Adam Schiff Closing Statement in Hill-Holmes Hearing
"‘We’ve already seen the smoking gun’: John Dean says GOP is ‘denying reality’"
[BOREALIS, Thank you, as i'd meant to get Schiff's final address on the board, then it slipped my mind after i could not find a transcript. The one below is very rough in parts, i just hope it is not incomplete in any materially important way.]
House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff wraps up the seventh in a series of impeachment hearings with a summary of the evidence presented regarding President Trump's decision to withhold security assistance to Ukraine. He also criticizes Republicans' response and their treatment of some of the witnesses, calling it "gratuitous." And he closes with this warning: "There is nothing more dangerous than an unethical president who believes they are above the law." Recalling the words of his late colleague and Representative Elijah Cummings, Schiff gavels out the hearing, saying, "We are better than that!"
---- INSERT:YouTube sub for embedded video of Adam Schiff's final address.
WATCH: Rep. Adam Schiff’s full closing statement in Hill and Holmes hearing •Nov 21, 2019
PBS NewsHour
Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chair, pushed back on the GOP assertion that there have been "secret depositions” during the impeachment hearing into President Donald Trump, saying that more than 100 members of Congress had access to those depositions. Schiff also mentioned the 2018 meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, calling it a "debacle" when Trump questioned the U.S. intelligence community.
"I wish I heard just some of the righteous indignation we heard in the committee today when the president questioned that," Schiff said, before adding, "but of course, they were silent!"
Schiff spoke following testimony from Fiona Hill, the White House’s former Russia adviser, and David Holmes, a top staffer at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, on Nov. 21, in a public hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The impeachment inquiry has focused on a July 25 phone call in which Trump asked the president of Ukraine to investigate former vice president and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4ssrr2OsQ0 ----
06:54:32
I WANT TO THANK THE GENTLEMAN. I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TESTIMONY. I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR LONG YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE COUNTRY. YOU'RE NOT DEMOCRATIC WITNESSES OR REPUBLICAN WITNESSES, YOU'RE NONPARTISAN WITNESSES AND YOU HAVE STUCK TO THE FACTS AND THAT IS AS IT SHOULD BE. FIRST I WANT TO MAKE A COUPLE OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE HEARING TODAY. AND DR. HILL, YOU WERE CRITICIZED SEVERAL TIMES BY MY COLLEAGUES FOR YOUR OPENING STATEMENT. I'M GLAD DID YOU WANT BACK DOWN FROM IT. YOU'RE MUCH MORE DIPLOMATIC THAN I AM, I HAVE TO SAY. ANYONE WATCHING THE PROCEEDINGS, ANYONE READING THE DEPOSITION TRANSCRIPTS WOULD HAVE THE SAME IMPRESSION THAT YOU EVIDENTLY HAD HAD FROM HEARING MY COLLEAGUES TALK ABOUT THE RUSSIA HOAX. THAT THE WHOLE IDEA THAT RUSSIA HAD GOTTEN INVOLVED IN THE 2016 ELECTION WAS A HOAX. PUT OUT BY THE DEMOCRATS. AND, OF COURSE, THEY'RE NOT ALONE IN PUSHING OUT THIS IDEA THAT IS TRUMPETED BY NO ONE OTHER THAN THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WHO