WASHINGTON, Nov 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – An irate Donald Trump said Friday he
welcomes the prospect of an impeachment trial, as the US leader lashed out at
“crazy” and “corrupt” opponents probing potential abuse of presidential
power.
After a week of dramatic impeachment testimony from current and former
administration officials, an embattled Trump took to a favorite broadcaster
to air a long, occasionally incoherent list of grievances — against the FBI,
his political adversaries, impeachment inquiry leaders, the “deep state,” and
more.
“These people are sick,” Trump raged down the telephone line to Fox at the
start of a 53-minute tirade that showed how angered and unsettled he has been
by an impeachment inquiry that threatens his presidency.
Multiple witnesses, in often damning testimony under oath, buttressed
charges the president conditioned much-needed military aid and a coveted
White House meeting on Ukraine investigating his political rivals.
But with many Republicans seemingly unmoved, Trump bashed the testimony as
“total nonsense” and said he relished the chance to defend himself.
“Frankly, I want a trial,” Trump told morning show Fox and Friends.
The House Intelligence Committee has not formally concluded its role in the
inquiry, possibly waiting for a court ruling on Monday that could empower
members to force senior Trump aides to testify.
But Democrats appear determined to hold an impeachment vote in the House of
Representatives by the end of the year, which could see Trump go on trial in
the Senate in January.
Removing him from office would require conviction by a two-thirds majority
in the Republican-controlled upper chamber.
– ‘Crazy as a bedbug’ –
The increasing prospect of becoming only the third US president formally
impeached, after Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, has riled the brash New
York billionaire, and he fired off multiple attacks against rivals leading
the effort.
His main Democratic nemesis in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is
“crazy as a bedbug” for pressing a “scam” impeachment, he fumed.
House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, who has presided over
the public phase of the inquiry? A “nutjob” and a “sick puppy” who should be
sued for having “lied” about the president’s “flawless” Ukraine call, Trump
added.
Trump was quick to say he “hardly” knows several of the witnesses,
including his own ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who said
Trump sought a quid pro quo from Ukraine.
But he rushed to the defense of his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has
emerged in many accounts as having orchestrated the shadow policy to pressure
Ukraine.
“Rudy is a great crime fighter,” Trump said, giving an unqualified
endorsement to one of the most controversial figures in the Ukraine saga.
“He is a friend of mine. He is a great person, an iconic figure in this
country,” he said of the former New York major.
Trump also repeated the conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia,
interfered in the 2016 US election — just a day after a former National
Security Council expert, Fiona Hill, denounced that in testimony as a
“fictional narrative” advanced by Russia to harm the United States.
“They have the server from the DNC — Democratic National Committee,” Trump
said of Ukraine, claiming that Democrats gave the computer to “a company
owned by a very wealthy Ukrainian.”
The claim appeared to alarm Fox hosts, including Steve Doocy.
“Are you sure they gave it to Ukraine?” a skeptical Doocy asked Trump.
“That’s what the word is, and that’s what I asked actually in my phone
call,” Trump responded, referring to his July 25 conversation with Ukrainian
counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.
Trump mentioned his political rival Joe Biden to Zelensky and pressed the
new president to investigate a Ukrainian firm where Biden’s son worked while
his father was vice president.
Democrats argue that Trump’s demand that a foreign leader investigate his
potential adversary in the 2020 presidential election is impeachable conduct.
Trump has said he was merely pressing Ukraine to ramp up its anti-
corruption efforts. But he also claims the Bidens were involved in
corruption.
There is no evidence to back up the assertion, but Trump nonetheless
repeated it on Fox, saying “you have to say Joe Biden is corrupt.”
Biden, who leads the Democratic 2020 nomination race, has said Trump has
smeared him with corruption allegations because he fears a Biden candidacy.
Polls show American voters believe Biden would have the best shot at
defeating Trump.
But Trump seized on polling released this week that shows him winning in
hypothetical matchups against Biden and other Democrats in battleground
Wisconsin, a state Trump flipped in 2016 but which Democrats aim to retake.
“I’m going through the roof,” Trump boasted.