Amy Klobuchar Calls Donald Trump’s Impeachment ‘A Global Watergate’ During Democratic Debate
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota drew applause on the first question during Thursday night’s Democratic debate for labeling President Donald Trump‘s impeachment a “global Watergate,” referring to his dealings with Ukraine.
“This is a global Watergate. In the case of Watergate, a paranoid president facing election looked for dirt on a political opponent. He did it by getting people to break in. This president did it by calling a political leader to look for dirt on a political opponent,” Klobuchar said during the primary debate in Los Angeles, according to The Washington Post.
The debate began with moderator Judy Woodruff of PBS asking the 2020 candidates how they can convince more Americans that impeaching Trump is the right thing to do. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts got the first opportunities to answer the question. However, Klobuchar was the first to directly answer it, saying the Constitution allows for the power to impeach because the founders “feared that a president would betray the trust of the American people for a foreign power.”
The House on Wednesday voted to pass two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — over Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, as previously reported by The Inquisitr. Following months of investigation, House Democrats found that the president pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden, a 2020 political rival, and obstructed Congress by ordering top-level staffers to defy congressional subpoenas.
The vote sets up a trial in the Senate, where Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York are struggling to work out a deal on the proceedings, as previously reported by The Inquisitr.
The divide between the two parties centers on whether or not the Senate should force White House officials to testify. Republicans are seeking a quick trial without witnesses, and Democrats insist testimony is necessary for a fair trial.
Klobuchar pushed the White House to agree to send acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former National Security adviser John Bolton to the Senate, both of whom are believed to have intimate knowledge of the administration’s dealings with Ukraine, including its decision to temporarily withhold nearly $400 million in military aid to the country.
.@amyklobuchar calls the Trump-Ukrainian scandal a "global watergate."
"If the President claims that he is innocent, why doesn't he have all the President's men testify?" pic.twitter.com/0VNC81R5RD
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) December 20, 2019
“And I would make this case. As we face this trial in the Senate, if the president claims that he is so innocent, then why doesn’t he have all the president’s men testify?” Klobuchar asked.
“If president Trump thinks that he should not be impeached, he should be not scared to put forward his own witnesses,” she added.
