Things have not been going well for Donald Trump as the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry continues. Even the people serving in the White House have been testifying against him. Then, this person stepped forward to tell his story.
The Trump nominee to the position of ambassador to Russia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan spoke to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said that presidents of any party should not try to coerce foreign countries to investigate their campaign challengers.
Senior White House Reporter for The Washington Post Aaron Blake tweeted about the president’s ambassador to Russia’s testimony. He wrote:
Sullivan testified in the committee. One of the Republican-led committee members asked the appointee whether it was ever acceptable to “launch investigations into political rivals.” According to The Washington Post, he responded:
‘Trump’s Russia ambassador nominee John Sullivan said ‘Soliciting [foreign] investigations into a domestic political opponent – I don’t think that would be in accord with our values.”‘
Then, the nominee responded to the committee’s question about coercing another country for personal politically advantageous reasons:
‘”Soliciting investigations into a domestic political opponent—I don’t think that would be in accord with our values,” U.S. Ambassador to Russia nominee John Sullivan says at confirmation hearing in response to question from Sen. Bob Menendez.’
“Soliciting investigations into a domestic political opponent—I don’t think that would be in accord with our values,” U.S. Ambassador to Russia nominee John Sullivan says at confirmation hearing in response to question from Sen. Bob Menendez. https://t.co/JsAo4rT8TM pic.twitter.com/3MudGt3iY6
— ABC News (@ABC) October 30, 2019
The nominee said that he saw no tangible reason behind firing the former Ukrainian ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. However, he claimed that he could not have retained her after Donald Trump “lost confidence in her ability to serve:”
‘When the President loses confidence in the ambassador, right or wrong, the ambassador needs to come home.’
On October 1, 2019, the chairs of three House committee chairs wrote to Sullivan. They were Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Foreign Affairs chair Eliot Engel (D-NY).
They wrote to Sullivan noting that the Constitution authorizes Congress to “determine the Rules of its Proceedings.” The House deposition regulations regarding deposition state:
‘Witnesses may be accompanied at a deposition by personal, nonngovernmental counsel to advise them of their rights.’
Then, the chairs got down to business:
‘It is a criminal violation punishable by fine or up to five years in prison to, “by threats or force, or impede or endeavor to do so, “the due and proper exercise of the power exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House or any committee of either House.’
The entire letter is included below:
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
