Fox News anchor lies, claims Trump wants key witnesses to testify
Written by Eric Kleefeld
Published
Fox News’ purported “news”-side anchor Sandra Smith peddled an absolute fiction Thursday morning, claiming that President Donald Trump wants key witnesses to testify in the impeachment proceedings — when he’s actually been blocking them the whole time.
While interviewing Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) on America’s Newsroom, Smith suggested that the House Democrats should call other witnesses before proceeding with impeachment, such as former national security adviser John Bolton and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
As explained in The New York Times, the Republicans’ expert witness, law professor Jonathan Turley, alleged at Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing that there was “a facially incomplete and inadequate record in order to impeach a president,” based on “unsubpoenaed witnesses with material evidence.” But in fact, Trump has asserted broad executive privilege, claimed immunity from subpoenas, and directed potential witnesses not to appear at all.
This argument goes to the heart of a claim that Republicans and conservative media have made: declaring that witnesses have offered only “hearsay” evidence against the president — even in the case of direct witnesses such as Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Trump-appointed Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland — while trying to keep as many core witnesses as possible away from the investigation.