Devin Nunes Says ‘Tough Luck’ To Officials Concerned About Donald Trump’s Ukraine Actions
In an interview with Fox News broadcast on Sunday, Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California downplayed the concerns about President Donald Trump’s actions toward Ukraine, reports Mediaite.
Nunes appeared on Mark Levin’s Life, Liberty & Levin to defend the president against accusations leveled against him by State Department officials and Democrats in the House of Representatives.
According to Nunes, the president’s actions toward Ukraine were simply a reflection of his foreign policy vision.
“The president was very clear on foreign policy, he did not like money that we were spending overseas on anything,” the California Republican said.
Nunes argued that Ukraine is a “corrupt country” in which oligarchs control politicians, including presidents.
According to Nunes, Ukraine “just had a change of a candidate supported by some oligarch and now it’s a candidate supported by a new oligarch.”
The Congressman also dismissed the concerns expressed by Ambassadors Marie Yovanovitch and Bill Taylor, both of whom testified before Congress earlier this week.
“These ambassadors were upset that the president somehow was going around them,” he said.
Nunes then reasserted that policy disagreements are the main issue, arguing that some in the State Department did not support Trump’s appointees, and disagreed with the president’s decision to send his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to investigate the situation in the eastern European country.
“People in the State Department didn’t like that the president had a special envoy, they didn’t like that the EU investor was going over to Ukraine, they didn’t like that Rudy Giuliani was investigating what was happening in Ukraine, but tough luck,” according to Nunes.
“The president gets to make those calls,” the lawmaker added.
Nunes has, like virtually all Republicans in Congress, long been pushing back against House Democrats’ allegations against Trump, and arguing that the impeachment inquiry is a “coup” meant to forcefully remove the president from the White House.
Check out this clip from tonight's Life, Liberty & Levin. My guest is Devin Nunes at my new time, 8pm eastern on Fox News. pic.twitter.com/PZsRLpjW16
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) November 17, 2019
The congressman has also taken concrete action to pressure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.
According to Nunes, either Schiff or a member of his team had meetings with the anonymous intelligence community official who blew the whistle on Trump’s allegedly inappropriate contacts with the Ukrainian government.
In a formal letter sent last week, Nunes demanded that Schiff testify behind closed doors in order to explain his alleged coordination with the White House whistleblower.
Republicans have also called on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, to testify. Schiff rejected these demands, vowing to not let the GOP use the impeachment probe to launch “sham” investigations into Democrats.