ALMOST ON A DAILY BASIS AT TIMES WOULD COMMENT AND TWEET AND PROPAGATE THE IDEA THAT RUSSIA'S INTERFERENCE IN OUR ELECTION WAS A HOAX. AND, OF COURSE, WE ALL REMEMBER THAT DEBACLE IN HELSINKI WHEN THE PRESIDENT STOOD NEXT TO PUTIN AND QUESTIONED HIS OWN INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES. I WISH I HAD HEARD JUST SOME OF THE RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION WE HEARD IN THE COMMITTEE TODAY WHEN THE PRESIDENT QUESTIONED THAT FUNDAMENTAL CONCLUSION OF OUR INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES BUT, OF COURSE, THEY WERE SILENT WHEN THE PRESIDENT SAID THAT T THEY'LL SHOW INDIGNATION TODAY BUT THEY WILL COWER WHEN THEY HEAR THE PRESIDENT QUESTIONING THE VERY CONCLUSIONS THAT OUR INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY HAS REACHED. MY COLLEAGUES SOUGHT TO USE YOU DRSHGS HILL, TO BESMER MUCH THE CHARACTER OF COLONEL VINDMAN. I THOUGHT THIS WAS VERY INTERESTING. CERTAINLY WASN'T UNEXPECTED. IT IS VERY INTERESTING FOR THIS REASON. THEY DIDN'T REALLY QUESTION ANYTHING COLONEL VINDMAN SAID. WHAT HE SAID IS WHAT YOU SAID. HE WAS IN THAT JULY 10thMEETING. HE HEARD THE SAME QUID PRO QUO. THE SAME COMMENTS BY SONDLAND IF YOU WANT THIS MEETING, UKRAINIANS, WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT ABOUT THIS, YOU GOT TO ANNOUNCE YOU'RE GOING TO DO THE INVESTIGATIONS. THEY HEARD THE SAME QUID PRO QUO THAT DID YOU. SO WHY ARE THEY SMEARING HIM? MR. HOLMES, YOU TESTIFIED JUST AS VINDMAN SAID, COLONEL VINDMAN SAID THAT HE WARNED ZELENSKYY ABOUT GETTING INVOLVED IN U.S. POLITICS. YOU DON'T QUESTION THAT. THEY DIDN'T TAKE ISSUE WITH THAT. . SO WHY SMEAR THIS PURPLE HEART RECIPIENT JUST LIKE THE SMEAR OF AMBASSADOR YOVANOVITCH. IT'S GRATUITOUS. I CALLS THE PRESIDENT ON AN INSECURE LINE IN A COUNTRY KNOWN FOR RUSSIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND EAVESDROPPING, THAT IS MORAN INDISCRETION. THAT IS A SECURITY RISK. BUT WHY ATTACK YOU, MR. HOLMES? THEY DIDN'T QUESTION ANYTHING YOU SAID. THEY DIDN'T QUESTION WHAT CONVERSATION YOU OVERHEARD AMBASSADOR SONDLAND INDEED DIDN'T QUESTION WHAT YOU SAID. HE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE ONE THING THE PRESIDENT WANTED TO KNOW THE DAY AFTER THAT CONVERSATION WAS IS HE GOING TO DO THE INVESTIGATIONS? THEY DON'T QUESTION THAT. SO WHY ATTACK YOU? THEY DIDN'T QUESTION YOUR TESTIMONY WHEN YOU SAID -- AND I YOU THIS YOU ASKED AMBASSADOR SONDLAND, DOES PRESIDENT TRUMP GIVE A BLANK ABOUT UKRAINE? HE SAID, HE DOESN'T GIVE A BLANK ABOUT UKRAINE. HE ONLY CARES ABOUT THE BIG STUFF. HE CARES ABOUT THE BIG STUFF THAT MATTERS TO HIM. HIS PERSONAL INTERESTS LIKE THE BIDEN INVESTIGATION THAT GIULIANI WANTS. I MEAN ONE QUESTION POSED BY YOUR TESTIMONY, MR. HOLMES IS WHAT DO WE CARE ABOUT? DO WE CARE ABOUT THE BIG STUFF LIKE THE CONSTITUTION, LIKE AN OATH OF OFFICE OR DO WE ONLY CARE NOW ABOUT PARTY? WHAT DO WE CARE ABOUT? WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE DEPOSITIONS, THE SECRET DEPOSITIONS. PEOPLE WATCHING AT HOME MAY NOT KNOW IN THE SECRET DEPOSITIONS, WHICH APPARENTLY NO ONE ELSE IS ALLOWED TO HEAR, NO MEMBERS ARE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE. JUST SECRET, APPARENTLY. SOUND LIKE IT'S JUST ME AND THE WITNESS. ONLY OVER 100 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THOSE SECRET DEPOSITIONS. AND THE MINORITY IS JUST SO UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE. THEY GOT THE SAME TIME THEY GOT IN THESE OPEN HEARINGS. SO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED THROUGH THE DEPOSITIONS AND TESTIMONY? SO MUCH OF THIS IS UNDISPUTED. WE LEARNED THAT A DEDICATED PUBLIC SERVANT NAMED MARIE YOVANOVITCH KNOWN FOR FIGHTING CORRUPTION, WHY DO WE EXPECT THROUGHOUT THE DIPLOMATIC CORE WAS RUTHLESSLY SMEARED BY RUDY GIULIANI, BY THE PRESIDENT'S OWN SON, BY THEIR FRIENDS ON FOX PRIME TIME AND A WHOLE HOST OF OTHER CHARACTERS. HER REPUTATION WAS SULLIED SO THEY COULD GET HER OUT OF THE WAY WHICH THEY DID. AND YOU'RE RIGHT. IT WAS GRATUITOUS. THE PRESIDENT COULD HAVE GOTTEN RID OF HER ANY TIME HE WANTED. BUT THAT'S NOT ENOUGH FOR THIS PRESIDENT. NO. HE HAS TO SMEAR AND DESTROY THOSE THAT GET IN HIS WAY. AND SOMEONE FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN UKRAINE IS GETTING IN HIS WAY. SO SHE'S GONE. SHE'S GONE. AND THIS MAKES WAY ALMOST IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER, SHE LEAVES THE THREE AMIGOS COME IN. THE THREE AMOWINGIGOS, TWO OF WHOM DIDN'T MAKE THE CONNECTION THAT BURISMA MEANS BIDEN. BUT IN ALL THE COMPANIES IN ALL THE WORLD THAT RUDY GIULIANI JUST HAPPENED TO BE FLD THIS ONE? THAT'S ABSURD. THE INTEREST, OF COURSE, WAS IN AN INVESTIGATION OF DONALD TRUMP'S RIVAL. THE ONE THAT HE APPARENTLY FEARED THE MOST. AND THEY WERE WILLING TO DO WHATEVER WAS NECESSARY TO GET UKRAINE TO DO THAT DIRTY WORK, TO DO THAT POLITICAL INVESTIGATION. AND SO IT BEGAN. WE'RE NOT GOING TO SET UP A PHONE CALL UNTIL YOU MAKE CERTAIN COMMITMENTS. THAT WAS AMBASSADOR SONDLAND'S TESTIMONY. THE FIRST QUID PRO QUO IS JUST GETTING ON THE PHONE WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP. THEN THERE WAS THE QUID PRO QUO INVOLVING THE WHITE HOUSE MEETING. AND WITNESS AFTER WITNESS AND NONE NONE OF MY COLLEAGUES CAN ATTEST TO THIS TALKED ABOUT JUST HOW IMPORTANT THAT MEETING WAS TO THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE AND WHY THEY'RE AT WAR WITH RUSSIA. AND THE MOST IMPORTANT ALLY IS THE UNITED STATES AND THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THAT RELATIONSHIP IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. AND IF PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY CAN SHOW HE HAS A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, IT MEANS TO HIS PEOPLE THAT THIS NEW PRESIDENT HAS THE SUPPORT OF THEIR MOST IMPORTANT PATRON AND IT MEANS TO THE RUSSIANS THAT WE HAVE THEIR BACK. THIS PRESIDENT, THIS NEW PRESIDENT WHO IS NEGOTIATING WITH THE FAR SUPERIOR POWER THAT HAS INVADED HIS COUNTRY IS GOING INTO NEGOTIATION WITH PUTIN OVER HOW TO RESOLVE THIS CONFLICT WHETHER HE HAS GOOD LEVERAGE OR LOUSY LEVERAGE DEPENDS ON WHETHER THE RUSSIANS THINK HE HAS A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PRESIDENT. AND THE PRESIDENT WOULDN'T GIVE HIM THAT. NOT WITHOUT GETTING SOMETHING IN RETURN. AN OFFICIAL ACT FOR SOMETHING OF CLEAR VALUE AND SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT. THE BIG STUFF AS SONDLAND EXPLAINED YOU TO, MR. HOLMES. TO HELP HIS CAMPAIGN. NOW WE ALSO HEARD ABUNDANT TESTIMONY ABOUT THE OTHER QUID PRO QUO. THE WITHHOLDING OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE WHICH NO ONE CAN EXPLAIN. THERE IS NO DEBATE AMONG MY COLLEAGUES. EVERYONE IN THE NSC AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT, DEFENSE DEPARTMENT, EVERYONE SUPPORTED THIS. EVERYONE. ALL THE REVIEWS THAT NEEDED TO BE DONE TO MAKE SURE THAT UKRAINE WAS MEETING ITS ANTI-CORRUPTION STANDARDS HAD BEEN DONE AND THEY HAD FOUND TO MEET THE CRITERIA. THE AID SHOULD HAVE BEEN RELEASED BUT WITHHELD AND NO ONE COULD UNDERSTAND OR GET A CLEAR EXPLANATION FOR WHY UNTIL IT GAME CLEAR TO EVERYONE IT'S ALL ABOUT THE INVESTIGATIONS. