Mike Turner, a Republican Representative from Ohio, admitted that the testimony he heard as a committee member at the House’s closed-door deposition of former NSC official Tim Morrison alarmed him, CNN reported. Morrison’s statement is part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump , and Morrison will testify publicly on Tuesday.
“Well, of course, all of that is alarming. As I’ve said from the beginning, I think this is not okay. The President of the United States shouldn’t even in the original phone call be on the phone with the president of another country and raise his political opponent,” Rep. Mike Turner told Jake Tapper on State of the Union on Sunday. “So, no, this is not okay.”
The House of Representatives released Morrison’s deposition on Saturday, and the details in it corroborate the testimony of others, like U.S. diplomat Bill Taylor, who testified in last week’s public hearings. According to Morrison’s statement, U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who will testify on Wednesday, acted at Trump’s behest in Ukraine.
Morrison testified that President Donald Trump told Sondland that he must insist that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly announce that he’d opened investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in connection with Burisma.
According to Morrison’s deposition, nearly $400 million in aid that Congress approved for Ukraine was withheld and was dependent on President Zelensky announcing investigations into President Trump’s political rival.
“I find the President’s tweets generally unfortunate,” says GOP Rep. Mike Turner about President Trump’s tweets against Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch while she was testifying. “It’s certainly not witness intimidation… It wouldn’t have prevented her from testifying.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/ydSH5vNmoK
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) November 17, 2019
Even though Turner does not like how Trump acted concerning Ukraine, he still defended the president against the impeachment inquiry, according to a Newsweek report. Turner said that there wasn’t a quid pro quo between Trump and Zelensky
During his State of the Union appearance, Turner also weighed in on President Trump’s tweets — specifically the one that the president directed at former Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch as she testified before the House on Friday.
On Friday, Rep. Adam Schiff called out the president’s tweet about Yovanovitch in real-time. Schiff read it to her and insinuated that it was witness intimidation. While Turner doesn’t believe that Trump’s tweet amounted to a crime, he called that specific tweet, as well as the president’s tweets in general, “unfortunate.”
“I think along with most people, I find the President’s tweets, generally, unfortunate,” Turner said.
At least one Democratic representative, Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, is tired of the impeachment inquiry, according to The Inquisitr . He intends to vote no if and when it comes to the full house for a vote.
