Trump tries to rewrite reality on his Ukraine controversy
“President Donald Trump is making a brazen attempt to rewrite the reality of his dealings with Ukraine.
He has said at least 18 times over the last 15 days that the whistleblower who lodged a highly accurate complaint about his phone call with Ukraine’s President had been highly inaccurate. And over the weekend, he pushed three other fictions — reversing the timing of two events and touting a supposed Nancy Pelosi quote there is no evidence the House speaker ever said.” via CNN
This is some straight up Orwellian BS, even by Trump’s lofty standards for misinformation. Also from the article:
“Trump claimed last Monday, Friday and Saturday that Pelosi expressed surprise and dismay after Trump released the rough transcript of the call with Zelensky.
His suggestion was that Pelosi had found, and said, that the call was more innocent than she was first told.”When she saw it, she said, ‘This is not what the whistleblower said,’ ” Trump told reporters on Monday at the White House.
“She was angry as hell when she got to read the transcript. Because she said, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not what I was told,’ ” Trump said at his Friday rally in Louisiana.
“She was very angry when she read the actual call,” Trump said at his Saturday speech to the Values Voter Summit of social conservatives.
Facts First: There is no evidence Pelosi said or thought that the rough transcript was underwhelming or substantially different than she expected. “It’s complete fiction,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told CNN of Trump’s claim. While we can’t know what Pelosi might have said in private, Pelosi’s public statement on the Trump call was scathing.“
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
Recently resigned State Department adviser set to testify before Congress
“Michael McKinley, the former State Department adviser who resigned last week, is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the congressional committees leading the House impeachment investigation, according to two congressional sources.
McKinley is appearing for a transcribed interview, according to one of the sources, which indicates he is not coming under subpoena.
McKinley’s appearance is part of a packed week for the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees conducting the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and Russia, with as many as five current and former administration officials appearing this week. The committees are turning their scope beyond just the State Department with their first witness scheduled from the Pentagon.” via CNN
The pace of these interviews is pretty staggering, and shows that the Democrats are finally done playing around.
Ronan Farrow: National Enquirer shredded secret Trump documents
“American Media, Inc. and the National Enquirer shredded sensitive Donald Trump-related documents that had been held in a top-secret safe right before Trump was elected in 2016, according to fresh allegations made in a new book by journalist Ronan Farrow.
During the first week of November 2016, the book alleges that Dylan Howard, who was then editor in chief of the National Enquirer, ordered a staff member to “get everything out of the safe” and that “we need to get a shredder down there.”
His order came the same day a reporter for the Wall Street Journal had called the Enquirer to ask for comment on a story about how AMI, which owns the supermarket tabloid, had paid $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal who said she had had an affair with Trump to keep her quiet right before the election. The Enquirer never published her story.” via Politico
I don’t know if this is true or not, but Farrow is usually pretty on the money with his sources, and it would certainly fit AMI and/or David Pecker’s typical MO.
Trump’s former Russia aide testifies in impeachment probe
“President Donald Trump’s former top Russia aide testified on Monday before House impeachment investigators, as Democrats accelerate efforts to unearth the facts of Rudy Giuliani’s shadow diplomacy with top Ukrainian officials.
After nearly 10 hours behind closed doors, Democrats said Fiona Hill’s testimony before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees was critical to their understanding of the extent to which Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, bypassed official U.S. government channels by pressuring Ukrainian officials to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump’s possible opponent in the 2020 presidential election.” via Politico
All accounts from public comments and behind the scenes rumors are that this testimony was absolutely devastating for Trump. I suspect we will get more details as the week goes on – probably after Sondland’s testimony.
The primary fact that is coming out so far is that Giuliani was circumventing the pros with the explicit goal of benefiting Trump through shadow diplomacy. Needless to say, that’s bad news for Trump.
If the rest of her her testimony was as good as her attorney’s takedown of the administrations claims of executive privilege, I can’t wait for it to all come out.
I posted her attorney’s full letter to the White House on my Twitter page, but here are some of the highlights:
“We understand that executive privilege is a qualified privilege that may be overcome by an adequate showing of need.
