Judiciary Democrat: Trump himself is ‘smoking gun’ in impeachment case

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said early Monday that the impeachment case against President Trump is unique in that the president is the strongest witness to prove the allegations he’s denying.

“This is a fairly clear-cut case where the president himself is the smoking gun,” Jayapal said on CNN’s “New Day.” 

“I just want to say that this is an odd situation, where we have the first and best witness very early on, on national television, saying exactly what he wanted from that call with Ukrainian President [Volodymyr] Zelensky. And that was Donald Trump, when he came out and he said he wanted an investigation into the Bidens,” she added.

JUST NOW: “The President himself is the smoking gun.” – @RepJayapal on the @realDonaldTrump
“confession.”

“We had the first and best witness …on national television, saying exactly what he wanted from that call.”@NewDay pic.twitter.com/HLSS2OK5ns

— John Berman (@JohnBerman) December 9, 2019

Jayapal was referring to Trump’s remarks in early October, speaking to reporters on the White House lawn. When asked what he hoped Zelensky “would do about the Bidens” after their phone call, Trump said, “Well, I would think that, if they were honest about it, they’d start a major investigation into the Bidens. It’s a very simple answer.”

Jayapal said the clip will be played during the Judiciary Committee’s final impeachment hearing later Monday. 

Jayapal also addressed political concerns facing vulnerable Democrats in moderate districts. 

“None of us came to Congress to impeach a president, but all of us took an oath to uphold the Constitution and that is front and center of every person’s mind,” she said. 

“We understand that not every voter may be with us, but at the end of the day we have to look at ourselves and be clear that we are doing what we can to save our democracy, and I believe that most people — not everyone but most people — will understand what a critical responsibility that is for us,” she added.

Jayapal also said she thinks voters will “celebrate” Democrats’ patriotism and “wish” that the GOP and Trump would “show some modicum of that same patriotism.”