Stephen Miller defends Trump, accuses Democrats of ‘witch hunt part two’

White House adviser Stephen Miller defended President Trump in a lengthy back-and-forth with reporters Friday, accusing Democrats of engaging in “witch hunt part two” with their impeachment inquiry.

Miller singled out House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in his criticism of congressional Democrats. He also lashed out at the media for its coverage of the Ukraine controversy.

{mosads}“I think Adam Schiff, and I think the entire House Democratic caucus, is humiliating and embarrassing themselves,” Miller told reporters at the White House after taping a television interview.

“They’re running these secret sham proceedings, a violation of every principle of justice, due process and fairness that is embedded in our constitution and our cultural history and centuries of legal precedent,” he added.

Miller said those actions amounted to starting “witch hunt part two” — a reference to language Trump often used to describe former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

The senior adviser, who has been influential in shaping much of the administration’s immigration policy, sought to deflect questions about the White House’s strategy to respond to the impeachment inquiry. He denied there are concerns within the White House that its refusal to cooperate with Democrats’ investigations is not working.

Asked whether Trump officials were uncomfortable defending the president amid mounting questions about his dealings with Ukraine, Miller replied: “That’s a ludicrous question.” 

“We’re all 100 percent behind not only this incredible president but exposing the corruption of the permanent bureaucracy, also known as the deep state, and the Washington Democrats that are engaged in this scam and witch hunt,” Miller said.

Miller is one of the first White House officials to speak with reporters over the past week. 

{mossecondads}Administration officials who typically appear on cable news shows, like White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, have been absent from the airwaves amid much of the impeachment inquiry, which began last month.

The White House escalated its standoff with Democrats earlier this week when it sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and three House chairmen accusing Democrats of trying to overturn the results of the 2016 presidential election and raising various legal concerns about the impeachment inquiry, arguing Democrats had left Trump and his administration “no choice” but to refuse to comply with the probe.

But one key witness, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, appeared for a deposition pursuant to a subpoena on Friday despite directions from the State Department and White House not to show up, Democrats said. Other witnesses are expected to testify next week.

In talking with reporters Friday, Miller also sought to focus on allegations about the Biden family. He called former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic front-runner, the “real loser” in the controversy because his “highly substantiated corrupt behavior is being exposed on a daily basis.”

Miller’s remarks came one day after Trump engaged in fiery attacks against the Bidens during a political rally in Minneapolis.

Miller lashed out at the press for describing allegations against Biden, raised by Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, as unsubstantiated.

He cited Biden’s position as the vice president at a time when his son, Hunter, received a lucrative contract from a Ukrainian energy firm as evidence of corrupt behavior. Miller also noted that Biden was the point person for the Obama administration’s Ukraine efforts at the time.

“Every element of the corruption is substantiated,” Miller said.

He sidestepped a question about why Trump hadn’t asked Attorney General William Barr to investigate the Bidens if the allegations were so compelling, and why Giuliani was investigating them instead.

“You should all be grateful that Rudy Giuliani is helping to shine a light on the endemic corruption that occurred when Joe Biden was vice president,” Miller said.

He added that there was “absolutely no comparison” between the concerns raised about Hunter Biden’s foreign dealings while his father was vice president and Ivanka Trump’s overseas business dealings during her father’s presidency.

The inquiry by House Democrats has focused in large part on a whistleblower complaint that accused Trump of using his official position to pressure Ukraine for an investigation into the Bidens and in so doing solicited foreign interference in the 2020 election.

Miller described the anonymous intelligence official who filed the complaint as a “so-called whistleblower” and accused the individual of operating with a partisan agenda.

Miller seized on reports that the whistleblower had a working relationship with one of the Democratic presidential candidates. The whistleblower’s attorneys have responded by saying their client has had an “apolitical” career in the executive branch and that the individual never worked for or advised a political candidate, campaign or entity.

The whistleblower’s description of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while not a firsthand account, closely matched a rough transcript released by the White House last month.