Nunes Lashes Out at Schiff For Holding Presser During Bathroom Break, Dismisses ‘Supposed Bombshells’
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) lashed out at House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) during his opening comments at U.S. diplomat Gordon Sondland’s congressional testimony on Wednesday, as he accused the committee’s chair of using a bathroom break to throw an impromptu presser to promote the hearing’s “supposed bombshells.”
The Nunes’ complaint was a reference to Schiff speaking to reporters during a brief pause in the American ambassador to the European Union’s hearing, during which the Democratic chairman amplified the witness’s testimony, saying that it “goes right to the heart of the issue of bribery as well as other high crimes and misdemeanors”and proves that the “veneer has been torn away.”
“For those of you watching at home, that was not a bathroom break,” Nunes seethed, “that was actually a chance for the Democrats to go out and hold a press conference, Ambassador, for all the supposed bombshells that were in your opening testimony.”
Rather than addressing the key information Sondland revealed during his public testimony, such as his claim that Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and ex-national security adviser John Bolton were all in on what he described as a “quid pro quo” deal with Ukraine, Nunes opted to turn his opening questions into a monologue about why the president’s distrust for Ukraine is justified.
“I want to get back to the facts of the matter here, and the thing that the Democrats have been unwilling to accept is that their operatives got campaign dirt from Ukrainians in the 2016 election. Now, they know it. They know it’s true,” Nunes said. “The Democrats were heavily involved working with Ukrainians to dirty up the Trump campaign in 2016. So Ambassador, I want to go through a few of the incidents that we know.”
He then asked Sondland a meandering series of questions about his knowledge of Ukrainian officials who criticized Trump. However, Sondland replied to Nunes with short retorts repeatedly insisting that he was not aware of the supposedly “anti-Trump” Ukrainians.
Watch above, via CNN.
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