Representative Adam Schiff stopped the impeachment inquiry and testimony from former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanvotch to read her a tweet President Trump sent out about her.
Schiff used the tweet, which he made Yovanovitch aware of to accuse President Trump of witness intimidation.
According to Town Hall:
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) accused President Trump of witness intimidation after he posted tweets about former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch as she testified on Friday. Schiff interrupted the hearing to read the tweets to Yovanovitch.
….They call it “serving at the pleasure of the President.” The U.S. now has a very strong and powerful foreign policy, much different than proceeding administrations. It is called, quite simply, America First! With all of that, however, I have done FAR more for Ukraine than O.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2019
When the second day of the impeachment inquiry hearings paused so House members could participate in votes, Schiff made the following accusation to a group of reporters.
“What we saw today is it wasn’t enough that Ambassador Yovanovitch was smeared. It wasn’t enough she was attacked. It wasn’t enough enough that she was recalled for no reason, at least no good reason. But we saw today witness intimidation in real-time by the president of United States,” Schiff said.
“Once again going after this dedicated and respected career public servant in an effort to not only chilled her, but to chill others who may come forward. We take this kind of witness intimidation and obstruction of the inquiry very seriously,” he added.
Schiff was asked if he thought this was an impeachable offense and he was unable to answer yes to that question. The Democrats have also stopped characterizing Trump’s alleged offense as “bribery” and not “quid pro quo.”
