During the first impeachment hearing organized by House Republicans, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questioned the witnesses and had each of them confirm that they were not presenting firsthand witness accounts of crimes committed by Joe Biden.
The New York Democrat also accused Republicans of fabricating supposed evidence of corruption involving President Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
In the hearing, Republicans called three witnesses while Democrats called only one.
Ocasio-Cortez began her questioning with Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University and a well-known conservative commentator. She asked him, “In your testimony today, are you presenting any firsthand witness account of crimes committed by the president of the United States?”
Turley responded, “No, I’m not,” after previously stating that he did not believe the current evidence would support articles of impeachment.
Ocasio-Cortez posed the same question to Eileen O’Connor, a former assistant attorney general in the justice department tax division who worked for Donald Trump’s transition team and is a member of the rightwing Federalist Society.
O’Connor also answered, “No, I’m not,” and was criticized during the hearing for omitting the word “Hunter” when referring to the title of an article she wrote for the Wall Street Journal in July.
Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant, was the third and final Republican witness questioned by Ocasio-Cortez. She asked him, “As the third and final Republican witness in this hearing, have you in your testimony presented any firsthand witness account of crimes committed by the president of the United States?”
Dubinsky replied, “I have not.”
Ocasio-Cortez assumed the same of the sole witness called by Democrats, Michael J Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor.
Gerhardt clarified, “I’m not a fact witness. Correct.”
AOC, as she is widely known, has a passionate following among progressives and a passionate group of critics among conservatives. Her questioning during the hearing gained attention on social media.
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Regarding an item of evidence presented by Republicans, Ocasio-Cortez accused them of fabricating it.
Referring to Byron Donalds, she stated, “Earlier today, one of our colleagues, the gentleman from Florida, presented on the screen something that appeared to be a screenshot of a text message containing or insinuating an explosive allegation.
“That screenshot of what appeared to be a text message was a fabricated image.”
Donalds had shown text messages claiming that Hunter Biden engaged in fraud and money laundering to benefit his father.
Ocasio-Cortez said, “I don’t know where it came from. I don’t know if it was the staff of the committee, but it was not the actual direct screenshot from that phone.”
She added, “What was brought out from that…
2023-09-28 16:04:24
Original from www.theguardian.com
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