Fox News anchor Ed Henry pressed Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz on Wednesday on why he isn’t “demanding” that White House counsel attend next week’s impeachment hearings, particularly given the fact that the lack of attending White House legal representation has been a key criticism aimed at Democrats so far.
Noting the fact that President Donald Trump “has until Sunday evening to decide” on whether to send counsel, Henry asked Gaetz for his advice to the president.
“I don’t know,” said the Florida congressman. “I will leave that to the great team they have in the white House counsel’s office.”
Gaetz continued with a few names he would like to invite to testify, including Hunter Biden and the whistleblower, in order to get “exculpatory evidence” and prove that “it can’t possibly be this shakedown that Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi are spewing to the American people.”
But Henry wasn’t finished discussing Gaetz’s response to his initial question about White House counsel. “You and other Republicans have said the president is not getting due process because his counsel hasn’t been there for the ‘depositions in the basement,’ as you say,” Henry pressed. “So, why are you not demanding his counsel go up there as you’ve been promising so long that you wanted?” (RELATED: Tim Scott: ‘No Way In The World’ Senate Would Convict, Trump Is ‘Innocent’)
“If I were in their shoes that’s probably the decision I would make,” Gaetz responded. “I’m not entirely apprised of the waivers that that could potentially create within the White House counsel’s offices. But you know me, Ed, I like being on the field. I think we show up, we ask our questions, and even if the process is unfair, we have to show the country what a terribly divisive and unproductive endeavor this is.”
Henry then asked the Florida congressman about Democrats’ contention that Trump released the military aid to Ukraine only after getting “caught.”
“Ed, if you are ever accused of holding a hostage for ransom and you are not doing it, it’s always a good idea to probably release the alleged hostage,” said Gaetz. “In this case, if the president was so incensed with the notion that someone would even make the accusation there was conditionality here when there wasn’t, it would only be the right thing to do to show there was no conditionality, there was never any sort of dirt for arms narrative like the Democrats have laid out.”