Donald Trump says he will 'strongly consider' testifying before Congress in Ukraine impeachment hearing

Washington: US president Donald Trump on Monday said that he will “strongly consider” the idea of him testifying before the Congress in his impeachment inquiry over his dealings with Ukraine, though he described the whole process as a “witch hunt”. His comments came as the House Intelligence Committee prepared for its second week of public hearings in the impeachment probe.

Trump floated the possibility of him testifying before Congress after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested the president has every opportunity to do so.  “The president could come right before the committee and talk, speak all the truth that he wants, if he wants to…if he wants to take the oath of office. Or he could do it in writing. He has every opportunity to present his case,” Pelosi told the popular ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday talk show on CBS News channel.

Trump took to Twitter to claim he is considering the idea:

Our Crazy, Do Nothing (where’s USMCA, infrastructure, lower drug pricing & much more?) Speaker of the House, Nervous Nancy Pelosi, who is petrified by her Radical Left knowing she will soon be gone (they & Fake News Media are her BOSS), suggested on Sunday’s DEFACE THE NATION....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2019

....that I testify about the phony Impeachment Witch Hunt. She also said I could do it in writing. Even though I did nothing wrong, and don’t like giving credibility to this No Due Process Hoax, I like the idea & will, in order to get Congress focused again, strongly consider it!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2019

 Trump slammed the media and his opponents for initiating impeachment proceedings against him.

“Never has the Republican Party been so united as it is now. 95 percent A.R. This is a great fraud being played out against the American people by the Fake News Media & their partner, the Do Nothing Democrats. The rules are rigged by Pelosi & Schiff, but we are winning, and we will win!” said the US president.

The Democrat-led inquiry is establishing whether Trump withheld aid to Ukraine in return for an inquiry into ex-vice president Joe Biden.

From Tuesday to Thursday, the committee plans to hear the accounts of eight witnesses appearing in five separate hearings.