The White House on Friday denied that President Trump was trying to intimidate an impeachment witness via Twitter, saying the president was merely expressing his opinion in real time during her testimony.
“The tweet was not witness intimidation, it was simply the president’s opinion, which he is entitled to,” said White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham. “This is not a trial, it is a partisan political process — or to put it more accurately, a totally illegitimate, charade stacked against the president.”
Mr. Trump tweeted during the testimony of former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, “Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad.”
Chairman Adam B. Schiff of the House Intelligence Committee read the tweet to Ms. Yovanovitch and later called it “witness intimidation in real time.”
Ms. Grisham said the president has a right to express his views on what the White House considers a sham process.
“There is less due process in this hearing than any such event in the history of our country. It’s a true disgrace,” she said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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