Trump slams impeachment hearings as 'joke' around the world Washington Times, Nov 15, 2019
President Trump said defiantly Friday that the impeachment hearings have become “a joke all over the world” and that he has a right to free speech about proceedings where Democrats are taking away Republicans’ rights to be heard.
“I think it’s considered a joke all over Washington and all over the world,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House. “The Republicans are given no due process whatsoever. We’re not allowed to do anything.”
Mr. Trump was asked if he was trying to tamper with witness Marie Yovanovitch, former ambassador to Ukraine, by tweeting during her impeachment testimony Friday that things “turned bad” everywhere she served.
“I’ll tell you about what tampering is — tampering is when a guy like ‘shifty Schiff’ doesn’t let us have lawyers,” Mr. Trump said of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff. “Tampering is when Schiff doesn’t let us have witnesses, doesn’t let us speak.”
Asked again he was trying to intimidate Ms. Yovanovitch, the president countered, “I just want to have a total freedom of speech.”
“The Republicans have been treated very badly, and I watched a little bit of it today,” the president said. “I thought it was a disgrace. When we have great Republican representatives, people elected by the people, and they’re not allowed to even ask a question, they’re not allowed to make a statement. We’re not allowed to have witnesses. We’re not allowed to have legal counsel, White House counsel. It’s a disgrace and it’s an embarrassment to our nation.”