Democrats invite Trump to testify in impeachment inquiry

WASHINGTON — Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited President Trump to testify in front of investigators in the House impeachment inquiry ahead of a week that will see several key witnesses appear publicly.

Pushing back against accusations from the president that the process has been stacked against him, Pelosi said Trump is welcome to appear or answer questions in writing, if he chooses.

“If he has information that is exculpatory, that means ex, taking away, culpable, blame, then we look forward to seeing it,” she said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Trump “could come right before the committee and talk, speak all the truth that he wants if he wants,” she said.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer echoed that suggestion.

“If Donald Trump doesn’t agree with what he’s hearing, doesn’t like what he’s hearing, he shouldn’t tweet. He should come to the committee and testify under oath. And he should allow all those around him to come to the committee and testify under oath,” Schumer told reporters.

Trump, during an active day on Twitter, blasted Democrats. “The Crazed, Do Nothing Democrats are turning Impeachment into a routine partisan weapon. That is very bad for our Country, and not what the Founders had in mind!!!!”

The comments come as the House Intelligence Committee prepares for a second week of public hearings.

On Tuesday, they’ll hear from Tim Morrison, a former National Security Council aide, along with Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, Alexander Vindman, the director for European affairs at the National Security Council, and Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine.

On Wednesday the committee will hear from Gordon Sondland, Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, in addition to Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, and David Hale, a State Department official.

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/32SsXlN