The Manila Times

Trump: I want to meet my accuser

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W President Donald Trump said on wants and deserves to meet the anonymous

The whistleblo­wer, who could

for safety if his or her identity is revealed, according to a lawyers’

Battling the deepest crisis of his presidency, Trump in a series of tweets railed against accusation­s that he should be impeached for urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigat­e Joe Biden, his potential 2020 White House challenger.

“Like every American, I deserve to meet my accuser, especially when this accuser, the so-called ‘whistleblo­wer,’ represente­d a perfect conversati­on with a foreign leader in a totally inaccurate and fraudulent way,” Trump said.

Trump accused top Democratic lawmaker Adam Schiff of lying to

said to Zelensky in the July phone call.

“He wrote down and read terrible things, then said it was from the mouth of the President of the United States. I want Schiff questioned at the highest level for Fraud & Treason,” he wrote.

Trump’s Republican aides have sought to turn the tables on Democrats pushing for his impeachmen­t, insisting that the president was the true “whistleblo­wer” as he had asked Ukraine to investigat­e Biden and his son for corruption.

“This individual is a saboteur trying to undermine a democratic­ally elected government,” Trump advisor Stephen Miller insisted on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Getting to the bottom of a corruption scandal in Ukraine is in the American national interest.”

Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani — who has emerged as his point man in the Ukraine scandal — led the charge along with Miller in combative Sunday talk show appearance­s.

Brandishin­g what he said were affidavits incriminat­ing Biden’s son Hunter over his work at a Ukrainian company, Giuliani said Trump was duty bound to raise the issue with Kiev.

“If he hadn’t asked them to investigat­e Biden, he would have violated the constituti­on,” Giuliani

that “Donald Trump was framed by the Democrats.”

‘Honor your oath’

The Democratic-led House of Repimpeach­ment inquiry last week

shakedown” of Zelensky aimed at damaging Biden.

Trump and his allies claim Biden, as Barack Obama’s vice witness testimony.

Schiff said he expected the whistleblo­wer to testify “very soon” — with all precaution­s taken to protect their identity.

‘In harm’s way’?

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