Trump demands Joe Biden be “forced” to testify in impeachment inquiry

Rob Haffey is a writer, filmmaker, and winner of the…
With impeachment continuing apace, the president has been reduced to lobbing incoherent smears on Twitter for lack of a real defense. In the face of such obvious wrongdoing on his part, there is no credible narrative left on the table for the administration. Trump sought to use the immense powers of his office to coerce a foreign nation into opening an electorally damaging investigation into Joe Biden, one of his primary political opponents. One struggles to think of a more blatantly impeachable offense.
This morning, Trump once again took to Twitter to whine about the impeachment inquiry. He stated that the witnesses being called before Congress are “2nd and 3rd hand” despite the fact that many of them have firsthand knowledge of his Ukraine call. He also claimed that many of the witnesses and all of their lawyers are “Never Trumpers,” an absurd defense since they were serving in his administration, with some of them like Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland appointed personally by Trump. The president apparently thinks the American people are collectively foolish enough to believe that he knowingly allowed his government to be packed with “Never Trumpers.”
Trump once again stated that the transcript of his Ukraine call exonerates him, but even a quick read of the document shows this to be patently false. In black and white, we can see that Trump asked the Ukrainian president for the “favor” of going after Biden and we also know that it was done after Trump frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the war-torn nation. Presumably, his repeated calls for his supporters to read the transcript are couched in a belief that they’re too lazy to actually do so.
The president then stated for the umpteenth time that he wanted Biden investigated because he had legitimate concerns about “corruption,” which is a rich defense coming from the most corrupt president in living memory. From there, he repeated some of the debunked conspiracy theories he’s been peddling about Biden and his son Hunter before making the ridiculous claim that both Bidens be “forced” to testify in the impeachment.
There is, of course, no legitimate need for the Bidens to testify in the impeachment inquiry. They were the targets of Trump’s impeachable phone call, they weren’t aware or involved in it. Trump is simply trying to muddy the waters yet again and distract from his own undeniable guilt. It’s not going to work in this case and this pathetic gambit just shows how desperate he’s become. This impeachment inquiry will stay squarely focused on what matters: the deeply immoral and likely illegal actions of President Donald J. Trump.
Why is such a focus put on 2nd and 3rd hand witnesses, many of whom are Never Trumpers, or whose lawyers are Never Trumpers, when all you have to do is read the phone call (transcript) with the Ukrainian President and see first hand? He and others also stated that there was…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019
…..”no pressure” put on him to investigate Sleepy Joe Biden even though, as President, I have an “obligation” to look into corruption, and Biden’s actions, on tape, about firing the prosecutor, and his son’s taking millions of dollars, with no knowledge or talent, from a…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019
….Ukrainian energy company, and more millions taken from China, and now reports of other companies and countries also giving him big money, are certainly looking very corrupt (to put it mildly!) to me. Both Bidens should be forced to testify in this No Due Process Scam!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019
What do you think?
Rob Haffey is a writer, filmmaker, and winner of the ScreenCraft Writing Fellowship. He is a graduate of Drexel University.