The emails, made public over the weekend, included one from a White House budget office aide, Michael Duffey, telling Pentagon officials to keep quiet “given the sensitive nature of the request.”
The timing of the email — just an hour and a half after Trump raised investigations of his Democratic rivals with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine — added an element to Democrats’ contentions that they say become clearer with every new release of evidence: Trump abused the power of his office to solicit Ukraine to help him win reelection in 2020.
"What happened over the weekend has only bolstered the case that documents should be produced and witnesses testify." — Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“What happened over the weekend has only bolstered the case that documents should be produced and witnesses testify,” Schumer of New York, the Senate Democratic leader, said at a news conference, referring to the emails released to the Center for Public Integrity.
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, showed no sign that he would comply with Schumer’s request. Still, Schumer clearly believed the new emails gave Democrats momentum to present evidence in the trial that the House did not have when it charged Trump with high crimes and misdemeanors.
Credit: ERIN SCHAFF
Credit: ERIN SCHAFF
In a letter to his Senate colleagues, Schumer laid out a long list of records that Democrats would like to see, including internal emails and documents from the White House, the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget relating to the president’s effort to press Ukraine’s leader to investigate Trump’s political rivals.
Here are the specific documents we will need to ensure a fair Senate impeachment trial.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 23, 2019
The email from Michael Duffey shows why it is so important for the White House to produce the requested documents and let witnesses testify under oath. pic.twitter.com/ziO4jHKABo
If there is nothing wrong with withholding the aid, why didn’t Michael Duffey want anyone to know about what he was doing?
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 22, 2019
If the call was so perfect, why is the email so “sensitive” that it should be kept hush-hush?
What are they afraid of? pic.twitter.com/TYDLKB3SYG
In the House on Monday, Democrats indicated that a broader investigation into Trump was not over. The House's counsel, Douglas Letter, raised the prospect of a second impeachment if new evidence emerged that Trump had tried to obstruct justice. His argument was contained in an appeals court filing as part of the Democrats' effort to press the case that they still needed the testimony of Donald McGahn, the former White House counsel.White
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