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE LEVERAGE. IF THERE IS ANY DOUBT ABOUT IT, THE MAN CLOSEST TO THE PRESIDENT WHO MEETS WITH HIM EVERY DAY MICK MULVANEY ERASED ALL DOUBT. YOU'RE DARN RIGHT. YES. WE TALKED ABOUT THE 2016 ELECTION INVESTIGATION. THAT'S THE WAY WE ROLL. YEAH, THERE'S GOING TO BE POLITICS AND JUST GET OVER IT. WELL, IF WE CARE ABOUT THE BIG STUFF, WE XPTCAN'T JUST GET OVER IT. NOW MY COLLEAGUES HAVE HAD A LOT OF DEFENSES TO ALL THIS EVIDENCE WHICH PILED UP DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY. IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE SECURITY SYSTEM WAS BEING WITHHELD. P WAS CLEAR TO ALL OF THE AMERICANS AND IT WAS CLEAR TO UKRAINIANS. YOU TESTIFIED THE UKRAINIANS FELT PRESSURE. THEY STILL FEAR FOOELEL FRURPRESSURE. THE NEXT DEFENSE IS IT'S ALL HEARSAY. IT'S ALL HEARSAY. NOW, I GUESS MY COLLEAGUES ARE NOT LAWYERS. LAWYERS OUT THERE UNDERSTAND JUST HOW YONG WRONG THEY ARE ABOUT WHAT HEARSAY IS. BUT LET'S JUST DISCUSS THIS IN TERMS THAT ALL PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND. THE IMPRESSION THEY WOULD HAVE YOU TAKE IT'S ALL HEARSAY IS BECAUSE WE IN THIS COMMITTEE WERE NOT IN THAT BOARD ROOM WITH YOU. WE WERE NOT IN THAT MEETING WITH DR. BOLTON. WE'RE NOT IN THE ROOM. IT'S ALL HEARSAY. AFTER ALL, YOU'RE RELAYING WHAT YOU HEARD AND SAYING IT. SO IT MUST BE HEARSAY AND THEREFORE, YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT, DO WE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HAVE DIRECT EVIDENCE THAT THIS MEETING IS WITHHELD BECAUSE HE WANTS THE INVESTIGATIONS. WE CAN'T ACCEPT THAT. THE IF THAT WERE TRUE, CAN YOU NEVER PRESENT ANY EVIDENCE IN COURT UNLESS THE JURY WAS ALSO IN THE ROOM. THAT IS ABSURD. THEY DON'T ACCEPT ALL THE TEXT MESSAGES AQUID PRO QUOS AND THAT'S CRAZY AND MY WORST NIGHTMARE IS THE RUSSIANS GET IN, THEY DON'T ACCEPT THE DOCUMENTS. THE FEW DOCUMENT THAT'S WE HAVE FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT THAT WEREN'T PRODUCED BY THE WAY BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT. SONDLAND COMMUNICATES DIRECTLY WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE ABOUT THIS INVESTIGATIVE INTEREST OF THE PRESIDENT AND THEY DON'T ACCEPT THE DOCUMENTS EITHER. I GUESS THE DOCUMENTS ARE ALSO HEARSAY. NOW MIGHT BE A LITTLE MORE CONVINCING IF IT THEY WERE JOINING US IN DEMANDING THAT THE DOCUMENTS WERE PRODUCED. BUT, OF COURSE, THEY'RE NOT. THE DOCUMENTS ARE LIKE THAT ONE SAW ON THE SCREEN. THEY IMPLICATE OTHERS INCLUDING SECRETARY POMPEO. OF COURSE DONALD TRUMP AND POMPEO DON'T WANT US TO SEE THE DOCUMENTS. BUT PARENTALLY IT'S ALL HEARSAY. EVEN WHEN YOU ACTUALLY HEAR THE PRESIDENT, THAT'S HEARSAY. WE CAN'T RELY ON PEOPLE SAYING WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAID. APPARENTLY WE CAN ONLY RELY ON WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAYS AND THERE WE SHOULDN'T EVEN RELY ON THAT EITHER. WE SHOULD IMAGINE HE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT FIGHTING CORRUPTION. INSTEAD OF WHAT ACTUALLY SAID IS I WANT YOU TO DO