Lewandowski, House Dems spar at hearing
The first impeachment hearing held by House Democrats quickly turned hostile on Tuesday as their sole witness, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, stonewalled many of their questions and declared they were “focusing on petty and personal politics.”
Lewandowski, a devoted friend and supporter of President Trump, followed White House orders not to discuss conversations with the president beyond what was already public in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. Trump cheered him along as he testified, tweeting that Lewandowski’s opening statement was “beautiful.”
The hearing underscores what has been a central dilemma for the House Judiciary Committee all year as they investigate — and potentially try to impeach — Trump. Many of the Democrats’ base supporters want them to move quickly to try to remove Trump from office. But the White House has blocked their oversight requests at almost every turn, declining to provide new documents or allow aides and associates to testify.
On Tuesday, Lewandowski, who is considering a run for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire, defiantly made clear he wouldn’t make life easy for the Democrats. He demanded that they provide him a copy of the Mueller report, sending Democratic staff scrambling to find one. He read directly from the report and asked Democrats to read passages to him, showing that he wouldn’t say much beyond what Mueller wrote. Republicans on the panel forced a series of procedural votes, immediately sending the hearing into disarray.
“He’s filibustering,” said a frustrated House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler.