Controversial Republican group slams Trump for not allowing key witnesses to testify in impeachment probe
Republicans for the Rule of Law, a supposed conservative organisation, has once again called out President Donald Trump in yet another critical advertisement.
The group released a 32-second clip online on Wednesday, November 27, questioning the White House's decision to disallow key witnesses in the alleged Ukraine controversy to testify before congressional committees as part of the impeachment inquiry against the president,
"These witnesses must testify," the narrator says of Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, adding "What is Trump afraid of?", according to a Huffington Post report.
In a statement, Republicans for the Rule of Law executive director Sarah Longwell claimed that the impeachment hearings "have presented startling evidence" that Trump "abused his power, strong-arming a foreign government to interfere on his behalf in the upcoming election, and damaging national security in the process."
"The president denies the allegations, but won't let key administration officials ― including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney ― testify to Congress," Longwell continued.
"If the president did nothing wrong, what does he have to hide? If they tell the truth, what is he afraid of? Most importantly, will Republicans in Congress allow the president to simply ignore their constitutionally mandated oversight role?," Longwell added.
Last week, the controversial group launched a campaign aimed at educating GOP voters on the "facts" of the alleged Ukraine scandal. The origins of Republicans for the Rule of Law are said to be rather dubious, especially since it is a project of Defending Democracy Together (DDT).
DDT was widely criticized for raking in at least $600,000 in two grants from Democracy Fund Voice, which is a group created and bankrolled by left-wing mega-donor Pierre Omidyar.
According to Democracy Fund Voice's website, in May 2018 it "approved two grants to Defending Democracy Together: first in the amount of up to $100,000 over one year and then in the amount of up to $500,000 over one year."