US A FAVOR THOUGH. I WANT YOU TO LOOK INTO THIS 2016 CROWN STRIKE CONSPIRACY THEORY AND I WANT YOU TO LOOK INTO THE BIDENS. I GUESS WE'RE NOT GOING TO RELY ON THAT BECAUSE THAT IS HEARSAY. WELL, THAT'S ABSURD. THAT WOULD BE LIKE SAYING YOU CAN'T RELY ON THE TESTIMONY OF THE BURGLARS DURING WATERGATE WAS IT'S ONLY HEARSAY OR YOU CAN'T CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THEY TRIED TO BREAK IN BECAUSE THEY GOT CAUGHT. THAT'S ABSURD. BUT THE OTHER DEFENSE BESIDES IT FAILED, THE SCHEME FAILED, THEY GOT CAUGHT, THE OTHER DEFENSE IS THE PRESIDENT DENIES IT. I GUESS THAT'S CASE CLOSED. HE SAYS SPONTANEOUSLY, NOT AS IF HE WAS ASKED THIS WAY, NO QUID PRO QUO. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM CRAIG? NO QUID PRO QUO. THIS IS THE I'M NOT A CROOK DEFENSE. YOU SAY IT. I GUESS THAT'S THE END OF IT. THE ONLY THING WE CAN SAY IS THAT IT'S NOT SO MUCH THE SITUATION IS DIFFERENT IN TERMS OF MIXON'S CONDUCT AND TRUMP'S CONDUCT. WE'RE SEEING HERE IS FAR MORE SERIOUS THAN A THIRD RATE BURGLARY OF THE DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS. WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS WITHHOLDING OF RECOGNITION AND THAT WHITE HOUSE MEETING AND THE WITHHOLDING OF MILITARY AID TO AN ALLY AT WAR. THIS IS BEYOND ANYTHING NIXON DID. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THAT CONGRESS AND THIS ONE. SO WE'RE ASKING WHERE IS HOWARD BAKER? WHERE IS HOWARD BAKER? WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO GO BEYOND THEIR PARTY TO LOOK TO THEIR DUTY? I WAS STRUCK BY KIRNLCOLONEL VINDMAN'S TESTIMONY BECAUSE HE SAID HE ACTED OUT OF DUTY. WHAT IS OUR DUTY HERE? THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO BE ASKING, NOT USING METAPHORS ABOUT BALLS AND STRIKES AND OUR TEAM AND YOUR TEAM. I HEARD MY COLLEAGUES USE THE METAPHORS. WHAT IS OUR DUTY? WE ARE THE INDEPENDENCIBLE NATION. WE STILL R PEOPLE LOOK TO US FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. JOURNALISTS FROM THEIR JAIL CELLS IN TURKEY, VICTIMS OF MASS KILLING IN THE PHILIPPINES, PEOPLE WHO GATHERED IN SQUARE WANTING A REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT, PEOPLE IN CHINA WHO ARE IN UKRAINE THAT WANT A BETTER FUTURE. THEY LOOK TO US. THEY'RE NOT GOING TO LOOK TO THE RUSSIANS. THEY'RE NOT GOING TO LOOK TO THE CHINESE. THEY CAN'T LOOK TO EUROPE WITH ALL THEIR PROBLEMS. THEY STILL LOOK TO US AND INCREASINGLY THEY DON'T RECOGNIZE WHAT THEY SEE. BECAUSE WHAT THEY SEE IS AMERICANS SAYING DON'T ENGAGE IN POLITICAL PROSECUTIONS. WHAT THEY SAY BACK IS, OH, YOU MEAN LIKE THE BIDENS AND THE CLINTONS THAT YOU WANT US TO INVESTIGATE? THINK SEE. THEY DON'T RECOGNIZE. AND THAT IS A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY FOR US BUT IT'S A GREATER TRAGEDY FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD. I THINK WHEN THE FOUNDERS PROVIDED THE MECHANISM FOR IMPEACHMENT THEY WERE WORRIED ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAS BEEN IF SOMEONE UNETHICAL TOOK THE OFFICE IN THE LAND AND USE THE IT FOR PERSONAL GAIN AND NOT BECAUSE OF DEEP CARE ABOUT THE BIG THINGS THAT SHOULD MATTER. LIKE OUR NATIONAL SECURITY AND OUR DEFENSE AND ALLIES AND WHAT THE COUNTRY STANDS FOR. I THINK THAT'S WHY THEY PUT THAT REMEDY IN THE CONSTITUTION. AND I THINK WE NEED TO CONSULT OUR CONSCIENCE AND OUR CONSTITUENTS AND DECIDE WHETHER THAT REMEDY IS APPROPRIATE HERE. WHETHER THAT REMEDY IS