Rep. McCarthy: Democrats 'Trying to Frame' Trump Because They're 'Afraid' of 2020
Republican House minority leader slams Democratic impeachment inquiry
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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) blasted Democrats Wednesday, accusing them of "trying to frame" President Donald Trump with their impeachment inquiry because they're "afraid" of facing him in the 2020 election.
“We’ve never had an impeachment in the first term,” Rep. McCarthy told Fox News's "Fox & Friends."
"They are so afraid of facing the president in the election, they’re trying to frame him.
“They’ve [House Democrats] already accused him of being guilty and they keep changing the term because they’re trying to find a crime."
Democratic House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) launched the live-televised impeachment hearings Wednesday morning with a bang of his gavel.
Schiff's inquiry is looking into claims President Trump allegedly put pressure on Ukraine to investigate the 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden's dealings in the country.
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The former vice president has boasted about pressuring Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor, as his son Hunter Biden held a lucrative role board of a Ukrainian natural gas company despite having little relevant expertise, according to Fox News.
Schiff, in a memo and open letter to colleagues on the eve of Wednesday's proceedings, outlined some of the rules.
The list of rules included that members not assigned to the Intelligence Committee were not permitted to make statements or question witnesses, but were allowed to sit in the audience.
McCarthy said there has never been “something so partisan” and that the impeachment inquiry is a “pure” setup by Schiff.
“There’s no due process, the president’s attorney is not in the room, cannot cross-examine, we can not have our witnesses,” McCarthy said.
"We can’t have a whistleblower who this all started from, an individual who was not even on the phone call."
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A whistleblower's complaint about Trump's July 25 telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ignited the impeachment investigation.
During the hearing Wednesday, a key exchange during that 30-minute call has been taking center stage.
The conversation during the call was outlined in a Sept. 24 transcript released by the White House
Zelensky has said he felt no pressure during the call.
