President Donald Trump has been showing, through releasing transcripts and taking other actions, that he has nothing to hide, Rep. Lee Zeldin said Monday, but he would say "heck no" when it comes to the president taking the stand at his own impeachment inquiry hearings.
"(Intelligence Committee Chairman) Adam Schiff created this process," the New York Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "The president wouldn't be just lowering himself to Adam Schiff's level, he would be lowing himself below Adam Schiff's level."
He compared a hearing like that to an internet clip showing a woman "screaming at the sky" because she hadn't yet coped with the 2016 election.
"That's what that hearing would be," said Zeldin. "(For) the president to sit through that while these people scream at the sky…(it) is not the right scene for the president and he should be focused on the priorities of the country."
Over the weekend, Schiff, D-Calif., gave a speech to California Democrats, where he attacked Trump as a "charlatan" and vowed to send him back "to the golden throne he came from," reports Breitbart, and Zeldin called such "disgusting rhetoric" divisive.
"For him to give that kind of speech over the weekend is sick and unhelpful and divisive and not bringing us together," said Zeldin.
The congressman also rejected the idea of Trump providing written answers, commenting that perhaps instead he should "send an autographed copy of his son's new book, 'Triggered.'
On Tuesday Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine, will testify publicly. Volker's transcribed interview from the closed-door hearings was "very informative," said Zeldin.
"He was telling us about how President (Volodymyr) Zelinskiy didn't know there was a hold on aid on July 25th," said Zeldin. "In the read-out, he made no reference to quid pro quo. He makes no reference to it or a hold on aid."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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