NECESSARY HERE AND AS YOU KNOW, NOTWITHSTANDING, MY COLLEAGUES SAID I RESIST GOING DOWN THIS PATH FOR A LONG TIME. BUT I WILL TELL YOU WHY I COULD RESIST NO MORE. AND IT CAME DOWN TO THIS. IT CAME DOWN TO ACTUALLY CAME DOWN TO TIMING. IT CAME DOWN TO THE FACT THAT THE DAY AFTER BOB MUELLER TESTIFIED, THE DAY AFTER BOB MUELLER TESTIFIED THAT DONALD TRUMP INVITED RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE, RUSSIA, IF YOU'RE LISTENING, COME GET HILLARY'S E-MAILS AND LATER THAT DAY THEY TRIED TO HACK HER SERVER. THE DAY AFTER HE TESTIFIED THAT NOT ONLY DID TRUMP INVITE THAT INTERFERENCE, BUT THAT HE WELCOMED THE HELP IN THE CAMPAIGN. THEY MADE FULL USE OF IT. THEY LIED ABOUT IT. THEY OBSTRUCTED THE INVESTIGATION INTO IT. AND ALL THIS IN HIS TESTIMONY AND HIS REPORT, THE DAY AFTER THAT DONALD TRUMP IS BACK ON THE PHONE ASKING ANOTHER NATION TO INVOLVE ITSELF IN ANOTHER U.S. ELECTION. THAT SAYS TO ME THIS PRESIDENT BELIEVES HE IS ABOVE THE LAW. BEYOND ACCOUNTABILITY. AND IN MY VIEW THERE IS NOTHING NOR DANGEROUS THAN AN UNETHICAL PRESIDENT THAT BELIEVES THEIR ABOVE THE LAW. AND I WOULD JUST SAY TO PEOPLE WATCHING HERE AT HOME AND AROUND THE WORLD, IN THE WORD OF MY GREAT COLLEAGUE, WE ARE BETTER THAN THAT. ADJOURNED. [ APPLAUSE ] RNLGTS THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE FACTS. WE SAW THAT YESTERDAY. THE FACTS ARE VERY CLEAR. THE THE WITNESS YESTERDAY SAID UNLESS THERE WAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A INVESTIGATION THERE IS NO CALL, NO MEETING, NO MONEY. AND, OF COURSE, THE UKRAINIANS GOT THE CALL, THEY GOT THE MEETING AND THE SECURITY ASSISTANCE DOLLARS AND THERE NEVER WAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF AN INVESTIGATION. SO THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE FACTS. THIS IS ABOUT, I THINK, WHAT NANCY PELOSI SAID AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE SAID SUNDAY WHEN SHE SAID SHE CALLED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AN IMPOSTER. DEMOCRATS NEVER GOT OVER THE FACT THAT THE NEW GUY HAD NEVER BEEN IN THIS TOWN. THIS NEW GUY CAME IN THIS PLACE AND SHAKING THIS PLACE UP. AND THAT DRIVES HIM CRAZY. THEY NEVER ACCEPTED THE WILL OF THE AMERICANS. THEY NEVER ACCEPTED THAT HE WON IN A LANDSLIDE AND THEY'RE TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN THAT WAS FIRST THE FBI INVESTIGATION AND THEN THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION AND NOW IT'S THIS. THEY'RE TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING THIS HE CAN TO HAVE MR. GREEN IN AN IMPEACHMENT BECAUSE THEY KNOW HE'S GOING TO WIN RE-ELECTION. SO THAT'S THE UNFORTUNATE POSITION THEY PUT OUR COUNTRY IN. OF I THOUGHT DR. HILL SAID WE GOT TO QUIT THIS KIND OF STUFF THAT IS TEARING OUR COUNTRY APART. THAT IS SO TRUE. WHAT IS HAPPENING IS NOT GOOD FOR OUR CULTURE, NOT GOOD FOR OUR NATION. YET THE DEMOCRATS DO NOT CARE. THEY ARE BOUND AND DETERMINED TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET AFTER THIS PRESIDENT AND AGAIN, I THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SEE THROUGH IT. THE THEY SEE THE FACTS ARE ON THE PRESIDENT'S SIDE AND THEY KNOW THIS PROCESS IS ENTIRELY UNFAIR. I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS PLANNED. WE JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE. WE'LL TAKE SOME QUESTIONS. [ INAUDIBLE QUESTION ]
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