AOC Accuses Trump of ‘Tax Fraud’ Without Evidence to Justify Impeachment
Peter D'Abrosca
|
A freshman member of Congress joined Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” Podcast on Sunday where she accused President Donald J. Trump of “tax fraud” without evidence in an attempt to justify his impeachment.
“I think you could reach in a bag and pull so many things out that are impeachable of this president. I support impeaching this president,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said.
When pressed on specifics, she mentioned the emoluments clause of the Constitutions, which federal appeals court judges have said do not apply to Trump. She proceeded to falter when asked to name more impeachable offenses. Instead of walking back her overzealous comments, she simply fabricated an impeachable offense – tax fraud.
“For a second potential impeachable offense, Ocasio-Cortez pointed to ‘tax fraud.’ She later explained she was referring to indications that Trump has falsely deflated the value of his various properties in order to lower his property-tax payments,” Yahoo reported.
The hosts of the podcasts did not ask her whether she had any hard evidence for this accusation. Rather, they let a freshman congresswoman accuse a sitting president of a felony without pushback.
The hosts – at their own peril – did ask for AOC for a third reason to impeach Trump, even after she fabricated the second.
She once again offered up speculation.
Quoting an anonymous “senior official” within the Trump administration, conspiracy theory network CNN reported that Trump offered a pardon to incoming Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan if McAleenan found himself in hot water for rejecting asylum seekers from crossing the border, which would be a violation of U.S. law.
Whether this conversation ever took place is unknown, and the White House denies the report.
But AOC still used it as a third reason to justify Trump’s impeachment.
In sum, the AOC case for impeachment is as follows: fake “tax fraud,” unprovable accusations of asking someone to potentially break the law, and the emoluments clause, which even federal judges do not think applies to Trump.
Follow Peter D’Abrosca on Twitter: @pdabrosca
Like Peter D’Abrosca on Facebook: facebook.com/peterdabrosca
Preorder Peter D’Abrosca’s Book: “Enemies: The Press vs. The American People”
Share: