On Tuesday afternoon, the day before the House votes on the third impeachment in U.S. history, Trump sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi claiming that Democrats are “declaring open war on American Democracy” by pursuing the constitutional process to remove the president for abusing his power and obstructing justice. In a six-page example of projection, Trump claimed that Democrats:
Are the ones interfering in America’s elections. You are the ones subverting America’s Democracy. You are the ones Obstructing Justice. You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our Republic for your own selfish personal, political, and partisan gain.
Trump also condemned the FBI for its “horrifying abuses of power,” referring to the agency’s decision to open an investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia, which was recently determined by the Department of Justice Inspector General to be justified. He also personally insulted the House Speaker over her claim that she “pray[s] for the president all the time.” Trump wrote: “Even worse than offending the Founding Fathers, you are offending Americans of faith by continually saying ‘I pray for the President,’ when you know this statement is not true, unless it is meant in a negative sense.”
Later on Tuesday, it emerged that Trump’s letter was drafted along with senior adviser Stephen Miller, and that White House lawyers were not included in the process. Like many presidential missives, it wasn’t fact checked: When the president cites his electoral college victory as something Democrats “will never get over,” he says he won 306 to 227. His count is off, as two electoral college defectors did not vote for him.
Read the full letter below:
