In Thursday’s House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing, Rep. Hank Johnson worried that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s daughter might be held hostage in President Trump’s basement.
In response to Zelensky’s assurances that Trump requested no quid pro quo in their controversial phone call, Johnson claimed Zelensky was lying under duress: “Big, six-foot-four President Trump, five-foot-elecven Mr. Zelensky, President Zelensky. And they’re standing there, President Trump is holding court. And he says, ‘Oh, by the way, no pressure.’ And you saw President Zelensky shaking his head as if his daughter was downstairs in the basement, duct-taped.
“There’s no way that the nation of Ukraine can stand up to the power, the power of the United States of America. And President Trump used that unequal bargaining position. He leveraged his power in that relationship, not for the benefit of the United States of America, but for his own benefit.”
You may recall that Johnson is previously notable for his concern that Guam might be tipping over.