Schiff Accuses Trump of “Witness Intimidation”

Yahoo News reports House Democrats are condemning President Donald Trump’s attack on an intelligence community whistleblower, calling it “witness intimidation” in their ongoing impeachment probe.

The chairmen of the foreign affairs, intelligence and oversight committees say, “The President’s comments today constitute reprehensible witness intimidation and an attempt to obstruct Congress’ impeachment inquiry.”

Trump said at a Thursday breakfast that he wanted to identify the whistleblower and his or her sources, alleging they are “close to a spy” and alluding to the death penalty.

Reps. Eliot Engel, Adam Schiff and Elijah Cummings suggest Trump’s efforts to interfere with the potential witness could be unlawful. They add, “Threats of violence from the leader of our country have a chilling effect on the entire whistleblower process, with grave consequences for our democracy and national security.”

The President’s suggestion that those involved in the whisteblower complaint should be dealt with as "we used to do" for "spies and treason" is a reprehensible invitation to violence against witnesses in our investigation.

All Americans must denounce such witness intimidation. https://t.co/cTQQXdbGsa

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 26, 2019

Per TheHill, speaking at a private fundraiser at the Intercontinental Hotel in New York on Thursday morning, Trump suggested that the whistleblower and other unnamed White House officials cited in the complaint committed treason, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a recording it obtained.

The New York Times confirmed Trump’s comments, citing a person briefed on what took place.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

“Basically, that person never saw the report, never saw the call, he never saw the call – heard something and decided that he or she or whoever the hell they saw – they’re almost a spy,” Trump said, according to the Los Angeles Times, adding that he wanted know “who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information?”

“Because that’s close to a spy,” he continued. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”

The comments from Trump arrived the same morning that a declassified version of the whistleblower complaint focused on the president’s interactions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was released to the public.

The complaint largely focuses on Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to push Ukraine to investigate unsubstantiated allegations about former Vice President Joe Biden and his dealings in Ukraine related to an energy company on whose board his son Hunter Biden sat.

This article was written by the staff of TheConservativeOpinion.com 

By Kambree Nelson

Source: theconservativeopinion

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