SECONDNEXUS
percolately
georgetakei
comicsands
George's Reads
President Donald Trump deployed another attack against the ongoing impeachment inquiry in response to a slew of transcripts released from closed door testimonies to the committees overseeing the process.
Predictably, Trump decried the transcripts as fake news, claiming without evidence that they were "doctored" before urging Republicans on the committees to release their own transcripts.
Shifty Adam Schiff will only release doctored transcripts. We haven’t even seen the documents and are restricted fr… https://t.co/6qGOqg55yD— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1573482028.0
However, Trump may be fighting an uphill battle with these baseless claims.
Robert Luskin, the lawyer for Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, whose revised testimony last week confirmed a quid pro quo with Ukraine, said that Sondland's testimony was not altered at all.
In an email to The Daily Beast, Luskin wrote:
“No reason to believe that the transcript was altered, and the clarification was released in the form that it was submitted."
Luskin isn't the only one disputing the claims.
Lee Wolosky, lawyer for ex-Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs Fiona Hill, said Hill's testimony wasn't doctored either:
"We have seen nothing to suggest that Dr. Hill's transcript was altered (beyond routine correction of errata)."
Journalists are also pointing out that no Republicans or witnesses have come forward to say any of the testimony was doctored.
The witnesses themselves verified the accuracy of the transcripts - and committee Republicans have not disputed the… https://t.co/bJF0idvyGJ— Manu Raju (@Manu Raju) 1573486093.0
Witnesses review the transcripts and sign-off on their accuracy before they are released. Your paranoia and blatant… https://t.co/x7Ibq0eeiC— Kurt Bardella (@Kurt Bardella) 1573482648.0
Not a single Republican has claimed the transcripts (which have been reviewed by witness lawyers and publicly relea… https://t.co/Vpj2EuZ7sd— Kyle Cheney (@Kyle Cheney) 1573482152.0
No Republican lawmakers who were in the room have disputed the validity of these transcripts, from what I've seen. https://t.co/3SZNV8mpfY— Kaitlan Collins (@Kaitlan Collins) 1573482196.0
While the false claim may have convinced some of Trump's supporters of Democratic sabotage, it only succeeded in disturbing others with how willing the President is to lie in order to discredit his critics.
And... the President starts the week by accusing House Intelligence Committee of releasing 'doctored transcripts.'… https://t.co/MB7qXf7MhI— Susan Glasser (@Susan Glasser) 1573483521.0
The President of the United States is asking the republicans to release doctored transcripts while blaming the dems… https://t.co/w4aEIV913g— Dumb Trump Face (@Dumb Trump Face) 1573486289.0
There is only one appropriate response to Trump's claims that transcripts are or will be doctored: Show us what is… https://t.co/XgWsTCz3VZ— Elizabeth de la Vega (@Elizabeth de la Vega) 1573496782.0
People weren't afraid to call out Trump's latest lie.
@realDonaldTrump “These transcripts that make me look guilty are fake! We need NEW transcripts that don’t make me look bad!”— Santa Claus, CEO (@Santa Claus, CEO) 1573482274.0
@realDonaldTrump This is an EXTREMELY unethical and dangerous statement to suggest the transcripts themselves are d… https://t.co/B71i3SB10B— Maureen (@Maureen) 1573499041.0
@realDonaldTrump Wait wait wait. Now they’re doctored? You change your excuse every 40 mins. You did it. We know yo… https://t.co/llW4C05Ohf— Jaimie Roby (@Jaimie Roby) 1573503133.0
Ironically enough, the White House's summary of the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky WAS doctored for concision before its release, misrepresenting it as a transcript. The word-for-word transcript was moved to a classified server and has yet to be released, despite one of the witnesses testifying that the White House left out key parts of the conversation.