Trump’s Unhinged Press Conference Filled With Even More Lies
October 2, 2019
At his press conference today, next to a clearly uncomfortable president of Finland, Trump went off the rails with one lie and conspiracy theory after another. He’s still unable to answer what he wanted when he asked the Ukrainian president to do him a favor. Here are some of the lowlights:
Trump falsely said he released an “exact transcript” of his call with the Ukrainian president, but the White House’s version was explicitly not verbatim.
Trump: “I had a transcript done by very, very talented people, word for word, comma for comma, done by people who do it for a living.”
The White House: “A memorandum of a telephone conversation is not a verbatim transcript of a discussion.”
When asked if he would cooperate with congressional subpoenas, Trump claimed “I always cooperate,” despite the fact he has made extraordinary efforts to block congressional oversight of his administration.
Question: “Will you cooperate with those subpoenas?” Trump: “Well, I always cooperate.”
Also Trump: “Well, we’re fighting all the subpoenas.” [4/24/19]
Trump refused to answer questions about what he wanted to happen when he asked the Ukrainian president to do him a favor.
Axios: “President Trump refused to answer a question from Reuters’ Jeff Mason about what he was asking Ukraine’s president to do about Joe Biden and his son during a now-infamous July 25 phone call, instead criticizing European countries for not providing aid to Ukraine, attacking the impeachment investigation as a ‘hoax’ and berating Mason for being ‘rude.’”
BuzzFeed News: “When Zelensky agreed, Trump then brought up what he referred to as the ‘other thing,’ saying that ‘it would be great’ if Zelensky could also look into unsubstantiated allegations against Biden — that he used his position to influence an investigation in Ukraine into his son Hunter. ‘There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great,’ Trump said on the call, appearing to refer to US Attorney General Bill Barr.”
Trump implied the whistleblower complaint was not “real,” despite the intelligence community inspector general, who was appointed by Trump, deeming the information provided was credible.
Trump: “If you look at this whistleblower’s — which I have a lot of respect for whistleblowers, but only when they’re real — his report of the phone call was totally different than the fact.”
CNN: “In a rare statement released Monday, the inspector general addressed a false claim pushed by Trump and some of his allies on Capitol Hill, including House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, that the whistleblower lacked firsthand knowledge of the conduct outlined in the complaint and therefore the allegations were based on ‘hearsay.’ But the statement from the inspector general made clear that the whistleblower was not simply communicating secondhand knowledge. ‘The whistleblower stated on the form that he or she possessed both first-hand and other information,’ the statement read. ‘The ICIG reviewed the information provided as well as other information gathered and determined that the complaint was both urgent and that it appeared credible.’”
Trump accused Rep. Adam Schiff with no evidence whatsoever of helping the whistleblower write the complaint made against Trump.
Trump: “Well, I think it’s a scandal that he knew before. I go a step further, I think he probably helped write it. Okay? That’s what the word is.”
CNN: “Whistleblower Lawyer: Schiff Did Not Help Write The Complaint”