Donald Trump rails at Reuters correspondent Jeff Mason in a White House press conference, October 2, 2019 (Carolyn Kaster/AP/Shutterstock)

Angry and worried about an impeachment inquiry, Donald Trump launches a series of lies, insults, and expletives on Twitter and in a White House press conference.

Appearing alongside Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Trump was set off by the first question — ironically, from a correspondent of his favored outlet Fox News — about the notice from three House committees that they will subpoena White House document over the Trump-Ukraine affair and other matters.

See EA on BBC and talkRADIO: Pressure Grows on Trump as Giuliani Subpoenaed
EA on talkRADIO: Explaining Trump, Ukraine, and Impeachment

Trump railed and rambled:

This is a hoax. This is the greatest hoax. This is just a continuation of what’s been playing out since my election….This is a fraudulent crime on the American people.

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Trump falsely accused Rep. Adam Schiff, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, of a “criminal act”: “Some people say it is treason.” He also lied that Schiff “probably” wrote the formal complaint of a CIA official drawing attention to Trump’s possible crimes and abuses of powers.

The complaint, filed on August 12 and drawn from discussions with multiple White House officials, laid out a months-long campaign by Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani to press Ukraine into investigations of conspiracy theories over 2020 Presidential candidate Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.

Trump appeared to be misrepresenting a New York Times story, just before the press conference, that the CIA official had asked the House Intelligence Committee for guidance about the complaint. The report made clear that Schiff and Committee members did not see the complaint until the Trump camp, after weeks of delay, finally provided a copy.

Jeff Mason of Reuters asked Trump what he wanted from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Trump asked in a July 25 phone call to investigate Biden and another conspiracy theory — covering for Russia’s interference in the 2016 election — that the server which hacked Democratic National Committee e-mails was in Ukraine.

Trump initially responded: “Biden and his son [Hunter] are stone cold crooked.”

When Mason repeated the question, Trump — echoing Robert DeNiro’s obsessed character in Taxi Driver — stiffened: “Are you talking to me?….We have the President of Finland, ask him a question.”

Mason tried again. Trump snapped, “Did you hear me? Did you hear me? Ask this gentlemen a question. Don’t be rude.” He lashed out against the “fake”, “corrupt” media and repeated, “Ask the President of Finland a question, please.”

But Trump could not escape. After his repeated urging for a question from a Finnish reporter, a correspondent inquired of Niinistö, “I have to ask what kind of favors has Mr. Trump asked from you?”

Trump bristled as he cut off Niinistö, “Or the other way around.” Ignoring the Finnish President, he spent several more minutes praising himself and objecting to “false claims” as he distorted the transcript of his call with Zelenskiy and the CIA officer’s complaint.

The press conference then degenerated further, even when reporters shifted questions away from impeachment:

Schiff: “We’re Not Fooling Around Here”

Undeterred by Trump’s aggressive front, Schiff and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi explained in a press appearance that they were proceeding steadily with the impeachment inquiry, launched last week.

They warned Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said earlier this week that State Department staff were being bullied into testifying, against intimidation of witnesses.

“We’re not fooling around here,” Schiff said.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chair of the Oversight and Reform Committee, said of the imminent subpoena of White House documents:

I do not take this step lightly. Over the past several weeks, the committees tried several times to obtain voluntary compliance with our requests for documents, but the White House has refused to engage with — or even respond to — the committees.

Trump fumed, amid his camp’s campaign to tear down Schiff, designated by Pelosi as the lead of the inquiry:

He retweeted a message from his social media director Dan Scavino driving home the insult: