During his first campaign rally after Democrats announced two articles of impeachment and the Justice Department inspector general released a report on the FBI’s Russia investigation, President Donald Trump distorted the facts on both topics.
In this week’s fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper discusses some popular GOP talking points regarding the impeachment inquiry, and what they leave out or get wrong.
As the House Judiciary Committee began public hearings on whether to draft and approve articles of impeachment, Republicans presented a set of facts that they claimed cleared President Donald Trump of any wrongdoing, providing an incomplete picture on what congressional testimony has revealed.
Ukrainian prosecutors said they have expanded their investigation involving Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of Burisma, a gas company in Ukraine. But no “indictment” has been announced, as false headlines circulating on social media claim.
President Donald Trump called into “Fox & Friends” a day after the impeachment hearings ended and repeated false statements that have been debunked by fact-checkers and, in some cases, members of his own administration.
President Donald Trump said he “turned off the television” after Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified that the president told him in a phone call, “I want nothing [from Ukraine]. I want no quid pro quo.” But Sondland had a lot more to say than that.
Questionable websites and social media posts claim — without evidence — that former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch’s net worth is as high as $23 million. According to her most recent financial disclosure, Yovanovitch has an estimated net worth of between $1.3 million and $3.3 million.
In one heated exchange during day three of the impeachment hearings, Rep. Adam Schiff cut off a line of questioning to protect the whistleblower’s identity, saying the whistleblower has “a statutory right to anonymity.” But the law he cited does not explicitly prohibit members of Congress from disclosing a whistleblower’s name.
Rep. Steve Scalise spun two keys facts about Ukrainian aid to defend President Donald Trump against accusations that Trump withheld that aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate the alleged Ukraine interference in the 2016 U.S. election, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
A White House statement issued April 21 said President Trump in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky “expressed his commitment to work together with President-elect Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people to implement reforms that strengthen democracy, increase prosperity, and root out corruption.” But a newly released White House memo of the April call showed Trump did not discuss any of that.