As more members of the Democratic Party have come forward to announce their support for some action on impeachment, Trump dismissed the notion as “ridiculous” before delivering a speech at today’s UN Summit meeting.
“I think it’s ridiculous. It’s a witch hunt. I’m leading in the polls. They have no idea how they stop me the only way they can try is through impeachment,” Trump told reporters as he arrived at the United Nations ahead of his address to world leaders Tuesday morning.
“It’s nonsense, and when you see the call, when you see the readout of the call, which I assume you’ll see at some point, you’ll understand. That call was perfect,” Trump added.
The Hill:
It should be noted that when answering questions from the media, Trump confirmed he froze payments to Ukraine. He justified his actions by saying he was waiting for other nations to come forward because the us should not have to go it alone.
“As far as withholding funds, those funds were paid,” Trump said. “They were fully paid. But my complaint has always been — and I’d withhold again, and I’ll continue to withhold until such time as Europe and other nations contribute to Ukraine, because they’re not doing it.”
“Very important, I want other countries to put up money,” he added. “I think it’s unfair that we put up the money. Then other people call me. They said, ‘Oh, let it go.’ And I let it go. But we paid the money, the money was paid.”
In the aftermath of Trump’s latest scandal, “151 House Democrats — well over half the 235-member caucus” support some form of action on impeachment proceedings, according to NBC.
Actions include:
- Impeachment hearings or inquiries, which are currently happening in the House.
- More members of the Caucus voicing support of them.
- Outright calls for Articles of Impeachment to be drawn up
For the complete, list at this moment, refer to the NBC link above.
Last night, several members from the House of Representatives who’ve served in the military or part the nation’s defense and intelligence agencies penned an OpEd in The Washington Post. They expressed their concerns on how Trump may have used his position as president to influence a foreign government to dig up dirt on a political opponent, Joe Biden.
A few excerpts from the article:
We have devoted our lives to the service and security of our country, and throughout our careers, we have sworn oaths to defend the Constitution of the United States many times over. Now, we join as a unified group to uphold that oath as we enter uncharted waters and face unprecedented allegations against President Trump.
“The president of the United States may have used his position to pressure a foreign country into investigating a political opponent, and he sought to use U.S. taxpayer dollars as leverage to do it.
This flagrant disregard for the law cannot stand.
If these allegations are true, we believe these actions represent an impeachable offense. We do not arrive at this conclusion lightly, and we call on our colleagues in Congress to consider the use of all congressional authorities available to us, including the power of “inherent contempt” and impeachment hearings, to address these new allegations, find the truth and protect our national security.“
Updates already: Speaker Nancy Pelosi will make an official announcement shortly. Stay tuned.
***Editor’s note: News Views will now make this a Liveblog because more and more information has come forward.
It’s starting to sink in:
Speaker Pelosi will make an announcement shortly.
Someone’s pissed off:
