A ‘shakedown’ and a ‘cover-up’: Democrats unveil a four-page ‘fact sheet’ on Donald Trump’s impeachment as a top White House official says he WON’T testify to inquiry
- New fact sheet quotes from Trump’s Ukraine call, including his infamous ‘I would like you to do us a favor though’ statement
- Pelosi has said the House is engaged in a formal impeachment inquiry
- Document released Monday also cites text messages from U.S. diplomats concerned about leveraging aid for an investigation
- Democrats continue to bring in senior administration officials as they probe Ukraine policy and other matters
- Acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought tweeted Monday that OMB officials including himself ‘will not be complying with deposition requests this week’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office released a ‘fact sheet’ Monday on the Ukraine scandal that accuses President Trump of having ‘abused’ the power of his office and obstructed an investigation into alleged offenses he could be impeached for.
Pelosi released the document after the Trump administration was still on the defensive after acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney at first admitted a quid pro quo and then said no such thing had occurred. It came before a key witness, charge d’affaires for Ukraine Bill Taylor, was set to testify to Congressional committees, after saying in text messages that holding up security aid to Ukraine to get an investigation would be ‘crazy.’
‘In recent weeks, the nation has learned more about how President Trump abused the power of the presidency by using multiple levers of government – from Vice President Pence to the State Department, including Secretary Mike Pompeo, Ambassador Gordon Sondland, and Ambassador Kurt Volker – to advance a scheme to undermine our 2020 elections for his political gain, and then to obstruct the congressional inquiry into that scheme,’ according to the Democratic fact sheet.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office has released a ‘fact sheet’ on impeachment titled ‘Truth Exposed’
‘President Trump has betrayed his oath of office, betrayed our national security and betrayed the integrity of our elections for his own personal political gain,’ according to the document.
The Democrats write that Vice President Mike Pence is ‘entangled in this scandal,’ by virtue of his own communications with the Ukrainians in Poland.
It also quotes from text messages released between U.S. diplomats dealing with Ukraine. One of them, Taylor, the head of the U.S. mission after the ambassador was brought home, warned in September: ‘I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.’
President Trump on Monday repeated his claim that his phone call to the Ukrainian president was a ‘perfect call’ and that he had done nothing wrong.
President Trump said Monday that Democrats ‘fight dirty,’ and once again attacked the whistle-blower who filed a compliant alleging wrongdoing
Democrats released the paper as they proceed with their impeachment inquiry
The document includes text messages involving Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who testified last week
One section is on the ‘shakedown’ – a ‘favor’ sought by the president from the president of Ukraine
It includes a whistle-blower’s complaint of a coverup
Charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine William Taylor is set to testify Tuesday before House committees
A section called ‘The Coverup’ details a whistle-blower’s complaint which states that officials immediately moved a transcript of the president’s July 25th call with Ukrainian President Zelensky to a highly-classified system that is used for covert-operations and other ultra-high security information.
Other sections are on ‘the shakedown’ and ‘the pressure campaign.’
Trump on Monday railed against House Intelligence Chair Rep. Adam Schiff of California. He has called the investigation a ‘coup.’ He said during a cabinet meeting that Democrats ‘fight dirty,’ and once again attacked the whistle-blower who filed the compliant alleging wrongdoing.
Acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought tweeted Monday that OMB officials including himself ‘will not be complying with deposition requests this week’ made by House Democrats.