Aggrieved Trump rips Dems for ‘sad’ impeachment effort
President Trump accused House Democrats of a “sad” effort to impeach him in a series of tweets Friday, suggesting they would be remiss to do to so because of low unemployment numbers and other purported successes.
“How do you impeach a President who has helped create perhaps the greatest economy in the history of our Country? All time best unemployment numbers, especially for Blacks, Hispanics, Asians & Women. More people working today than ever before,” Trump wrote, echoing remarks he made to reporters a day earlier when asked about Democratic efforts to impeach him.
The president also pointed to his effort to rebuilt the military, his support among veterans and his “record number” of judicial nominees.
Trump’s tweets came one day after the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to expand its powers to investigate Trump while contemplating formal impeachment proceedings.
The panel has stopped short of launching a formal impeachment process, but Thursday’s vote marked the first time Democrats explicitly agreed on language stating that their investigations into alleged presidential misconduct could lead to the drafting of articles of impeachment.
The tweets also came the morning after the third Democratic presidential debate, during which the 10 top candidates sparred over issues like health care. Many of the candidates took shots at Trump — former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke at one point accused Trump of being a “white supremacist” — but the word “impeachment” was not mentioned at any point during the three-hour debate.
The Judiciary panel initially focused on the details of potential presidential obstruction laid out in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
Democrats are planning to widen their probe to look at other issues, including payments made by ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen to women who claimed to have had affairs with the president before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump on Friday falsely claimed that Mueller’s investigation — which did not result in a conspiracy charge against his campaign related to Russian interference and did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice — demonstrated there was “No Obstruction” and “No Collusion.”
Trump also asserted without evidence that Mueller’s investigation was “illegally led against him” and called it a “phony & fraudulent Witch Hunt” — a term he often uses to refer to the two-year investigation into Russian interference. He claimed a scathing Justice Department inspector general report rebuking James Comey for mishandling sensitive memos detailing his conversations with Trump proved the former FBI director to be a “Disgraced & Dirty Cop.”
“Done more than any President in first 2 1/2 years despite phony & fraudulent Witch Hunt illegally led against him. WIN on Mueller Report, Mueller Testimony & James Comey … .IG Report, which showed him to be a Disgraced & Dirty Cop,” Trump wrote.
“Republicans have unified like never before. You don’t impeach Presidents for doing a good (great!) job. No Obstruction, No Collusion, only treasonous crimes committed by the other side, and led by the Democrats. Sad!” Trump continued.
[The Hill]