The White House stands in its refusal to participate in one way or another in the impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. The legal adviser to the president, Pat Cipollone, thus rejected Sunday 1st December an invitation to a hearing of the Committee on Judicial Affairs of the House of Representatives, scheduled for Wednesday. This hearing must open a new stage in this procedure.
While the Intelligence Committee, which is responsible for investigating the Ukrainian case, is due to adopt its report Tuesday after a series of public hearings, it is up to the Judicial Affairs Committee to draft a possible indictment. Pat Cipollone judged " doubtful In a letter to the House, that this commission "Offers the President a fair procedure ".
The indictment is part of a telephone conversation between the President of the United States and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, on July 25. During this conversation, Donald Trump called for investigations against his political opponents in exchange for a visit to the White House and military aid that was obviously blocked by him without any official reason being given. been given.
New embarrassing revelations
The end of the witness hearings did not put an end to the publication of new elements. The latest are all unfavorable to the US president, even if they are not able to question the support he has in the Republican Party.
The president and his allies argue that the aid was finally released on September 11, without investigations being opened, which eliminates the suspicion of "giving and giving". But the New York Times said on November 26 that the release was actually made when the president was informed late August of the existence of the report of a whistleblower caused by the phone call of July 25. According to this chronology, this report would have pushed the presidency to backtrack.
For its part, the Washington Post asked on November 27 the reality of a telephone conversation on September 9 between Donald Trump and his ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, specifically responsible for the Ukrainian file. According to the latter, the President of the United States would have refused on this occasion the slightest quid pro quo With Kiev. " I do not want anything He said, according to the ambassador. A testimony taken up with the word by the president afterwards since he is very favorable. The daily newspaper of the federal capital ensures, however, that the White House has no record of this exchange.
