Jim Jordan: 4 facts undermine Dems' impeachment push

Democrats are touting Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman as a firsthand witness who is expressing concern about the phone call between President Trump and the Ukrainian president that triggered the current impeachment investigation.

But Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, insisted Tuesday there are "four fundamental facts that have never changed" that undermine the Democrats' accusations, the Daily Wire reported.

"Mr. Vindman is not the first one we have talked to who has been on the call — we have heard from President Trump and [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky. We have got the transcript," he told reporters after Vindman's closed-door depositions.

Vindman testified Tuesday before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight and Reform committees.

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An anonymous whistleblower has accused Trump of using the withholding of aid to pressure Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden's profiting from a Ukrainian natural gas firm while his father was Obama's pointman for Ukraine policy. The White House contends a transcript of the call that it released shows there was no quid pro quo. And officials argue Zelensky has insisted he was not pressured, and the aid was delivered.

"Both President Trump and President Zelensky said no conditions, no pressure, no pushing, no quid pro quo," Jordan said.

"We’ve got the transcript that shows that. We know the Ukrainians did not know at the time of the call that aid had been withheld, and tell me what action President Zelensky or the Ukrainians took to get the aid turned back on.

"Did he do a press conference? Did he issue a statement? Did he say he was going to investigate and do certain things?” he continued. "None of that happened."

Jordan summarized the "four facts" in a tweet:

• President Trump and President Zelensky both say there was no pressure
• The transcript shows no conditionality
• Ukraine didn’t know aid was held back at time of the call
• Ukraine never took any of the actions they were supposedly being pressured to take

House Republicans have criticized House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for holding the hearings in private, restricting access to witness testimony, leaking selective testimony, and leaving the impeachment inquiry open-ended by not holding a full House vote that establishes the scope and the ground rules.

"Those four facts have never changed even though you've got all this stuff that Adam Schiff wants to talk about, leak from these depositions, that's all it is," Jordan said.

"None of the basic things have ever changed."