Following His ’60 Minutes’ Interview, Rep. McCarthy Highlights Three ‘Facts’ That ‘Shows [Trump] Did Nothing Impeachable’

[Image Source: 60 Minutes & Fox News Screenshots. Swamp Drain Compilation]

Sunday, during an interview on “60 Minutes”, correspondent Scott Pelley asked House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) about the impeachment inquiry against President Trump launched by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Democrats last week.

Pelley’s questions also focused on President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Zelenksky and McCarthy highlighted three “facts” to show that the “President did nothing that would be impeachable.”

Reading from the transcript, Scott Pelley said, “President Zelensky says, ‘We are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes. And President Trump replies, ‘I would like you to do us a favor, though.'”

“You just added another word,” McCarthy noted, to which Pelley responded, “No, it’s in the transcript.”

“When I read the transcript, President Zelensky brings up a Javelin is a protection for anti-tank, something that President Obama would not sell that President Trump did to protect the Ukraine,” McCarthy said.

“How do you expect the President’s defense to roll out going forward?” Pelley then asked. (Continued Below)

“The defense of what?” McCarthy responded bluntly.

“Well, there’s an impeachment inquiry,” Pelley said.

“Yeah, there’s an impeach inquiry going forward. It probably never would move forward, had the speaker waited 48 hours to have the transcript. We vote on important things every day,” McCarthy explained. “But there are certain votes that are different than others. Sending men and women off to war is the most difficult vote any member of Congress would ever make.” (Continued Below)

Pelley seemingly not interested asked McCarthy again, “How does the defense of the President, in your view, roll out from here?”

“Why would we move forward with impeachment? There’s not something that you have to defend here,” McCarthy confidently replied.

“You say the President has done nothing wrong. I take that to mean that you find it appropriate that the president asked Mr. Zelensky for an investigation of his Democratic rivals,” Pelley said arrogantly.

“The question before the House of Representatives is to impeach the President based upon a phone call that the speaker never even heard,” McCarthy responded as Pelley interrupted him.

“Mr. Leader, with great respect to you, and I apologize for interrupting, but these are the White House talking points that were emailed to the Congress earlier this week,” Pelley said. “And I’ll ask again: was it appropriate for the President to ask for an investigation of his Democratic rivals with another foreign leader?”  (Video Below)

“I’ve never seen one talking point from a White House,” McCarthy responded. “I’m talking to you based upon the most important facts we have. The whistleblower wasn’t on the call. The IG, the Inspector General didn’t read the call. But you and I have all the information we need. The President did nothing in this phone call that’s impeachable.”

After the interview aired, McCarthy tweeted, “These are the most important facts we have: 1. The whistleblower wasn’t on the call. 2. The IG didn’t read the transcript before acting on the whistleblower complaint. 3. The WH released the transcript—which clearly shows the president did nothing that would be impeachable.”

He added, “The Democrats’ impeachment inquiry would never have moved forward if the Speaker of the House would have simply waited 48 hours to actually READ the transcript.”

(Continued Below)

Ukraine Call Transcript by Fox News on Scribd

(Related: McCarthy Steps To The Podium With GOP Leaders & Slams Pelosi: ‘The Speaker Owes An Apology To This Nation’)