Former Defense Department Special Counsel Ryan Goodman explained during an appearance on CNN that the Republican-authored report on impeachment flies in the face of the facts viewed by Americans during the hearing.
"I think it's not effective," Goodman told CNN's Erin Burnett. "I think they have played their hand, whatever hand they had, and it does have Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan's name right at the top, and that's for a reason. So, it's across-the-board on every single fact, it's for the president. 'Everything was correct and appropriate' for the president."
He went on to say that the Republican report flies in the face of what was heard during the weeks of hearings.
"It defies what we learned for the last two weeks in the public hearings," Goodman continued. "It defies the fact that three or four Trump-appointed senior officials reported the phone call itself, criminal referral to the Justice Department. It defies the fact that the GOP witness, Kurt Volker, said in retrospect, he understood it was about Biden and the 2020 election and he would have objected if he understood it at the time because it was unacceptable. So, I think they lose a lot, because many Americans, republicans as well, say they think the president acted inappropriately, but it's not impeachable, but at least it was inappropriate. They get to that point."
Burnett walked through key facts in the report and then played back testimony refuting the GOP's claims. Specifically, the GOP said that there was "no quid pro quo," a talking point straight from Trump's mouth. Burnett read the summary of Trump's call with Ukraine on July 25 that asked for "a favor though" after Ukraine brought up their need for military weapons. (A screen capture of the transcript is below)
[caption id="attachment_1558681" align="aligncenter" width="471"]
Donald Trump's incomplete Ukraine call summary (Screen capture from White House document)[/caption]
"So, that's the summary of the call and that doesn't add up to Republican analysis," said Burnett.
"The evidence does not establish that President Trump withheld a meeting with President Zelensky for the purpose of pressuring Ukraine to investigate Burisma Holdings, Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, or Ukraine influence in the 2016 election," the GOP says in their report. President Donald Trump's summary of the Ukraine call (above) dispells that assertion.
"Of course under-oath testimony shows the complete opposite to be true," Burnett said, and showed videos confirming her assertion. "So, point by point, that we were just able to kind of eviscerate those points."
Watch the full panel below:
