Last week, I wrote about how Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) absolutely ripped House Intel Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Tuesday over what he called a “clown show” impeachment inquiry process where selective bits of information were allegedly being leaked to the media by Democrats in order to paint a distorted picture of what had been said behind closed doors so far.
Zeldin, the ranking member on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, continued hammering this point home over the weekend in several interviews, including one he did on ABC News Sunday with Jonathan Karl.
During the interview, Zeldin blasted the fact that Pelosi still refuses to hold an impeachment inquiry vote on the House floor, which would give Republicans subpoena power and President Trump’s legal team the ability to do things like cross-examine witnesses.
He also pointed out that Schiff was trying to get Americans drunk on an “impeachment cocktail”, which he said contained three ingredients.
Here’s a partial transcript:
KARL: So you’re OK with all — all the transcripts coming out? You want to see Fiona Hill, who’s testifying next week, you want to see all — all the people that the administration does not want to testify, you want those transcripts to be out?
ZELDIN: The president wants there to be a process. The president is saying that there should be a vote for an impeachment inquiry, as you just pointed out with Congressman Himes, there should be a process. The minority parties should have subpoena power. The president should have counsel present. He should be able to cross-examine witnesses; he should be able to present evidence. There should be a process, but instead what Adam Schiff wants is to get United States of America drunk on his favorite cocktail.
There’s three ingredients. One is cherry-picking leaks, second is withholding facts, and three is just outright lying. I mean he is — he lied about his whistleblower contact, he lied when he gave his opening statement in front of the Acting Director of National Intelligence, he lied when he said that President Trump requested President Zelensky to, quote, manufacture dirt. Now, if we all had Ambassador Volker’s testimony, we would know that that’s not true. We would also know that it obliterated the quid pro quo charge, that fairytale, that President Trump supposedly demanded that there would be an investigation open against the Bidens in order to get aid from the United States to Ukraine.
KARL: It’s clear that he brought this up exactly when the issue with aid to Ukraine was raised.
ZELDIN: No — well let’s — this, what Ambassador Volker’s transcript would show you substantively.
Zeldin also stated that contra to media/Democrat talking points that suggest otherwise, the assertions Trump made about Joe Biden and Hunter Biden as it relates to the Ukrainian prosecutor and Burisma Holdings have not been debunked.
Watch the interview below:
I don't believe Burisma, Joe Biden, Zlochevsky, or Hunter Biden should be immune from scrutiny just bc Joe Biden is running for POTUS. Pres Trump & many others (myself included!) have a huge problem w/the Biden's shady arrangement in Ukraine.@ThisWeekABC @jonkarl pic.twitter.com/NX9bRWZLx1
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) October 13, 2019
The points Zeldin made were similar to ones made in recent weeks by Republican Reps. Jim Jordan (OH) and Doug Collins (GA). Both have also called out Pelosi and Schiff for failing to hold a vote on the House floor for an impeachment inquiry, which was done in the cases of former Presidents Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon.
Related –>> Lindsey Graham Warns House Dems: Release The Full Volker Transcript Or I Will Have Him Testify Publicly
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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –
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