The House Judiciary Committee is debating the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. He's charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. and his allies are scrambling to defend him.
One of these attempts was from the Republican Party's official Twitter account—and it fell flat.
The GOP tweeted five inconvenient "facts," which nullify the argument for impeachment, according to the account.
The problem? Practically none of these are a fact.
Let's break it down.
1. No evidence of wrongdoing by the President.
This one should be easy. Multiple Trump officials, including Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, said that military aid to Ukraine was contingent on the country announcing an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, as well as the 2016 election. Some Republicans cite a September 7 call between Trump and Sondland in which Trump told the ambassador that he wanted "nothing" from Ukraine and specifically said the words "no quid pro quo."
What they fail to mention is that this call occurred two days after reports of the reason for the aid stalling began to break.
2. Ukraine said there was no pressure.
This is actually true, but without context. Ukraine relies on military aid from the U.S. and its new President, Volodymyr Zelensky, is a political newcomer. The power dynamic between the two leaders reinforces the likelihood that Zelensky said there was no pressure in order to maintain a good relationship with the President and to avoid retaliation. After all, Trump already proved he's willing to withhold crucial aid if Ukrainian officials don't do his bidding. This could only get worse by Zelensky incinerating his relationship with a President whose impeachment likely won't lead to removal.
3. Lethal aid wouldn't exist without President Trump.
Questionable. Congress approved lethal aid to Ukraine, then Trump held it up before releasing it. While it may be true that lethal aid wouldn't exist without Trump, it wouldn't exist without Congress either.
4. There was no obstruction.
Ask the numerous White House officials—including former Energy Secretary Rick Perry and the President's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani—whom the House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed to testify before the committee.
Wait, actually, you can't. The President forbade them from complying with the subpoenas. The White House has also withheld numerous documents regarding correspondence with Ukraine.
5. This is an unfair and unprecedented impeachment process.
The House Judiciary Committee has invited Trump and his counsel to participate in the hearings, which they refused. If the White House is confident of the President's innocence, blocking those with closest knowledge is a funny way of showing it. Democrats have given into the demands of Republicans that the House vote to commence the inquiry, that the House hold public hearings, and that the President be given the chance at representation.
The goal posts keep moving anyway.
People weren't going to let fiction be framed as fact.
Speaking of facts, Trump has told nearly 13,435 lies since his inauguration.
