Donald Trump dusted off his old Gab account for a social media comeback in the wake of his purge by Silicon Valley tech giants.
In his first post to the site since 8 January, Trump uploaded his lawyer’s response to demands he testifies at his second impeachment hearing next week.
Trump had resorted to releasing statements from the Office of the Former President after he and his campaign presence was scrubbed from the internet by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, Twitch, Shopify, Stripe, and YouTube, among others.
While his return to social media was just a repost his lawyers’ letter, the phrasing carried the ex-president’s characteristic defiance, according to the Independent.
“We are in receipt of your latest public relations stunt,” attorneys David Schoen and Bruce Castor Jr wrote.
“Your letter only confirms what is known to everyone: you cannot prove your allegations against the 45th President of the United States, who is now a private citizen. The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to try to play these games.”
Trump’s attorneys were responding to requests from Congressman Jamie Raskin that the ex-president appear before or during the trial, subject to cross-examination, pointing to the testimonies of former presidents Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton while in office.