WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the Democratic lawmaker leading the impeachment case against him, Representative Adam Schiff, has “not paid the price, yet” for his actions, a statement Schiff said he viewed as a threat.
The vitriol from Trump against Schiff and other Democrats followed days of their arguments in his impeachment trial before the US Senate on charges he abused the power of his office by pressuring Ukraine to investigate a political rival, and then tried to obstruct an investigation by Congress.
“Shifty Adam Schiff is a corrupt politician, and probably a very sick man. He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!” Trump said on Twitter.
Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if he took the Republican president’s social media post as a threat, Schiff said, “I think it’s intended to be.”
As lead impeachment manager, Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, played a central role in Democrats’ efforts to paint Trump’s behaviour as dangerous to democracy in America and around the world in arguments before the Republican-led Senate, where Trump is likely to be acquitted.
While some Republican senators said Schiff had been effective, most appeared unswayed. The lawmaker from California, a former federal prosecutor, has been a regular target of attack from Trump and Trump’s Republican supporters in Congress.
Trump’s team of lawyers began their defence on Saturday, arguing Democrats’ efforts to remove the president from office would set a “very, very dangerous” precedent in an election year.
Meanwhile, Democratic US House impeachment manager Adam Schiff said on Sunday he believes Republican President Donald Trump’s comment that he has not yet “paid the price” was intended as a threat.
Trump launched another attack on Democrats including Schiff over the Senate impeachment trial earlier on Sunday, saying on Twitter “he has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!”
Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if he viewed that as a threat, Schiff said, “I think it was intended to be.” — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
