House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that President Donald Trump will have “every opportunity” to defend himself and make his case during the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
“The president could come right before the committee and talk, speak all the truth that he wants if he wants to take the oath of office, or he could do it in writing,” Pelosi, California Democrat, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“He has every opportunity to present his case.”
The president, along with congressional Republicans, have argued that thus far, the Democrats’ rules for the impeachment inquiry have limited Trump’s due process rights under the Constitution’s Sixth Amendment.
Democrats have countered that the rules are put in place to ensure that witness testimony is adequately provided.
House Democrats are investigating whether the president improperly withheld military aid to Ukraine in order to secure announcements that the government in Kiev was probing alleged Democrat interference in the 2016 elections, as well as activities by former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Pelosi said in the interview that the “facts will determine” whether the probe could expand beyond Ukraine.
“If he has information that is exculpatory, that means ex, taking away, culpable, blame, then we look forward to seeing it,” she said.
She also claimed that lawmakers have found themselves in a “sad” situation.
“None of us came here to impeach a president. This is very sad,” she said.
Republicans and supporters of the president counter that Democrats have been seeking a path to impeachment since Trump won office in 2016 because they were unable to accept Hillary Clinton’s defeat.
Pingback: Trump to ‘seriously consider’ providing testimony in impeachment inquiry