election, to help him cheat.’
Trump has also demanded Schiff be called in the Senate trial as a fact witness, even though it is still not clear if there will be additional witness testimony permitted in the proceedings.
The impeachment trial in the Senate commenced Tuesday when the defense and prosecution debated the rules set forth by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, including Democrats demanding new witnesses and documents be subpoenaed.
The following two days, the seven Democrat impeachment manages – Schiff and Representatives Jerry Nadler, Hakeem Jeffries, Zoe Lofgren, Val Demings, Sylvia Garcia and Jason Crow – presented their case for why Trump should be removed.
Impeachment managers left to right: Sylvia Garcia, Jerry Nadler, Hakeem Jeffries, Adam Schiff, Val Demings, Zoe Lofgren, Jason Crow
Lofgren, a California Democrat who worked in Congress is some capacity for the Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and now Trump impeachment proceedings, chastised Trump’s behavior.
‘The President has a tendency to say things that seem threatening to people,’ she told CNN Sunday morning in reference to the president’s criticism of Schiff.
‘He really ought to get a grip and be a little more presidential,’ she continued.
The two articles of impeachment – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – were delivered to the upper chamber earlier this month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi finally signed them after holding up the proceedings going forward for a month.
On Friday and Saturday, Trump’s defense team presented their case.
Part of that defense included proving that the articles are not actually impeachable offenses.
Alan Dershowitz, one of Trump’s defense attorneys who presented opening arguments, reiterated this Sunday, claiming that a lot of what Democrats are saying about impeachment is a charade to get reelected or elected to a higher office.
‘I think we’re not talking here about political damage, that’s exactly what voters ought to be deciding on. That’s why the election ought to go forward,’ Dershowitz said in an interview with Fox News Sunday, making the repeated case that voters should decide if Trump stays in office four more years.
‘Much of what was presented by the democrats were not impeachable offenses,’ Dershowitz continued. ‘They were campaign ads.’
Sunday is the first day the two teams have off from the Senate trial since it began Tuesday, and it appears Congress will remain in session Monday-Saturday throughout the duration of the proceedings.
This could take four Democratic senators off the campaign trial: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and lesser-known Mike Bennet.
THE IMPEACHMENT MANAGERS: MEET THE SEVEN DEMOCRATS PROSECUTING DONALD TRUMP
Adam Schiff of California: The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, 59, led the impeachment process against Donald Trump. He became a frequent target of Trump’s fury: the president called him ‘Liddle’ Adam Schiff and made fun of his neck. But Schiff won praise for his leadership during witnesses hearings. Schiff served in the California State Assembly and was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles for six years. He oversaw the prosecution of Richard Miller, the first FBI agent ever to be indicted for espionage. Elected to Congress in 2012.
Jerry Nadler of New York: The Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, 72, led the series of hearings that developed the two articles of impeachment against the president: abuse of power and obstruction of justice. He’s in his 15th term in Congress and was a New York State Assembly man before joining Capitol Hill. He was in law school when he was first elected to state office and completed his J.D. while serving in Albany. He and Schiff were expected to be named. Elected to Congress in 1992.
Zoe Lofgren of California: A close Nancy Pelosi ally and a long time friend of the speaker, Lofgren, 72, has the unique experience of playing a role in three presidential impeachment proceedings: as a Judiciary Committee staffer during Richard Nixon’s in 1974, as a Judiciary Committee Member during Bill Clinton’s 1999 impeachment, and now in President Trump’s. Additionally, she heads the Committee on House Administration, a position that has the moniker ‘Mayor of Capitol Hill’ given the panel’s jurisdiction over the everyday running of the Capitol, including members’ allowance, office space, and rules of the House. Elected to Congress in 1994.
Hakeem Jeffries of New York: Jeffries, 49, was a litigator in private practice before running for elected office. He worked in the litigation department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison before becoming assistant litigator for Viacom and CBS, where he worked on litigation stemming from the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, when Janet Jackson’s breast, adorned with a nipple shield, was exposed by Justin Timberlake for about half a second, in what was later referred to as a ‘wardrobe malfunction’. The Federal Election Commission fined CBS $550,000 after a long legal case. The Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Jeffries serves on the House Judiciary Committee. Before Congress, he was in the New York State Assembly for six years. Elected to Congress in 2012 and a member of the House Judiciary Committee.
Val Demings of Florida: Demings, 62, served in the Orlando Police Department for 27 years, including serving as the city’s first female chief of police. She is one of seven children born in poverty – her father worked in Florida orange groves and her mother was a housekeeper. She was the first member of her family graduate from college. She worked as a social worker before joining the Orlando police department. A member of the House Intelligence panel and the Judiciary Committee, Demings won plaudits for her careful questioning of witnesses during the impeachment hearings. She wrote on Twitter in December, during the impeachment process: ‘I am a descendant of slaves, who knew that they would not make it, but dreamed and prayed that one day I would make it. So despite America’s complicated history, my faith is in the Constitution. I’ve enforced the laws, and now I write the laws. Nobody is above the law.’ She spends her free time riding her Harley-Davidson Road King Classic motorcycle. Elected to Congress in 2016.
Jason Crow of Colorado: Crow, 40, was an Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served three tours and was awarded a Bronze Star. He was a private litigator with the Holland and Hart Law Firm before running for Congress. He was elected to Congress in 2018 and serves on the House Armed Services Committee.
Sylvia Garcia of Texas: Garcia, 69, has a strong judicial background. She was the director and presiding judge of the Houston Municipal System and was elected city controller. She was also the first Hispanic and first woman to be elected in her own right to the Harris County Commissioner’s Court. Elected to Congress in 2018, she serves on the House Judiciary Committee.