“We also understand that executive privilege likely does not apply to information which is no longer confidential and has come within the sphere of public knowledge through broad disclosures.”
“Finally, we understand that deliberative process privilege “disappears altogether when there is any reason to believe government misconduct occurred .”
Yes, operator? I’d like to report a murder in legalese.
But seriously, this is how EVERY Congressional witness should counter illegitimate claims of privilege. This was masterfully done, with applicable law cited after every claim in the letter.
Giuliani’s time in the barrel
“Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are examining Rudy Giuliani’s business dealings in Ukraine, including his finances, meetings and work for a city mayor there, according to people familiar with the matter.
Investigators also have examined Mr. Giuliani’s bank records, according to the people.” via WSJ
Last week, Rudy said he was unaware that he was under investigation. That was almost certainly false then, but if he doesn’t know now, he’s working hard on his dementia defense.
Pseudo-Sanctions
President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order imposing “powerful” sanctions against Turkey for its incursion into northeast Syria.
“The United States will aggressively use economic sanctions to target those who enable, facilitate, and finance these heinous acts in Syria,” Trump said in a statement. “I am fully prepared to swiftly destroy Turkey’s economy if Turkish leaders continue down this dangerous and destructive path.” via Politico
This is more bluster – as usual – from Trump; these sanctions aren’t as biting as he wants you to believe, and they don’t even target Erdogan specifically.
To be clear: the package that NSC, Commerce, DOD, State, and Treasury wanted to roll out was a lot closer to the “We’re going to destroy Turkey’s economy” rhetoric than what Trump agreed to.
Trump also announced that we’re going to keep roughly 1,000 troops in Syria, which would be a completely unnecessary walk-back if he didn’t screw everything up so bad to begin with.
Syrian Army teams up with the Kurds
“Syrian government troops moved into a series of towns and villages in northern Syria Monday, setting up a potential clash with Turkish-led forces in the area, as U.S. troops prepared to pull out.
The Syrian army’s deployment near the Turkish border came hours after Syrian Kurdish forces previously allied with the U.S. said they had reached a deal with President Bashar Assad’s government to help fend off Turkey’s invasion, now in its sixth day.
The announcement of a deal between Syria’s Kurds and its government is a major shift in alliances that came after President Donald Trump ordered all U.S. troops withdrawn from the northern border area amid the rapidly spreading chaos.
The shift sets up a potential clash between Turkey and Syria and raises the specter of a resurgent Islamic State group as the U.S. relinquishes any remaining influence in northern Syria to Assad and his chief backer, Russia.
The fighting also seems likely to endanger, if not altogether crush, the brief experiment in self-rule set up by Syria’s Kurds since the war began.” via Politico
It takes an impressive level of ineptitude – or careful planning by your handler – to manage to drive the Kurds into the arms of the Syrian army, AND jeopardize their semi-autonomous enclave in a matter of 6 days.
Throw in the resurgence of ISIS and ethnic cleansing, and we’re pretty close to the realm of unbelievable, yet it’s happening.
Gaetz gets booted from a hearing
“Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said he was kicked out of this morning’s hearing with Fiona Hill.
An official working on the impeachment inquiry said Gaetz was booted because he does not sit on any of the committees conducting the impeachment investigation.
“Pursuant to the House Rules and the House Deposition Regulations, only Members and designated staff from the three committees undertaking the joint investigation – the Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs Committees – are permitted to attend and participate in a deposition,” the official told CNN.
Gaetz “attempted to crash today’s deposition despite being ineligible and refused to leave, causing an unnecessary delay in the deposition,” the source added.” via CNN
Gaetz was obviously there trying to spy for Trump. The only thing that could have made his unceremonious removal more entertaining is Schiff saying, “Go home, Gaetz – you’re drunk.”
McKinley to testify Wednesday
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s former senior adviser Michael McKinley is set to testify privately on Wednesday before the three Congressional committees leading the House impeachment inquiry, two officials involved in the matter told The Washington Post on Monday.“
This is a big one, and a quick turnaround. McKinley resigned last week and already has a date with Congress.
