Connolly: ‘Clear’ Trump ‘Extorted’, ‘Attempted Bribery with a Foreign Leader’

Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) on Tuesday said after seeing and hearing all of the evidence over recent weeks, it is “clear” President Donald Trump “extorted” and “attempted bribery” with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Connolly declared on “MSNBC Live” that Congress needs to hold Trump accountable for what he argues was indisputable evidence of extortion and bribery.

“I don’t think the facts are in dispute about Ukraine,” Connolly claimed. “The president extorted. He attempted bribery with a foreign leader. That’s clear from the White House transcript. It’s clear from the whistleblower complaint. It’s clear from the emails that Ambassador Volker made available. And it’s clear from the 34 hours of testimony we had last week. I don’t think the facts are in doubt. I think we need to hold the president accountable. Extortion, bribery, is illegal. So, in this case, we’re actually looking at an illegal act.”

The Democratic representative from Virginia then pointed to former FBI special counsel Robert Mueller, who he suggested “all but said” Trump committed a crime of obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation, saying Congress will hold him accountable for that as well.

“I think obstruction of justice was documented by Robert Mueller, who all but said he committed a crime, but I can’t prosecute them because Department of Justice guidelines won’t let me,” added Connolly. “And he specifically said, but Congress can hold him accountable. So, we’re going to do that.”

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