Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

UpInArms

(51,252 posts)
Thu Nov 7, 2019, 06:59 PM Nov 2019

Pence aide said Trump's July 25 call with Ukraine was political and not a normal diplomatic call

Source: CNN

(CNN) An aide to Vice President Mike Pence who listened to the call between President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian President told impeachment inquiry investigators on Thursday that she found the conversation to be unusual because it was political in nature, according to two sources familiar with the testimony.

Jennifer Williams, an aide in the vice president's office and a long time State Department staffer, said the phone call did not have the normal tone of a diplomatic call. Williams did not raise concerns about the call with her superiors.

She was asked by lawmakers in her closed-door deposition what Pence knows and she testified that she never heard him mention anything about investigations of the 2016 election, Burisma -- the Ukrainian natural gas company on whose board Joe Biden's son Hunter say -- or the Bidens. She did not know of any request from Trump to Pence to bring up investigations during a meeting the vice president had in Warsaw with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on September 1.

The Pence aide made note of the call and the transcript in her nightly notes but testified she did not know if the vice president read the transcript.

Read more: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/11/07/politics/jennifer-williams-testimony/index.html

13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Pence aide said Trump's July 25 call with Ukraine was political and not a normal diplomatic call (Original Post) UpInArms Nov 2019 OP
Pence is in this up to his christofascist neck, he just knows to keep his mouth shut. Thomas Hurt Nov 2019 #1
+ agree. iluvtennis Nov 2019 #2
If he manages to remain above the fray, cyndensco Nov 2019 #3
I agree Bev54 Nov 2019 #10
All Pence have to do is play dum. djacq Nov 2019 #4
Jr and Eric can show him BigmanPigman Nov 2019 #8
We need to get Pence out first so he can't ascend into POTUS. mpcamb Nov 2019 #13
Wow, this goes against all common sense. Pence has lunch with tRump regularly ffr Nov 2019 #5
Is this the beginning of an "it was just locker-room talk defense? n/t Yonnie3 Nov 2019 #6
"if the vice president read the transcript." keithbvadu2 Nov 2019 #7
Yep. We have only seen a summary. We have not seen an actual verbatim transcript. Evolve Dammit Nov 2019 #9
Yep. This. calimary Nov 2019 #12
And another mark against Drumpf Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Nov 2019 #11

Bev54

(9,963 posts)
10. I agree
Thu Nov 7, 2019, 09:07 PM
Nov 2019

She was sent in by Pence to keep him out of the fray. I am not buying it at all, she was with him in Poland when he spoke with Zelenskyy and we all know he stressed the quid pro quo during that meeting. I wonder when she is going to amend her remarks.

ffr

(22,649 posts)
5. Wow, this goes against all common sense. Pence has lunch with tRump regularly
Thu Nov 7, 2019, 08:19 PM
Nov 2019

There is NO WAY everyone else in the WH knew of this outright bribery and extortion and Pence didn't. Jennifer played cover for Pence as best she could. But the truth is in plain daylight; Pence was an instrument of tRump's extortion policy, just as McConnell, Inhoff and others were.

keithbvadu2

(36,369 posts)
7. "if the vice president read the transcript."
Thu Nov 7, 2019, 08:35 PM
Nov 2019

It really gets messed up.

The real transcript or the selective fairy tale Trump put out?

Evolve Dammit

(16,632 posts)
9. Yep. We have only seen a summary. We have not seen an actual verbatim transcript.
Thu Nov 7, 2019, 09:01 PM
Nov 2019

Or the un-redacted Mueller report. These have been locked up on alternate servers and/or in some GOP safe-haven vault like David Pecker's National Enquirer Trump documents. The latter of which as allegedly been destroyed. I hope Michael Cohen has divulged more in his follow-up meetings, but hopefully not with Barr attorneys.

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Pence aide said Trump's J...