'Facts aren't on their side': Oversight Democrat blasts Trump officials for 'stonewalling' to cover up 'abuse of power'

On Tuesday's version of CNN's "The Situation Room," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who sits on the House Oversight, laid into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for attempting to stall information requests in the House's impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump.

"Pompeo is saying that you, Congress, Democrats, you're rushing the process and these officials need more time to prepare. You seem skeptical," said anchor Brianna Keilar. "Do you think they're running out the clock?"

"They are," said Khanna. "They know that the facts aren't on their side, they know that there has been an abuse of power, and so they're trying to delay. They're trying to obfuscate and attack anyone else who deflect attention. The problem is that there is a smoking gun here. And that smoking gun is that the president himself has admitted that he sought political dirt from Zelensky. He doesn't think there is anything wrong with it. He calls it 'perfect.' But the reality is, most Americans think it is a gross abuse of power and the Constitution.

"When you do hear from Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine, he's still planning to appear at this deposition despite the letter from Pompeo, I know there is a lot, you just talked about what you wanted to learn, how forthcoming do you think he's going to be as a witness?" Keilar pressed him.

"I think it is in his interest to be as forthcoming as possible to save his own reputation, career and to avoid criminal exposure," said Khanna. "The question he has to answer to the American people is why was he subverting the process, why is he allowing the president's personal lawyer to have meetings with senior advisers to the president of Ukraine? We have these processes for a reason. And that is because we have a president of the United States, not a king. These processes are to check any president's power. And here you have allegations that the envoy was subverting all of the processes and he owes the American people an explanation why he did that."

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