President Trump escalated his attack on House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, suggesting the California Democrat should be arrested for treason for reading a parody of Trump’s July call with Ukraine’s leader.
“Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to Congress and the American people. It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call. Arrest for Treason?,” Trump tweeted Monday.
Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to Congress and the American people. It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call. Arrest for Treason?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2019
Schiff read his characterization of Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his opening statement Thursday at a hearing with acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.
Schiff’s version of the conversation had the president directing Zelensky “seven times” to “make up dirt on my political opponent.”
“I have a favor I want from you,” Schiff said. “And I’m going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good. I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? Lots of it, on this and on that.”
[Read more: ‘The worst kind of partisan’: The View panel tears into Adam Schiff over Trump transcript ‘parody’]
Trump last week accused Schiff of lying to Congress to make him sound guilty. “He has been doing this for two years. I am calling for him to immediately resign from Congress based on this fraud!” Trump tweeted Friday morning. Trump also called Schiff “a sick man” and said there should be an investigation.
Schiff later clarified during the hearing that his reading of the president’s call was “meant to be at least partly parody” after his summarization was condemned by Trump’s allies.
“Of course, the president never said, ‘If you don’t understand me I’m going to say it seven more times.’ My point is, that’s the message that the Ukraine president was receiving in not so many words,” he said.
