A Sunday morning panel on CNN’s “State of the Union” got heated over President Donald Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
David Urban kicked off the testy exchange by calling out Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff’s dishonest statement in a Thursday hearing with acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire. (RELATED: Schiff Clarifies His Fabricated Account Of Ukraine Transcript By Calling It ‘Parody’)
WATCH:
Urban began, “When Adam Schiff sits there, congresswoman, and reads something that doesn’t exist —”
“I think he was intending it to be a parody,” host Jake Tapper interrupted.
“It’s not a parody, Jake,” Urban shot back. “What about the transcript that exists? Why didn’t he read that?”
The panel devolved quickly as everyone began to talk over each other.
Kristol: “You’re going to make it —”
Urban: “What’s pathetic is he —”
Kristol: “Did chairman Rodino make mistakes during the Watergate hearings?”
Urban: “This isn’t about Chairman Rodino, this is about Chairman Schiff.”
“This isn’t about chairman Schiff, it’s about the President of the United States. Will you defend the president’s behavior? The real transcript —” Bill Kristol argued.
“I’m defending the truth. I’m defending the truth, Bill,” Urban shot back. “Why didn’t he just read the transcript?”
“You think President Trump’s behavior was proper?” Kristol asked.
“Is it proper for Adam Schiff to read something —”
Kristol conceded that Schiff should not have mischaracterized the phone call in Thursday’s hearing, adding, “No, he should not have done that. I’m willing to say he shouldn’t have done that.”
The panel continued in that contentious tone, ending with a call for rational discussion from Democratic Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who added, “This is what people associate with impeachment hearings which is why it is up to us to present something different that is strategic, clear and different.”