Trump Jr. thanks Schiff for ‘unearthing who all needed to be fired’

by J. Edward Moreno - 02/08/20 9:47 AM ET

President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., thanked Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) Friday evening for helping identify “who all needed to be fired.”

Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, was the lead impeachment manager during the Senate impeachment trial. During the House impeachment hearings, his committee questioned fact-witnesses, including former ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and member of the National Security Council (NSC) Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.

Both men were dismissed by President Trump on Friday, two days after he was acquitted on impeachment charges in the Senate. After nearly 34 years working in the State Department, another key witness, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, retired in January after being recalled from her ambassador role several months prior.

“Allow me a moment to thank—and this may be a bit of a surprise—Adam Schiff,” Trump Jr. tweeted. “Were it not for his crack investigation skills, @realDonaldTrump might have had a tougher time unearthing who all needed to be fired. Thanks, Adam! #FullOfSchiff”

Allow me a moment to thank—and this may be a bit of a surprise—Adam Schiff. Were it not for his crack investigation skills, @realDonaldTrump might have had a tougher time unearthing who all needed to be fired. Thanks, Adam! #FullOfSchiff

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 8, 2020

During the House hearing, witnesses spoke to the recollection of the events that unfolded leading up to and after the president’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump is accused of using nearly $400 million in military aid to pressure Zelensky to conduct an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden. The witnesses often spoke to the lack of precedent for such an exchange.

“There is no question in the mind of any American why this man’s job is over, why this country now has one less soldier serving it at the White House,” David Pressman, Vindman’s attorney, said in a statement on Friday following Vindman’s dismissal. “LTC Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. His honor, his commitment to right, frightened the powerful.”