Rep. Steve Scalise spun two keys facts about Ukrainian aid to defend President Donald Trump against accusations that Trump withheld that aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate the alleged Ukraine interference in the 2016 U.S. election, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
A White House statement issued April 21 said President Trump in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky “expressed his commitment to work together with President-elect Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people to implement reforms that strengthen democracy, increase prosperity, and root out corruption.” But a newly released White House memo of the April call showed Trump did not discuss any of that.
President Donald Trump wrongly claimed that the two “‘star’ witnesses” from the first day of public impeachment hearings “stared straight ahead with a blank look on their face, remained silent, & were unable to answer” when asked whether Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president constituted an impeachable offense.
In a televised town hall, former Vice President Joe Biden made several false or misleading statements while commenting on climate change, veterans and health care.
We provide context for some of the statements made at the first day of the public impeachment hearings.
President Donald Trump continues to muddle the timeline of events to falsely suggest that the White House release of a memo summarizing his July phone call with the president of Ukraine silenced whistleblowers and contradicted Democratic leaders.
A number of national polls show more Americans want President Donald Trump impeached and removed from office than those who don’t. In swing states, however, a majority opposes removing Trump from office via impeachment, even as a majority supports moving forward with the impeachment inquiry.
President Donald Trump repeatedly has said his July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president was “perfect,” and a simple reading of the “transcript” is all that’s needed to evaluate the impeachment probe. But congressional testimony has revealed key pieces of information beyond that conversation.
National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien dismissed as “Twitter intel” the suggestion that more than 100 captured Islamic State fighters escaped from prisons in Syria amid fighting between Turkish soldiers and Syrian Kurds. But that was a figure provided by the secretary of defense and a top official in the State Department.
In his campaign rally speeches, President Donald Trump often boasts of his administration’s plan to end the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. in 10 years. It’s true he has proposed funding for that initiative, but he’s wrong to say “the previous administration spent no money” on such efforts.