A clash between Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) and CNN correspondent Manu Raju broke out Monday night in the hours leading up to the testimony of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council official who said in his prepared remarks that the July phone call between President Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky prompted him to alert a top White House lawyer twice.
During an airing Tuesday morning of his attempted interview of Amodei, Raju noted that the Nevada Republican had previously wavered on whether he’s open to an impeachment inquiry, which spurred Raju to simply ask whether it was appropriate for Trump to ask Ukraine to investigate his political rivals and to commit a quid pro quo as a result.
Amodei kicked off the exchange by dodging the question.
“Well, that’s your conclusion,” Amodei said.
Raju replied, “That’s not my conclusion. I’m saying that’s what’s come out.”
Amodei once again hit back: “Sounds like a conclusion to me, so we disagree on the question.”
Pressed again on Trump’s Ukraine quid pro quo, Amodei continued to dodge Raju’s question and sarcastically called him a “gifted guy.”
“The President has asked for the whistleblower complaint to go through the normal processes and we’ve seen nothing of that,” Amodei said. “So beyond that, when you say that you’ve made the conclusion, it’s like you’re a gifted guy because guess what, it isn’t over, and you already know what you think.”
When Raju pointed out that the White House memorandum showed that Trump attempted to pressure Zelensky into digging up false allegations on the Bidens, Amodei began asking his own questions in response.
“Do you know if they’ve even got plans to call the whistleblower? Because I heard they didn’t. Now I don’t know if that’s true…” Amodei said, prompting Raju to say that he was “not answering my question about the substance of the allegation.”
Amodei once again said that he disagreed with what he views as Raju’s “conclusion,” which is “not a question.”
After Raju asked Amodei once more about the White House memo of the Ukraine call, Amodei replied: “Why don’t you do an interview instead of interviewing yourself.”
“You know what, if you don’t want to interview me, then interview yourself,” Amodei said at the end of the interview.
Watch the heated exchange below:
GOP Rep. Amodei dodges questions from CNN correspondent Manu Raju pic.twitter.com/wf3g6LMqRa
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) October 29, 2019
