Trump lashes out at Congress, media over whistleblower inquiry
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump lashed out at House Democrats on Twitter, saying House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff should be investigated for “treason,” and slammed the news media as corrupt during a news conference with Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö in the East Room.
Trump remained combative, and at times profane, whether typing, tweeting or taking questions from reporters.
“The Do Nothing Democrats should be focused on building up our Country, not wasting everyone’s time and energy on BULLS---, which is what they have been doing ever since I got overwhelmingly elected in 2016,” Trump tweeted.
The Do Nothing Democrats should be focused on building up our Country, not wasting everyone’s time and energy on BULLSHIT, which is what they have been doing ever since I got overwhelmingly elected in 2016, 223-306. Get a better candidate this time, you’ll need it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2019
In the Oval Office with Niinistö, Trump called Schiff “shifty Schiff” as he challenged whether the person who filed a complaint about a July 25 phone conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was a legitimate whistleblower.
When Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts asked Trump about a New York Times story that reported the whistleblower had approached the House Intelligence Committee before he filed his complaint about the call, Trump responded, “The whole thing’s a scam.”
Trump also suggested Schiff may have helped write the whistleblower’s complaint.
The president also revealed that he was likely to file “a lot of litigation” against individuals involved with the investigation which prompted the House impeachment inquiry.
Reuters reporter Jeff Mason pressed Trump as to what he wanted Zelenskiy to do when he asked him to look into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who had business with a Ukrainian energy firm under investigation in Ukraine. Trump said the Bidens were “stone cold crooks.”
Mason also asked Trump what he meant by “treason.” Trump responded that Schiff turned his “perfect conversation” with Zelenskiy into “a total lie.”
During a Sept. 26 hearing, Schiff recited an inaccurate version of what he said was “the essence” of Trump’s remarks — which he later claimed he did “in parody.” But the U.S. Constitution defines treason as “levying war” against the United States, “or, in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”
Factcheck.org noted treason “does not apply to political speech.”
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.
