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Donald Trump erupted in fury Wednesday at unrelenting probes into his links to Russia, as the top Democrat in Congress accused the president of a βcover-upβ that could be an impeachable offense.
A livid Trump abruptly shut down a White House meeting with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, announcing he could not deal with them on policy until βphony investigationsβ are brought to a close.
The clash marked a dramatic escalation in Trumpβs war of words with congressional opponents seeking to bring him to account for what they say is presidential wrongdoing.
Trumpβs ire was seemingly triggered by House Speaker Pelosi, his nemesis in Congress, who declared following an emergency meeting with lawmakers earlier Wednesday: βWe believe that the president of the United States is engaged in a cover-up.β
βI donβt do cover-ups,β Trump shot back at a hastily arranged Rose Garden press event moments after the aborted White House talks.
βSo get these phony investigations over with,β Trump said β warning a failure to do so would spell gridlock on issues like fixing the countryβs infrastructure, on which the two sides had hoped for a breakthrough Wednesday.
βYou canβt investigate and legislate simultaneously,β he added. βIt just doesnβt work that way.β
A two-year investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russiaβs interference in the 2016 US election concluded there was no hard evidence Trumpβs campaign colluded with Moscow.
But the prosecutor said he could not rule clearly on whether Trump obstructed justice, leaving it to the Trump-appointed attorney general, Bill Barr, to declare there was no obstruction.
βImpeachable offenseβ
The Democratsβ decision to pursue the grey areas of the investigation β and their open discussion of whether to pursue the politically perilous process of impeachment β has enraged Trump.
βPRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!βΒ he tweeted Wednesday, as he stepped up his attacks on the probes.
Any pretense of cooperation on policy evaporated as Trump and Pelosi locked horns, with the impeachment issue inching toward center stage in Washington.
Trump was visibly angry when he arrived at the meeting with Pelosi and Schumer, according to people familiar with what transpired.
The president did not shake hands or sit down, and accused Pelosi of saying something βterrible.β
Republican leadersΒ sought to pin the blame on Democrats.
βTheir obsession with impeaching this president is paralyzing any progress we could be making,β House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Twitter.
Speaking after she left the White House, Pelosi doubled down, charging that Trump could have committed an impeachable offense by publicly refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas connected to Muellerβs probe.
She likened it to the βcover-upβ that brought down former president Richard Nixon in the Watergate crisis.
βThe fact is, in plain sight, in the public domain, this president is obstructing justice and heβs engaged in a cover-up,β she told a Washington conference. βAnd that could be an impeachable offense.β
In a letter to the Democratic Caucus Pelosi wrote that Trump threw a βtemper tantrumβ β something the president denied.
βThis is not true,β Trump tweeted late Wednesday. βI was purposely very polite and calm, much as I was minutes later with the press in the Rose Garden.β
He then wrote that House Democrats only want βput the Mueller Report behind them and start all over again. No Do-Overs!β
Pelosiβs remarks appeared to reflect the growing anger by Democrats at White House stonewalling, even as she has worked hard to tamp down talk of impeachment.
A day earlier, Democrats were left seething when Trumpβs former lawyer Don McGahn, a key figure in the Mueller report, refused to testify about obstruction allegations against the president.
Goading Congress?
Democrats also argue that Barr is subverting congressional oversight powers in order to protect the president.
But on Wednesday, the House Intelligence Committeeβs chairman said the Justice Department had agreed to begin honoring a subpoena for material related to Muellerβs probe.
Despite her accusation of a cover-up, Pelosi has been mindful of the politically-charged nature of an impeachment move ahead of a 2020 presidential election, especially one that is likely to fail in the Republican-led Senate.
She has argued in favor of keeping the focus on educating the public through the court process and congressional probes, rather than leaping to impeachment.
The issue has divided Democrats for months. Even as some in Congress β and several Democratic presidential contenders β are eager to assert its historical oversight powers as a check against the executive, there are concerns the tactic could backfire, energizing Trumpβs base ahead of the election.
βHeβs really trying to goad Congress into impeaching him,β congressman Peter Welch, a member of Democratic leadership, told CNN.
Pelosi and Schumer meanwhile offered their own scathing descriptions of Wednesdayβs heated scene.
Schumer called the meetingβs dramatic cancellation βa pre-planned excuseβ and said βwhat happened in the White House makes your jaw drop.β
Likewise suggesting Trump manufactured the row to avoid committing to an enormously expensive infrastructure bill, Pelosi said: βI pray for the president of the United States.β
AFP
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