Donald Trump has said he would “strongly consider” testifying in the ongoing impeachment hearings.
His unexpected statement came after the House speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested on Sunday that Trump testify.
“If he has information that is exculpatory, that means ex, taking away, culpable, blame, then we look forward to seeing it,” she said, while appearing on Face The Nation.
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She added that rather than tweeting, the embattled US president “could come right before the committee and talk, speak all the truth that he wants if he wants”.
Pelosi’s suggestion was echoed by Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, who said: “He should come to the committee and testify under oath.”
He added that Trump’s refusal to co-operate raised the question: “What is he hiding?”
In response, Trump tweeted yesterday that “Our Crazy, Do Nothing… Speaker of the House, Nervous Nancy Pelosi” has suggested that he “testify about the phony Impeachment Witch Hunt”.
He continued that “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!”
However, CNN’s Manu Raju urged caution. Writing on Twitter, he said: “Trump claimed for months he was going to sit down with Mueller’s team, then gave written responses, which the special counsel found inadequate. He also has directed his WH not to turn over docs or agree to testify. Now claims he will ‘strongly consider’ testifying himself.”
Robert Mueller “also said in his report that he found a number of Trump’s written answers to be incomplete or imprecise”, The Guardian says.
The responses, said Mueller, in his final report to Congress, showed “the inadequacy of the written format,” especially since the office was unable to ask follow-up questions of Trump.
The House Intelligence Committee is considering allegations of misconduct against Trump in a process that could potentially result in his removal from office.
In a big week, eight more witnesses, including multiple current Trump administration officials, are scheduled to appear for public hearings.
House Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry have already heard from numerous witnesses behind closed doors.
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