President calls abuse of power, obstructing Congress articles ‘impeachment lite’
ANALYSIS — President Donald Trump went to Hershey, Pennsylvania, with a few scores to settle hours after House Democrats unveiled two articles of impeachment they appear poised to pass next week.
For more than an hour, Trump railed against House Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff and Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a throng of supporters inside the Giant Center booed, cheered and laughed — depending on the insult of the moment. He dubbed Schiff a “dishonest guy” and a “crooked bastard” and claimed the speaker has “absolutely no control” over a caucus that has lurched dramatically to the left.
The president dropped false statements about a Justice Department inspector general report released earlier this week that found the agency’s 2016 probe of his campaign was riddled with errors but not driven by political biases against him. He also lied about a White House-produced summary of his July 25 call with Ukraine’s president, saying it was “word-for-word transcribed.” That summary features a disclaimer that it does not capture every word spoken by the two leaders.