Trump assails ‘Impeachment Hoax’ in Saturday morning tweets

President Trump assailed congressional Democrats and the Senate’s upcoming impeachment trial in a string of tweets on Saturday morning.

The attacks come just days before Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is expected to deliver the two articles of impeachment the House passed in December to the Senate. Pelosi had refrained from transmitting the articles to try to force the Senate to agree to hear from witnesses before the trial began, but the GOP garnered enough votes to move forward with a trial without such a commitment. 

“Now the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, are asking @senatemajldr Mitch McConnell to do the job that they were unable to do,” tweeted Trump, who also blasted the House’s investigation as a “totally partisan Impeachment Hoax.”

Now the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, are asking @senatemajldr Mitch McConnell to do the job that they were unable to do. They proved NOTHING but my total innocence in the House, despite the most unfair & biased hearings in the history of Congress. Now they demand fairness!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2020

Trump also went after Pelosi by name, saying she will “go down as the absolute worst Speaker of the House in U.S. history!”

Nancy Pelosi will go down as the absolute worst Speaker of the House in U.S. history!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2020

Pelosi has spearheaded the effort to pressure the Senate to commit to hearing from witnesses, with many Democrats noting that new information has arisen since the articles were passed in the House and that former national security adviser John Bolton, who is believed to have intimate knowledge of the president’s dealings with Ukraine, has now said he’s willing to testify. 

However, Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), have largely coalesced behind the framework for the Clinton impeachment trial in 1999, which involved two resolutions: one to begin the trial by allowing arguments from managers from both sides and a later one regarding witnesses.

Pelosi said Friday she would send the articles of impeachment to the Senate next week.

The House impeached Trump in December for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after Democrats said he made security aid and a White House meeting for Ukraine contingent on the country announcing investigations into his political rivals.

Saturday’s tweets suggest that Trump’s focus is returning to the impeachment trial after days of controversy in Washington over last week’s killing of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top general.