President Trump dismissed claims that he tried to intimidate former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
The president criticized Yovanovitch while she was testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on Friday morning, with Trump tweeting, “Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go?” He also pointed out that administration officials serve at the pleasure of the president.
When asked about Trump’s attack during the public hearing, Yovanovitch said she felt threatened by the president’s words. Her reaction led to speculation that the president could face witness tampering or witness intimidation charges, and the president later addressed those claims while taking questions from reporters during a press conference about price transparency in healthcare.
“I just want to have a total, I want freedom of speech,” Trump stated after being asked if his tweet was meant to intimidate her. “That’s a political process. The Republicans have been treated very badly. And I watched a little bit of it today. I wasn’t able to yesterday because we had the president of Turkey here, and I wasn’t able to watch much. I watched some of it this morning. I thought it was a disgrace.”
The president attempted to moved on, but the reporter then asked if his tweets could be viewed as intimidating.
“I don’t think so at all,” he shot back.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham also released a statement denying claims from Democrats that Trump engaged in witness intimidation.
“The tweet was not witness intimidation, it was simply the President’s opinion, which he is entitled to,” she said. “This is not a trial, it is a partisan political process — or to put it more accurately, a totally illegitimate, charade stacked against the President. There is less due process in this hearing than any such event in the history of our country. It’s a true disgrace.”
