Trump & GOP Can’t Both Obstruct Impeachment Inquiry and Call it a “Witch Trial”

Statement of Karen Hobert Flynn, President of Common Cause

President Trump and his GOP apologists don’t get to have their cake and eat it too. After months of doing everything in their power to obstruct any investigation of presidential misconduct – particularly related to President Trump’s efforts to coerce and bribe the President of Ukraine to launch an investigation of his Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son – it is laughable that they are now trying to dismiss the process as a ‘witch hunt.’

Americans deserve to know the full truth about President Trump’s withholding hundreds of millions of dollars appropriated by Congress to help the Ukraine defend itself from further Russian aggression in the wake of the annexation of the Crimea. A string of high-ranking government officials have testified that the Trump administration was withholding the money to force an official investigation of baseless accusations against Joe and Hunter Biden. That testimony has also implicated numerous senior Trump administration officials as well as President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. The White House has refused to let them testify. The court challenges are ongoing. But Congress and the American people need to hear testimony from Vice President Mike Pence, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former national security advisor John Bolton, and other senior officials. If the President Trump’s claims of innocence are true then the testimony of senior officials is imperative to make his case against a mountain of evidence and testimony pointing to his guilt.

The blind defense of President Trump by too many Republican members of Congress is disgraceful. They have chosen to side with their political party instead of the nation they swore an oath to protect and defend. They condone impeachable conduct and ignore the facts and the disturbing pattern of abuse of power by the President and members of his administration. They also repeat wild conspiracy theories including those pushed by Vladimir Putin and refuted by U.S. intelligence agencies. This reprehensible and unpatriotic behavior must cease. These Members of Congress are doing the dirty work of the Kremlin and furthering Russian efforts to again attack our elections. History will not look kindly on these Senators and Representatives.