During the Thursday edition of MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, the eponymous host battled with Virginia GOP Rep. Bob Good on the beginning of the House’s impeachment inquiry into President Biden with mutual accusations of spreading falsehoods. Immediately afterword, Mitchell welcomed New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman for a much softer interview.
The fireworks began when Mitchell objected to Good’s depiction of the Biden family, “I've got to just push back for a moment because to call it the Biden Crime Family without evidence because you have accusations— ”
Good shot back, “Well, you’re lying there. You're being dishonest.” At the same time Mitchell asserted “I’m not lying,” as Good continued, “to say there's no evidence. This is evidence that would be admissible— ”
Again, Mitchell interjected, “this is fact-checked,” as Good rolled right along, “-- in any case when you have texts, when you have emails, when you have testimony, when you have visit history— ”
For the third time, Mitchell butted in, “not true,” Nevertheless, Good continued, “travel logs, those sorts of things. That is evidence. Now, you can dispute and debate the evidence and whether you think it proves beyond a reasonable doubt. But that's what the Oversight Committee is doing with the impeachment inquiry.”
The duo then had the following exchange:
MITCHELL: And a good deal of it was from when he was not even in office. It was after he left office from 2017, 2018.
GOOD: He was—it was when he was the sitting vice president. It was from when he was sitting vice president.
MITCHELL: That's not what the House Ways and Means chairman presented.
Good then pointed out, “He ran lying to the American people about whether his family made money off of China. He lied during the debate and said that. He lied repeatedly, said he didn’t even know anything about his son's business dealings. We know that's demonstrably false.”
That is correct, but Mitchell still claimed, “These are accusations, not substantiated.”
Good then zeroed in on Mitchell and the media industry themselves, “It may be uncomfortable-- it may be uncomfortable for his defenders like you, but it's demonstrably false.”
Mitchell insisted that she’s “not a defender. I'm simply trying to call the facts as we see them and know them at this time, sir. Evidence is presented. Evidence is contradicted.”
The two then sparred over whether Mitchell held Democrats to the same standard during the Trump years, which Mitchell argued she did although that’s questionable.
Good then brought up the case of Viktor Shokin, “we’ve President Biden on video bragging about getting the prosecutor fired in exchange for a billion dollars in aid. That's evidence right there. That is evidence right there. You said evidence didn't exist. We have got that evidence right there. The president is foolish enough, foolhardy to brag about that on video, on air during a discussion that he was having. That's your president.”
With that, Mitchell ended the interview, “We appreciate your point of view. Thank you for joining us today, Congressman Bob Good.”
Not missing a beat, Mitchell welcomed Goldman, “I just wanted to ask you your opinion, because the congressman was claiming they have overwhelming evidence, direct evidence of what they call the Biden Crime Family and of his direct involvement with his son's business, when he was a sitting vice president. I-- our fact checking is that has not been established.”
The truth is Joe Biden was present on Hunter’s phone calls which padded Hunter’s bank accounts regardless of whether he himself made any money or changed U.S. policy and no amount of spin from Mitchell can change that.
Here is transcript for the September 28 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
9/28/2023
12:18 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: I've got to just push back for a moment because to call it the Biden Crime Family without evidence because you have accusations –
BOB GOOD: Well, you’re lying there. You're being dishonest—
MITCHELL: I’m not lying.
GOOD: -- to say there's no evidence. This is evidence that would be admissible—
MITCHELL: This is fact-checked.
GOOD: -- in any case when you have texts, when you have emails, when you have testimony, when you have visit history—
MITCHELL: Not true.
GOOD: -- travel logs, those sorts of things. That is evidence. Now, you can dispute and debate the evidence and whether you think it proves beyond a reasonable doubt. But that's what the Oversight Committee is doing with the impeachment inquiry.
MITCHELL: And a good deal of it was from when he was not even in office. It was after he left office from 2017, 2018.
GOOD: He was—it was when he was the sitting vice president. It was from when he was sitting vice president.
MITCHELL: That's not what the House Ways and Means chairman presented.
GOOD: He ran lying to the American people about whether his family made money off of China. He lied during the debate and said that. He lied repeatedly, said he didn’t even know anything about his son's business dealings. We know that's demonstrably false.
MITCHELL: These are accusations, not substantiated.
GOOD: It may be uncomfortable-- it may be uncomfortable for his defenders like you, but it's demonstrably false.
MITCHELL: I'm not a defender. I'm simply trying to call the facts as we see them and know them at this time, sir. Evidence is presented. Evidence is contradicted.
GOOD: Well, I would ask you, did you question the impeachment by the Democrats when they set the bar so low and they wanted to impeach President-- tried to impeach President Trump based on a phone call? Based on a phone call? When he was questioning the corruption with Burisma?
MITCHELL: I questioned all of that.
GOOD: And for that to be investigated and now we’ve President Biden on video bragging about getting the prosecutor fired in exchange for a billion dollars in aid. That's evidence right there. That is evidence right there. You said evidence didn't exist. We have got that evidence right there. The president is foolish enough, foolhardy to brag about that on video, on air during a discussion that he was having. That's your president.
MITCHELL: We appreciate your point of view. Thank you for joining us today, Congressman Bob Good.
GOOD: Thank you, great to be with you.
MITCHELL: And joining us now is a member of the Oversight Committee, New York Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman, also the former lead counsel during the first Trump impeachment inquiry. I just wanted to ask you your opinion, because the congressman was claiming they have overwhelming evidence, direct evidence of what they call the Biden Crime Family and of his direct involvement with his son's business, when he was a sitting vice president. I-- our fact checking is that has not been established.
