When it comes to President Trump, there’s always a Russian angle.
House Democrats drew a direct line between Trump’s Ukraine scheme and the Kremlin’s political objectives as they zeroed in on the president’s alleged abuses of power during a second round of impeachment trial arguments Thursday.
Early in the nearly nine-hour-long proceeding, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff delved into a hypothetical scenario in which President Vladimir Putin was informed by an aide that the American commander-in-chief had been pushing the theory that anti-Trump Ukrainians — not pro-Trump Russians — interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.
“You can imagine Putin: ‘You’re kidding, right? You mean he really believes this? His own people don’t believe this. Nobody believes this,’” said Schiff (D-Calif.), who’s the lead impeachment manager making the case for Trump’s removal from office.
“But it’s worse than that,” Schiff continued. “It’s worse than that.”