Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Tuesday that the impeachment inquiry is “all garbage” and comparable to the “Salem witch trials,” arguing that President Trump did nothing wrong in his phone call with the leader of Ukraine.
“There is nothing here,” Gingrich told “Fox & Friends," referring to alleged evidence of wrongdoing by Trump in his phone call with the president of Ukraine.
“Presidents who want to find the truth have every right to say to a foreign government, 'will you help me get to the truth,' and that’s what Trump was doing,” Gingrich said, referencing Trump’s call to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky for help investigating the Biden family's dealings in Ukraine.
Hunter Biden worked for a Ukrainian gas company at the same time his father Joe Biden was serving as vice president and leading the Obama administration's diplomatic dealings with Kiev.
Gingrich's comments came after Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation" Sunday, said that the evidence he has seen from the depositions given in the House impeachment inquiry amounts to an “extortion scheme” by the White House.
Furthermore, on Saturday, MSNBC's weekend host Joy Reid told her viewers on "AM Joy" not to "worry about trying to explain the cast of characters... or the very overused term, 'quid pro quo.'"
"Most people can’t say it, spell it or understand it," Reid continued. "What we’re actually talking about here is not a pithy Latin phrase. It’s something a lot simpler: bribery and extortion."
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Gingrich reacted to the media coverage saying, “What you have is a coup being orchestrated by left-wingers in the bureaucracy, left-wingers in the news media and left-wingers in the House Democrats, and, historically, it’ll be seen someday as being crazy, literally like the Salem witch trial."
He said mainstream media figures and Democrats appear to have coordinated on changing their allegations against Trump from a "quid pro quo" to "extortion." Democrats have accused Trump of withholding military aid to Ukraine unless the investigation of the Bidens took place.
Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.
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