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Law professor: Obstruction charge possible after President Trump tweet during witness impeachment testimony

Democrats are now accusing the president of witness intimidation.

HOUSTON — President Donald Trump took to Twitter to hit back against the former ambassador to Ukraine during the second day of public impeachment hearings.

Democrats are now accusing the president of witness intimidation.

Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, told the House Intelligence Committee she was given no reason for her sudden dismissal after 33 years of service.

“The president has the right to withdraw an ambassador at any time for any reason, but what I do wonder is why was it necessary to smear my reputation,” Yovanovitch said.

She described a smear campaign against her and said she was “appalled” after learning President Trump told Ukraine’s leader in a July phone call she was “bad news” and “was going to go through some things.”

"Color drained from my face,” Yovanovitch told lawmakers. “I even had a physical reaction.”

President Trump doubled down during the hearing, tweeting, “Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad.”

When asked by the committee’s chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), if she would like to respond to the president, Yovanovitch paused, then replied, “I don’t think I have such powers.”

Democrats instantly rebuked the president.

"We take this kind of witness intimidation and obstruction inquiry very seriously,” said Rep. Schiff outside the hearing room.

The White House said it’s not intimidation but simply the president’s opinion.

“Tampering is when Schiff doesn't let us have witnesses,” President Trump said. “I've been watching today, for the first time I started watching, and it's really sad when you see people aren't allowed to ask questions. We’re not allowed to have legal counsel.”

Republicans called the proceeding a farce.

"This seems more appropriate for the subcommittee on human resources at the foreign affairs committee,” said Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the committee’s ranking member.

Emily Berman, an associate law professor at the University of Houston, said social media usage like the president’s in this situation is certainly new, and that generally, this is the type of behavior you’d see in a criminal court, not Congress.

“Anything the president does to call attention to these hearings is going to work to his detriment,” Berman said.

Berman said Robert Mueller’s report documented similar behavior by President Trump during the Russia investigation.

“It’s not unusual when a president sort of gets himself into trouble that the instinct is to try to prevent the full facts from coming out,” Berman said. “That in the past has led to obstruction charges, and it looks like it might end up the same way here.”

Berman said impeachment articles written for former President Bill Clinton and those written for former President Richard Nixon before he resigned both included an obstruction charge. However, those accused those presidents of interfering in the criminal investigation, not a Congressional one.

The impeachment hearings resume on Tuesday and continue that week with eight more witnesses scheduled to testify. Among them, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council official who says he raised concerns in the White House about President Trump’s push for investigations against the Bidens.

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