House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said President Donald Trump engaged in “witness intimidation in real-time” during Friday’s public impeachment hearing — by posting tweets critical of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, which Schiff printed out and read to the diplomat.
Schiff told reporters following the first portion of the hearing that Trump engaged in “witness intimidation in real-time” with his tweets.
“What we saw today is, it wasn’t enough that Ambassador Yovanovitch was smeared. It wasn’t enough that she was attacked. It wasn’t enough that she was recalled for no reason – at least no good reason,” he began.
“But we saw today – witness intimidation in real-time by the President of the United States,” Schiff declared. “Once again going after this dedicated and respected career public servant in an effort to not only chill her but to chill others that may come forward.”
“We take this kind of witness intimidation and obstruction of the inquiry very seriously,” Schiff added, alluding to what he said during the hearing moments before.
Schiff interrupted his own counsel’s questions to Yovanovitch during the hearing, reading their contents aloud and baiting her to describe Trump’s actions as “intimidating”:
SCHIFF: “And now the president in real time is attacking you. What effect do you think that has on other witnesses’ willing to come forward and expose wrongdoing?”
YOVANOVITCH: “It’s very intimidating.”
SCHIFF: “Designed to intimidate, is it not?”
YOVANOVITCH: “I mean I can’t speak to what the president is trying to do, but I think the effect is to be intimidating.”
SCHIFF: “Well I want to let you know ambassador, that some of us here take witness intimidation very, very seriously.”
However, conservatives pointed out that Yovanovitch would not have known about the president’s remarks during the hearing if Schiff had not deliberately highlighted them: