Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi refused to discuss a timetable for her party’s impeachment inquiry over the weekend; saying she has “no idea” if the probe will wrap-up by the end of the year.
“I haven’t had a lot of time to pay attention to the president’s tweets and the legal implications of them. I just think that was totally wrong and inappropriate and typical of the president,” Pelosi told CBS News.
“I have no idea,” she responded when asked if the process could drag-on into 2020.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Face The Nation that President Trump is an "imposter" who insults people because "he knows full well that he's in that office way over his head" https://t.co/IZYJPvtpmg pic.twitter.com/9dyfNcenqs
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 17, 2019
“It is self-evident that we have open hearings for the next week. I don’t know if there are any beyond that,” she added. “And then when we come back [from Thanksgiving], maybe a decision or maybe they have more hearings.”
Read the full report here.
Source: Politico
AOC on IMPEACHMENT: ‘This is About Preventing a Potentially Disastrous Outcome Next Year’
Controversial Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez weighed-in Wednesday on the Democrats’ public impeachment investigation; saying the proceedings are about “uniting her caucus” and “preventing a disastrous outcome” in 2020.
“We have to move quite quickly because we’re talking about the potential compromise of the 2020 elections. This is not just about something that has occurred, this is about preventing a potentially disastrous outcome from occurring next year,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
Ocasio-Cortez says that Democrats' push for impeaching Trump is about uniting the different factions of the Democrat Party, adding: “this is about preventing a potentially disastrous outcome from occurring next year.” pic.twitter.com/nVU93ug2ZF
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 14, 2019
The Representative’s comments come hours after GOP leadership released a key memo debunking the Democrats’ motives for impeachment.
These facts are:
- The July 25 call summary — the best evidence of the conversation — shows no conditionality or evidence of pressure;
- President Zelensky and President Trump have both said there was no pressure on the call;
- The Ukrainian government was not aware of a hold on U.S. security assistance at the time of the July 25 call; and
- President Trump met with President Zelensky and U.S. security assistance flowed to Ukraine in September 2019 — both of which occurred without Ukraine investigating President Trump’s political rivals,” states the letter.
“Democrats want to impeach President Trump because unelected and anonymous bureaucrats disagreed with the President’s decisions and were discomforted by his telephone conversation with President Zelensky,” writes the memo.
“Since it became an independent nation following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been plagued by systemic corruption… Corruption so pervasive that in 2011, 68% of Ukrainian citizens reported that they had bribed a public official within the preceding 12 months,” adds the statement.
Read the full Republican memo here.
BIDEN: I Left the White House as ‘One of the Poorest Men in Government’
Former Vice President Joe Biden defended his families close ties with the Ukraine on the campaign trail this week; claiming he left office as “one of the poorest men in government.”
“I’ve released 21 years of tax returns. I entered as one of the poorest men in Congress and left one of the poorest men in government, in Congress and as Vice President. I made no money other than my salary,” Biden told Reporters in Ohio.
.@JoeBiden: I left the White House “as one of the poorest men in government” pic.twitter.com/Pnd8s78l6Y
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 17, 2019
Biden’s comments come as a former State Department official told lawmakers he raised red flags over the former Vice President’s connection to Ukraine energy companies.
“Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent, who testified behind closed doors before committees spearheading the formal House impeachment inquiry, told congressional investigators that he had qualms about Hunter Biden’s role on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings,” reports Fox News.
🚨 WOW 🚨
Diplomat told House committees that he flagged Hunter Biden's Ukraine work in 2015 but was brushed off by an aide to then VP Biden.https://t.co/Sub6avorHe
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) October 18, 2019
“The Washington Post first reported details of Kent’s testimony on Friday, which included his concerns that the younger Biden’s role in the company could complicate U.S. diplomatic efforts with Ukrainian officials, and raised the issue of a possible conflict of interest. Kent also testified that he was worried that Hunter Biden’s position would make Ukrainian officials think he was a channel of influence to his father, who was vice president at the time,” adds Fox.
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1185161952374542336
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.