'We're Not Fooling Around': Pelosi And Schiff Stand Firm As Trump Fumes
Source: The Guardian
5:19 EDT. Democratic pair say impeachment inquiry will not be slowed. Trump condemned for 'blatant effort to intimidate witnesses.'
Donald Trump has been accused of "incitement to violence" and threatened with obstruction charges in the fast-escalating battle over impeachment, as the president maintained his aggressive counter-attack against Democratic leaders and the whistleblower who precipitated the inquiry.
"We're not fooling around here," Adam Schiff, chairman of the powerful House intelligence committee, said in Washington on Wednesday.
Elijah Cummings, chair of the House oversight committee, revealed that it would issue a subpoena to the White House if it failed to hand over documents on contacts with Ukraine by Friday. "I do not take this step lightly," Cummings said, saying the White House had stonewalled on demands for cooperation for several weeks.
The Democrats' investigative steps have infuriated Trump, who was live-tweeting their press conference on Capitol Hill. He denounced the impeachment process, in block capitals, as "BULLSHIT" and later repeated an extreme claim that Schiff should be investigated for treason. -MORE...
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/02/mike-pompeo-trump-phone-call-ukraine-leader
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House announced the start of the impeachment inquiry 8 days ago, focusing on a whistleblower complaint that arose the week before about a July 2019 phone call between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
ON Wednesday Schiff stressed that the inquiry would not be slowed down by presidential "stonewalling" or threatening language against potential witnesses. "We're very busy," Schiff said. "We are proceeding deliberately but at the same time we feel a real sense of urgency here." Committees for the Democratic-run House heard from the state department's inspector general, an independent watchdog, on Wednesday, followed by the former special envoy on Ukraine on Thursday and the former ambassador to Kyiv next week. But they are battling with Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state about other depositions by state department officials and the handover of relevant documents.
Schiff and Pelosi condemned Trump for rhetoric directed at an intelligence agency whistleblower who revealed details of the phone call at the core of the impeachment proceedings. Trump has referred to the whistleblower and the officials who provided information included in the complaint as "spies" and implied they should face the death penalty.
- Trump Claims Schiff 'Helped Write' Whistleblower Complaint:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2019/oct/02/donald-trump-news-live-today-impeachment-ukraine-pompeo-briefing-latest-updates
= new reply since forum marked as read
...absolutely...
...those in charge of the inquiry must remain level headed and focused...let our candidates do the rock-throwing...
...when the time comes, the calm, clear, level-headedness will allow patriots of all stripes to join together to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution and Country by removing this rogue president from office...
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