In his final comments at Davos’ World Economic Forum, President Trump told reporters Wednesday that the impeachment trial is a “con job,” but he’ll leave thorny decisions to senators. He called key Democrats “major sleazebags,” specifically calling Jerrold Nadler a “sleazebag.”
The President added that it would be risky to call former National Security Adviser John R. Bolton to testify after leaving on “bad terms.”
Mr. Trump also said he plans to expand his ban on travelers from Muslim-majority countries.
About the impeachment, he said, “It’s horrible for our country. Our country needs to get back to business.”
The president attacked Rep. Jerrold Nadler specifically who is acting as a Democratic impeachment manager. Trump dubbed his old enemy from New York a “sleaze bag” after sparring with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone in the Senate overnight.
The exchange drew a rebuke from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who admonished the senators to remember “where they are.”
The president in Davos later repeated the phrase in slamming Rep. Adam B. Schiff, California Democrat, as “corrupt” and a “liar” and a “fraud.”
“I have great respect for the Senate as a body and many of the individuals,” Mr. Trump said. “This is the greatest witch hunt.”
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He also said reporters need to “talk to the lawyers” about whether abuse of power is an impeachable offense, not wishing to wade into the finer details of the case.
Trump again explained why he held up military aid to Ukraine, the source of the impeachment, saying he wanted to root out corruption in the Eastern European country and didn’t want to be the “sucker” nation.
He said if his phone call were impeachable, then the likes of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson would have been ousted.
The president tried to focus on the economy in his press conference.
THE EXCHANGE PROMPTED BY “SLEAZEBAGS”
Nadler is very offensive. Listen to this. It’s filled with deception.
Jerry Nadler may have managed to outdo Lead Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff last night with his outlandish and irresponsible allegations and accusations against President @realDonaldTrump and Republican Senators.
His words were reprehensible and unbecoming. pic.twitter.com/brze2HgFQs
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) January 22, 2020
The reason for the admonishment of both sides by Justice Roberts was an exchange that began with “sleazebag” Nadler.
Rep Nadler stated, “It’s embarrassing. The President is on trial in the Senate, but the Senate is on trial in the eyes of the American people. Will you vote to allow all the relevant evidence to be presented here? Or will you betray your pledge to be an impartial juror? … Will you bring Ambassador Bolton here? Will you permit us to present you with the entire record of the president’s misconduct? Or will you instead choose to be complicit in the president’s coverup? So far I’m sad to say I see a lot of senators voting for a coverup, voting to deny witnesses, an absolutely indefensible vote, obviously a treacherous vote.”
That is sleazy. He is saying if the Senate doesn’t agree with, they are basically corrupt. He is accusing the senators of complicity in crimes.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone responded by telling Rep. Nadler, “we’ve been respectful of the Senate. We’ve made our arguments to you. And you don’t deserve, and we don’t deserve, what just happened. Mr. Nadler came up here and made false allegations against our team. He made false allegations against all of you; he accused you of a cover-up. He’s been making false allegations against the president. The only one who should be embarrassed, Mr. Nadler is you, for the way you’ve addressed the United States Senate. This is the United States Senate. You’re not in charge here. … It’s about time we bring this power trip in for a landing.”
White House counsel Jay Sekulow jumped in on Nadler’s nasty accusations by stating, “At about 12:10 a.m., January 22, the chairman of the [House] Judiciary Committee, in this body, on the floor of this Senate, said ‘executive privilege and other nonsense.’ Now think about that for a moment. ‘Executive privilege and other nonsense.’ Mr. Nadler, it is not ‘nonsense.’ These are privileges recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States. And to shred the Constitution, on the floor of the Senate. To serve what purpose? The Senate is not on trial. The Constitution doesn’t allow what just took place. Look what we’ve dealt with for the last, now 13 hours. And we hopefully are closing the proceedings, but not on a very high note.”This exchange only ended when Chief Justice Roberts stepped in and admonished all the parties involved.
That is what Justice Roberts was referencing.
Senator Lee said it was wrong for Justice Robert’s to admonish the GOP for “defending the President.”
Chief Justice John Roberts “I think it is appropriate at this point for me to admonish both the House managers and the president’s counsel in equal to terms. To remember that they are addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body…” pic.twitter.com/iO3AmQSnrq
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 22, 2020
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