Impeachment Day 8
Win McNamee/Getty Images
We ran the numbers: There are 4218 news articles covering this topic. 47% (2000) are left leaning, 39% (1652) center, 13% (566) right leaning.
The impeachment proceedings against President Trump entered their second week on Tuesday as legislators continue their attempts to gather information about a July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and the Trump camp continued to fight back against the impeachment proceedings. Tuesday saw several new developments in the impeachment drama. Perhaps most notably, Trump tweeted that the impeachment inquiry was a coup, “intended to take away the Power of the People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!” Also on Tuesday, Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani obtained a lawyer from himself after being subpoenaed by House Democrats. Additionally, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed back against the House’s planned depositions with five State Department workers who have knowledge of the Ukraine affair. On Monday, it was reported that Pompeo was also on the call with Trump and Zelensky. Also on Monday, it was revealed that Trump had also asked for help from Australia in investigating his potential political rivals.
In covering the unfolding scandal, several left-leaning sources have focused on how the president is reacting to the impeachment proceedings against him. For example, the New York Times published an article reporting that Trump is insisting that he has a right to meet the anonymous whistleblower. The article notes that Trump has addressed the complaint by focusing specifically on the whistleblower and their identity, which is protected under established whistleblower policies. However, the House has arranged to meet privately with the whistleblower. Similarly, the Washington Post frames the ongoing impeachment process as a battle between the executive and legislative branches. The article particularly focuses on the contention between Pompeo and House Democrats, saying “The House impeachment inquiry broke into a full-throated battle between the executive and legislative branches Tuesday.”
Like the New York Times, Fox News also published an article reporting that Trump is seeking to learn the identity of the whistleblower. The article reports that the president tweeted on Tuesday that he is “entitled to interview & learn everything about the Whistleblower, and also the person who gave all of the false information to him.” The article also notes that many of the complaints from Republicans about the whistleblower report are focused on the fact that the whistleblower did not hear the conversation between Trump and Zelensky firsthand and question why the whistleblowers sources did not file reports themselves. However, secondhand complaints are allowed under whistleblower policies. Fox News also published an article on Pompeo’s reaction to the House’s attempts to depose the five State Department officials. Pompeo has accused House Democrats of attempting to bully State Department employees.
Centrist coverage has sought to keep track of the fast-moving developments in the impeachment proceedings. USA Today, for example, published a centrist article listing all the developments that occurred on Monday and Tuesday. The article also links to the full whistleblower complaint and a summary of the July 25 call, both of which are now publicly available. An NPR broadcast focuses more on the procedures of the inquiry, specifically on the means by which Democrats can protect the identity of the whistleblower. Ultimately, NPR reports, “it will be up to members of Congress and their staffers to respect the privacy of the whistleblower as the process moves forward.”