Trump slams Pelosi amid brewing impeachment talks: 'I don't do coverups'

Advertisement
Trump slams Pelosi amid brewing impeachment talks: 'I don't do coverups'

Trump Rose Garden

Evan Vucci/AP Photo

President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, Jan 25, 2019, in Washington.

Advertisement
  • President Donald Trump called a last-minute press conference at the White House on Wednesday to slam Democratic leadership and defend himself against accusations that he obstructed the special counsel's Russia probe.
  • Earlier Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Trump of being "engaged in a coverup." Trump hit back during the presser, saying, "I don't do coverups."
  • Trump called the Russia probe "the greatest hoax in history" and suggested that Democrats can either have "investigations or investment," a likely reference to the fact that he won't work with them on infrastructure if they continue investigating him.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump called a last-minute press conference at the White House on Monday to slam Democratic leadership and say that he won't work across the aisle on legislative priorities until Democrats end their investigations into him.

Trump zeroed-in on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's comments this morning that the president "is engaged in a cover-up" of his own wrongdoing.

"I don't do coverups," Trump declared from a Rose Garden podium behind a sign that read, "NO Collusion" and "NO Obstruction," and listed the cost and duration of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

The president defended himself against accusations that he obstructed the Russia probe - which he called "the greatest hoax in history" - and that he is continuing to cover up his alleged crimes. He also complained that Democrats are continuing to investigate him, his campaign, and his administration, including talk of impeachment proceedings, which Trump called "the big 'I' word."

Advertisement

Read more: Nancy Pelosi: 'The President of the United States is engaged in a cover-up'

"We have investigations like nobody's ever had before and we did nothing wrong," Trump said. "These people were out to get us."

Trump added that he wants Democrats to "get these phony investigations over with."

Trump held the press conference immediately after walking out of a meeting with Democrats concerning infrastructure policy.

The president is currently grappling with a spate of congressional inquiries into multiple aspects of his personal life, financial dealings, and 2016 campaign:

Advertisement
  • The House Judiciary Committee earlier this year launched a wide-ranging investigation into possible corruption, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power by Trump.
  • The House Financial Services and Intelligence committees are jointly investigating Trump's business dealings.
  • The Intelligence Committee has also relaunched its Russia investigation.
  • The House Committee on Oversight and Reform is investigating whether Trump violated ethics and financial-disclosure laws by misrepresenting his income and net worth over the past several years.
  • The House Ways and Means Committee is fighting to get Trump's tax returns to find out whether he lied on his tax forms.

Trump has instructed several current and former White House officials to reject congressional subpoenas for documents and testimony. He recently asserted executive privilege over the entire report on the special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and its underlying evidence.

And he's brought multiple lawsuits against Congress and financial institutions he's done business with to block congressional inquiries.

Read more: A federal judge dealt a huge blow to Trump's efforts to stonewall Congress

But the president suffered his first major defeat earlier this week, when a federal judge declined to block the oversight committee's subpoena for Trump's financial records.

Meanwhile, earlier Wednesday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced that the Justice Department will begin turning over counterintelligence documents related to the Russia investigation to the panel as well.

Advertisement

And later in the day, a New York judge will evaluate the validity of the financial services committee's and the intelligence committee's subpoena to Deutsche Bank for records related to Trump.

Pelosi touted the developments, saying "There were three current, within the last 72 hours, examples of progress that was made to get the truth and the facts for the American people."

{{}}