A president can be removed from office, according the Constitution, for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
CNN’s Chris Cuomo apparently had that in mind Thursday night when he asked the Democrats’ designated chief prosecutor in their impeachment investigation of President Trump if he’s concerned about the lack of witnesses who claim Trump committed a crime when he asked the Ukrainian president to look into alleged corruption by the Bidens in Ukraine.
On his “Cuomo Prime Time” show he discussed with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff the testimony of Timothy Morrison, the Daily Caller reported. Morrisson, a former White House senior director for European affairs, told lawmakers Thursday he didn’t think “anything illegal” occurred during Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Schiff said he believes Trump considered himself “above the law” with “no accountability.”
But Cuomo pointed out that with the exception of the Ukrainian-born National Security Council official Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, no other witnesses apparently consider the call illegal or an abuse of power.
“Do you think that hurts you?” Cuomo asked. “Because it certainly bolsters the courage of Republicans to say, even Mr. Morrison today, ‘Yeah, they all saw it for what it was but they didn’t think it was a crime.'”
Schiff replied: “You know, Chris, I can’t go into the substance of the testimony. I wouldn’t agree with the general characterization you’ve made of it, but you’ll have the opportunity to read the transcripts very soon for yourself and decide what does the evidence show.”
Schiff contended that despite “differences between the witnesses and their opinions” and “recollections,” there is a “consistent narrative here about what took place.” He then called on the American people to “make their own judgment” when they hear from the “witnesses directly.”
NBC News anchor emeritus Tom Brokaw, who covered Watergate as a correspondent in 1973, said in an interview Tuesday that the “big difference” between then and now is that the Democrats don’t have “the goods” on President Trump.
Vindman, according to Fox News investigative reporter Catherine Herridge, struggled during closed-door testimony Tuesday to back up his claim that Trump demanded that Ukraine conduct an investigation.
He was asked specify what part of the Ukraine call showed “demand” for investigation into political rivals. A source told Herridge that Vindman struggled for several minutes with the language of the phone-call transcript. Ultimately, he replied that because President Trump was the person in position of power, the whole phone call amounted to a demand of favor from the Ukrainian government.
The resolution specifies that the White House counsel can present its case, respond to evidence, attend hearings, raise objections to testimony and cross-examine witnesses. But the provisions will not be implemented until the case is referred from the House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Adam Schiff, to the House Judiciary Committee. That means Schiff can continue his investigation without the involvement of White House counsel.
The resolution also gives authority to the Democratic chairmen to approve which witnesses can be called.
Earlier this year, House Democrats were focused on accusations that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia and that after Trump’s election, he obstructed the investigation of the accusations. However, special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion and left it up to the Justice Department to decide whether or not to refer obstruction of justice charges. Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded obstruction charges were not warranted.
The current inquiry is based on a complaint by an anonymous whistleblower who, according to the intelligence community inspector general, has indicated political bias against President Trump. The whistleblower, based on second-hand evidence contends Trump used the threat of withholding aid to pressure Zelensky to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion probe and Hunter Biden’s profiting from a Ukrainian natural gas company while his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, was President Obama’s point man for Ukraine policy. The White House contends the transcript it released of the July 25 phone call with Zelensky shows there was no undue pressure. And it argues that the promised aid went through and the Ukrainian president insisted he was not pressured.
Republicans also argue that the president is required to ensure that serious allegations of corruption are addressed. And they point to a treaty passed in 1998 between the U.S. and Ukraine that establishes cooperation in criminal matters.
