Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says Donald Trump Is ‘Clearly Engaged In Extortion And Bribery’
Progressive firebrand and congresswoman for New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke to Yahoo News Tuesday, addressing the public hearings in President Donald Trump’s impeachment probe. According to the New York representative, there is “no question” that Trump has engaged in criminal behavior, Breitbart reported.
“We’re kind of knee-deep here in impeachment inquiry and so at this point, I think we’re beyond the question as to whether Trump has committed a crime or whether he’s violated the Constitution. He’s clearly engaged in extortion and bribery.”
Ocasio-Cortez said that the relevant question now is who else in Trump’s administration has engaged in similar behavior and are implicated in the current “plot,” referring to Trump’s alleged leveraging of military aid to pressure Ukraine to dig up dirt on Democratic rival Joe Biden.
“I think when it comes to what we’ve discovered, we’re at the point no return,” she said.
The 30-year-old progressive claims that Trump attempted to undermine the impeachment probe using “witness intimidation” — likely referring to the president’s real-time Twitter attacks on Marie Yovanovitch as she testified — and suggested that he has “clearly threatened” other people who testified. According to Ocasio-Cortez, this reflects a “disturbing pattern” that can also be seen in Trump’s decision to employ White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller — a decision she believes proves Trump’s belief in eugenics.
Not one to bite her tongue, Ocasio-Cortez suggested during a recent MSNBC broadcast that Republican lawmakers aren’t doing themselves any favors by attempting to protect Trump during the impeachment probe.
“They’re really beclowning themselves at this point trying to somehow find a way to both preserve their careers and their futures while protecting this president,” she said, according to Raw Story.
Sondland on Trump's request for investigations:
"I never heard…anyone say that the investigations had to start or be completed. The only thing I heard…was they had to be announced in some form."
It was never about corruption. Trump wanted to damage his political opponents. pic.twitter.com/1JV0Y06r3D
— House Intelligence Committee (@HouseIntelDems) November 20, 2019
Republicans have fiercely defended Trump throughout the impeachment inquiry, echoing his belief that Democrats are conducting the probe as part of a continued plan to undermine his presidency and reverse the result of the 2016 election.
U.S. Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified in a public hearing today that Trump directed him and others to work with Rudy Giuliani on matters relating to Ukraine. He also said Trump asked Giuliani to arrange a “quid pro quo” with the Eastern Europe country, appearing to throw a wrench into the Republican defense of the president’s controversial call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Sondland’s testimony was highly anticipated, as many wondered whether he would defend Trump. According to Fordham University law professor Jed Shugerman, if Sondland lied to protect Trump, a presidential pardon would not shield him from potential charges of conspiracy and extortion via New York state law.
