Donald Trump Considers Nancy Pelosi’s Offer To Testify In Impeachment: ‘Get Congress Focused’
President Donald Trump tweeted that he will look into accepting Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s offer for him to testify on his own behalf at the impeachment hearings in the United States House of Representatives. The president laid out his reasoning for considering Pelosi’s offer even though he continues to call the investigations a “witch hunt” and a “hoax.”
This morning on Twitter, the president wrote about Pelosi’s appearance on Sunday’s Face The Nation on CBS. In the disparaging and name-calling message, Trump said that the speaker offered him the opportunity to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, and he claimed that he might be willing to testify or answer written questions under oath.
“Nervous Nancy Pelosi, who is petrified by her Radical Left knowing she will soon be gone (they & Fake News Media are her BOSS), suggested on Sunday’s DEFACE THE NATION that I testify about the phony Impeachment Witch Hunt. She also said I could do it in writing. Even though I did nothing wrong, and don’t like giving credibility to this No Due Process Hoax, I like the idea & will, in order to get Congress focused again, strongly consider it!”
Trump would likely answer questions in writing instead of appearing at the hearings to address the situation in person. Previously, he submitted written answers to Special Counsel Robert Mueller during the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
More than once last week, Trump received invitations to testify at the public hearings during the impeachment inquiry, which he’s heavily criticized on Twitter and in public remarks. When Trump’s invitation was mentioned during the hearings last week, the suggestion was met with laughter. However, Time reported that Pelosi once again offered Trump the opportunity to provide “exculpatory” evidence to prove he’s innocent.
The whistleblower sounded the alarm for an investigation, but all of the evidence has come from witnesses who saw Trump’s pressure campaign first-hand, including the President’s own words. We will not allow Trump to intimidate the whistleblower or any witness. #FaceTheNation pic.twitter.com/nEltHste27
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) November 17, 2019
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also told reporters on Sunday that the president should testify under oath instead of tweeting if he doesn’t like what’s occurring during the hearings. Schumer asked, “What is he hiding?”
Last week and over the weekend, Trump continued his pattern of tweeting about the impeachment inquiry, lashing out at several witnesses. On Friday, the president launched a tweet criticizing former ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, as she testified in the House, which Representative Adam Schiff called him out on in real-time during Yovanovitch’s testimony.
Then, on Sunday, the President lashed out at Vice President Mike Pence’s aid, Jennifer Williams, who called Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky — which she listened in on — “inappropriate.” Trump claimed that Williams is a “Never Trumper” in his tweet. Williams is set to testify in the House on Tuesday after Tim Morrison, a former National Security Council aide, and before Alexander Vindman, who was the National Security Council director for European affairs, and Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine.
So far, Trump’s White House has blocked many critical witnesses from testifying at the hearings, ignoring several Congressional subpoenas. However, on Wednesday, Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, is slated to testify. Sondland is among the only witnesses who will testify who directly discussed with Trump the investigations the president wanted President Zelensky to launch against Trump’s political rival Joe Biden, and Biden’s son Hunter. Sondland’s testimony changed after others’ testimony directly contradicted his.
During Pelosi’s appearance on Sunday morning, she claimed that Trump’s actions are “so much worse” than the crimes committed by former President Richard Nixon. Nixon’s crimes eventually led to his resignation before the House could vote on impeachment, according to The Inquisitr.
