President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that the administration might try to stop Democrat impeachment efforts through the courts because "they're going to tie up our country."
"What these guys, the Democrats, are doing to this country is a disgrace — and it shouldn't be allowed," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews after arriving from meetings at the United Nations in New York.
"There should be a way of stopping it," he continued. "Maybe legally through the courts, but they're going to tie up our country.
"We can't talk about gun regulation. We can't talk about anything because, frankly, they are so tied up.
"They're so screwed up, nothing gets done unless I do it."
Trump's comments came after acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified before the House Intelligence Committee on the whistleblower's complaint that he released to congressional committees on Wednesday.
Maguire released a redacted unclassified version of the whistleblower's complaint Thursday before his testimony.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that six committees in the Democratic-controlled House would investigate President Trump for impeachment regarding his July 25 telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about suggesting a probe of former Vice President Joe Biden.
"Nancy Pelosi has been hijacked by the radical left," Trump told reporters at Andrews, "and everybody knows it."
The president also took to Twitter minutes after Maguire's testimony ended to question "a whistleblower with second-hand information?" and to bash Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the Intelligence Committee's chairman, as having "zero credibility."
"A whistleblower with second-hand information?" the president tweeted. "Another fake-news story!
"See what was said on the very nice, no pressure, call," he continued. "Another witch hunt!"
In another post five minutes later, Trump said: "Adam Schiff has zero credibility. Another fantasy to hurt the Republican Party!"
The president's rant continued about a half-hour later, as he called Schiff "liddle" and denounced the impeachment probe as a "Democrat scam."
In response to Trump's initial tweet, Schiff told reporters on Capitol Hill after the Maguire hearing ended: "I'm always flattered when I'm attacked by someone of the president's character."