Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: AP
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3035423/trump-goes-twitter-tear-after-white-house-official United States & Canada
Donald Trump goes on Twitter tear after White House official condemns his Ukraine call
- A National Security Council official plans to tell investigators that Trump undermined national security when he pressured Ukraine’s president
US President Donald Trump launched an online offensive on Tuesday, retweeting numerous messages by Republican lawmakers attacking the latest developments in the US House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. Photo: Reuters
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Quint Forgey on politico.com on October 29, 2019.
US President Donald Trump launched a sustained online offensive on Tuesday after details emerged of damaging congressional testimony by a senior White House official – retweeting numerous messages by Republican lawmakers attacking the latest developments in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.
The flurry of activity on the president’s social media feed came hours before Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council official overseeing Ukraine policy, is expected to tell investigators on Capitol Hill that Trump undermined US national security when he pressured Ukraine’s president during a July phone call to investigate former vice-president Joe Biden and his son.
“Why are people that I never even heard of testifying about the call,” Trump tweeted. “Just READ THE CALL TRANSCRIPT AND THE IMPEACHMENT HOAX IS OVER! Ukrain said NO PRESSURE.”
Vindman will be the first witness in the impeachment probe who listened in on Trump’s call with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
His testimony appears to corroborate both a whistle-blower complaint lodged by an anonymous member of the intelligence community who was alarmed by accounts of the conversation, as well as a summary of the call released by the White House.
“Where’s the Whistleblower? Just read the Transcript, everything else is made up garbage by Shifty Schiff and the Never Trumpers!” Trump tweeted later on Tuesday, referring to House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, one of the leaders of the impeachment inquiry.
“The Do Nothing Democrats are working hard to make everyone forget the Best Economy Ever, the monumental weekend raid, Tax Cuts, the Rebuilding of our Military, etc,” the president also wrote, touting the special operations assault that resulted in the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“The Impeachment Hoax is a disgrace. Read the transcript!”