The impeachment hearing was not going the way Rep. Schiff wanted, so he decided to take over the testimony for his witnesses.
Now, before you read and/or hear what was said, you need to put this into context.
When Republicans finally got their turn at bat, Schiff halted the questioning and instructed the witnesses NOT to answer any questions they could not answer with absolute knowledge.
Then, about halfway through the hearings, this exchange took place…
Schiff stated, “I want to follow up on some of the earlier questions about President Zelensky’s statements after this scandal came to light when he was asked, ‘Were you pressured, how did the phone call go, etc.’
“Ukrainians, Mr. Kent, are pretty sophisticated about U.S. politics, are they not?”
Mr. Kent replied, “Perhaps.”
Schiff continued, “You would agree that if President Zelensky contradicted President Trump and said, ‘Of course I felt pressured. They were holding up $400 million in military assistance. We have people dying every day,’ if he were to contradict President Trump directly, they would be sophisticated enough to know they may pay a very heavy price with this president, were they not?”
Kent replied, “That’s a fair assessment.”
Schiff went on, “And President Zelensky not only had to worry about retribution from Donald Trump, should he contradict Donald Trump publicly, he also has to worry about how he is perceived domestically, doesn’t he Ambassador Taylor?”
Ambassador Taylor replied, “President Zelensky is very sensitive to the view of the Ukrainian people who, indeed, are very attentive to Ukrainian/U.S. politics, yes.”
Schiff then stated, “And so, if President Zelensky were to say, ‘I had to capitulate and agree to these investigations, I was ready to go on CNN until the aid got restored,’ that would obviously be hurtful to him back home, would it not?”
Taylor responded, “He cannot afford to be seen deferring to any foreign leader. He is very confident in his own abilities and he knows that the Ukrainian people expect him to be clear and defend Ukrainian interests.”
You can hear Schiff take over this in the video below…
If everyone thought Schiff’s interpretation of the phone call transcript was bad, this should have Schiff kicked right out of his leadership position.
This is what Democrats are hanging their hat on.
Taylor and Kent’s assessment of what Zelensky would think and do based on made-up quotes from Zelensky by Adam Schiff.
This happened right in front of every American and his fellow members of Congress… and not a single person objected to it, including the entire mainstream media.