President Donald Trump has expressed his resolve to fight for the American people in a video message, following a whistleblower complaint about a phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s president that prompted the House to launch an impeachment inquiry.
“What’s going on now is the single greatest scam in the history of American politics,” Trump said in his video on Sept. 28.
“The Democrats want to take away your guns, they want to take away your health care, they want to take away your vote, they want to take away your freedom, they want to take away your judges, they want to take away everything. We can never let this happen.
“We are fighting to drain the swamp. And that’s exactly what I’m doing and you see why we have to do it because our country is at stake like never before. It’s all very simple. They’re trying to stop me because I’m fighting for you. And I'll never let that happen.”
House Democrats are moving forward with an impeachment inquiry announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sept. 24. On Sept. 27, three House committees announced that one of the panels has issued a subpoena to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over documents relating to Ukraine dealings, as well as scheduled depositions of five State Department officials as part of the inquiry.
Pelosi initiated the impeachment inquiry over media reports about a whistleblower complaint that centers on a phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky. The transcript of the call and complaint were released this week.
House Republican leaders have criticized Pelosi for making the decision to start the inquiry prior to reviewing the documents. The transcript revealed that although Trump had asked Zelensky to look into Biden, he didn’t exert any pressure and neither was there any quid pro quo.
Earlier on Sept. 28, Trump took to Twitter to criticize Democrats, while singling out six House members: Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee; and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.); as well as her three close allies—Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
“Oh well, maybe next time!”
In separate posts, he wrote, “Presidential Harassment!,” “Make America Great Again!,” and “Keep America Great!”
Trump and other critics have suggested that the impeachment inquiry would distract the House from its legislative agenda in Congress.
On Sept. 25, at the United Nations, Trump told reporters that he tried talking to Pelosi about gun laws but said she didn’t appear interested.
“I’ll tell you what: Nancy Pelosi is not interested in guns and gun protection and gun safety. All she is thinking about is this. She’s been taken over by the radical left, the whole Democrat Party. And you take a look at what’s happening in the media today. The whole party is taken over by the left.”
Similarly, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) said that compared to the last session, he feels that fewer bills are being passed now, and Congress “seldom” comes together to get things done.
“I think probably only a third of the number of bills compared to [the] last session,” he told Fox News in an appearance on Sept. 28.
Meanwhile, Pelosi told a press conference on Sept. 27 that the inquiry wouldn’t affect the House’s legislative processes.
