By 'Us,' I Meant The US, Trump Says As Impeachment Inquiry Progresses

The democratic impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump is just based on some confusion over semantics, or so is the president’s latest argument.

What Mr. President Tweeted Again

“When I said, in my phone call to the President of Ukraine, ‘I would like you to do US a favor…’ With the word ‘us’ I am referring to the United States, our country,” Trump said in a tweet Wednesday night.

“I then went on to say that I would like to have the Attorney General [of the U.S.] call you or your people,” Trump added.

Impeachment And Founding Fathers

Trump’s comments come at a time when the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary formally began its impeachment proceedings on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.

Three constitutional law professors invited by the Democratic party argued in favor of Trump’s impeachment, while one Republican witness argued against it, Reuters said.

Harvard Law School’s Noah Feldman arguing in favor of the impeachment said that the framers of the Constitution would “identify President Trump’s conduct as exactly the kind of abuse of office, high crimes and misdemeanors, that they were worried about.”

The sole Republican witness, George Washington University Law School’s Jonathan Turkey, argued that the founding fathers wanted impeachment to be used “sparingly,” and the House should seek more evidence of any criminal conduct by the president before proceeding with the inquiry.

Trump is facing allegations of blackmailing newly-elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into announcing an investigation to hurt opponent Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign by withholding key aid to Ukraine.

The president also allegedly asked the Ukrainian President to suggest that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind the supposed interference in the 2016 elections.

Photo Credit: Michael Vadon via Wikimedia