Donald Trump and Congress traded threats Wednesday in a growing impeachment scandal that threatens to engulf the White House in what the president claimed is a “coup.”
The power struggle between Trump — accused of leaning on Ukraine’s president to dig up dirt on one of his main 2020 election rivals — and congressional Democrats entered ever more volatile territory.
Adam Schiff, the Democrat leading the impeachment probe in the lower chamber of Congress, told reporters there is a “real sense of urgency” to press forward.
Trump fought back with language that would once have been inconceivable for a president, including his claim late Tuesday on Twitter that this is “not an impeachment, it is a COUP.”
On Wednesday he tweeted that Schiff was “sick” and should resign. Earlier, he had called for Schiff’s arrest.
Trump insists that he did nothing wrong in a phone call with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and on Wednesday got support from Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who said he saw “nothing compromising” in the conversation.
Given Trump’s controversial history with Putin, it was unlikely that the Kremlin leader’s backing would do much to calm waters back in Washington.
After keeping pronouncements mostly to Twitter over the last week, Trump was due to give a news conference alongside visiting Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
He may also talk to journalists earlier when Niinisto arrives at around midday in Washington (1600 GMT).
– Congress pushes back –
Trump is accused of having pressured Zelensky to help him by opening a corruption investigation against leading Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in a July 25 phone call.
He is alleged to have suggested that military equipment Ukraine sought to beef up its defenses against Russia would be contingent on him getting that favour.
A whistleblower, so far only identified as someone from the intelligence services, went to the authorities with concerns about the phone call, triggering the impeachment inquiry.
Trump has likened the whistleblower to a spy and called for his or her identity to be made public, although by law whistleblowers are protected. He has also retweeted a warning that his removal from office could trigger “civil war.”
Source : Guardian Newspaper.
