Trump blasts impeachment after hearings wrap
After two weeks of public hearings and a parade of witnesses, House Democrats are moving closer to drafting articles of impeachment against the president.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), SAYING:
"That says to me, this president believes he is above the law, beyond accountability. And in my view, there is nothing more dangerous than an unethical president who believes they are above the law."
With no more hearings on the schedule, Republicans say Democrats failed to make their case.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) REP. JIM JORDAN, SAYING:
"They see that the facts are on the president's side."
On Friday, the president claimed he was pleased with how the hearings turned out.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SAYING:
"I think we had a tremendous week with the hoax. The impeachment hoax."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it's clear that the president compromised national security when he attempted to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations into his political rivals.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, A DEMOCRAT FROM CALIFORNIA, SAYING:
"The president has used the office for his own personal gain."
Her comments came on the final day of public impeachment hearings.
Where Fiona Hill, the former National Security Council staffer who advised President Trump on Russia, described a series of exchanges with Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the EU, over what she saw as two diverging diplomatic efforts in Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) FIONA HILL, FORMER RUSSIA ADVISER TO U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:
"He was being involved in a domestic political errand and we were being involved in national security foreign policy...I did say to him, 'Ambassador Sondland, I think this is all going to blow up,' and here we are."
Hill also took aim at Republicans for pushing a theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) FIONA HILL, FORMER RUSSIA ADVISER TO U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:
"This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves."
And yet a day after her testimony, U.S. president Donald Trump called into Fox and Friends and spent a chunk of his interview repeating that same debunked theory.
Witness after witness told a similar story of how the president's personal lawyer interfered with U.S. policy towards Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTING U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE, WILLIAM TAYLOR, SAYING:
"President Trump asked the participants to work with Mr. Giuliani on Ukraine policy."
Many testified under oath that they came to understand that the U.S. government was putting conditions on an official White House visit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN:
"My impression was that in order to get the White House meeting. Zelenskiy would have to deliver these investigations."
And that almost $400 million in military aid for Ukraine was being held up as the White House pressed for investigations into the Bidens and Ukraine's involvement in the 2016 election.
Another bombshell came this week, when Ambassador Gordon Sondland said even the most senior leadership of Trump's administration - including Vice President Mike Pence, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - knew about the campaign.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) AMBASSADOR GORDON SONDLAND, SAYING:
"Everyone was in the loop."
Yet they've refused to testify, along with Former National Security Advisor John Bolton whose name came up repeatedly in hearings, and who returned to Twitter on Friday with vague Tweets that he'll soon share his "back story."
