WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2019) The White House lashed out at congressional Democrats after a morning of impeachment hearings in which two administration witnesses characterized President Donald Trump's request that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy investigate political rival and former Vice President Joe Biden for corruption as inappropriate.
"We have learned nothing new in today's illegitimate 'impeachment' proceedings," White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a press release. "Today's hearing only further exposes that Chairman [Adam] Schiff and the Democrats are simply blinded by their hatred for Donald Trump and rabid desire to overturn the outcome of a free and fair election."
House Democrats accuse Trump of bribing Zelensky by asking for an investigation of Joe Biden and his son Hunter at a time when Trump had placed a hold on nearly $400 million in military aid to the former Soviet republic.
Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, and National Security Council staffer Alexander Vindman, both of whom listened to a July 25 Trump-Zelenskyy phone conversation when Trump requested the Biden investigation.
Both characterized the US president's request for a Biden investigation as inappropriate, but disagreed with the Democrats' claim that Trump had bribed Ukraine.
They also said they knew of no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens.
Trump has released the transcript of the telephone call and said there was no quid pro quo in his dealings with Ukraine. In addition, Trump characterized the impeachment inquiry as yet another political witch hunt by Democrats aimed at reversing the result of the 2016 presidential election.
