Jennifer Hayden
@Scout_Finch

In one breath Trump says he has not read the whistleblower complaint and in the next breath:

"I just, I tell you, everybody's read it, they laugh at it."

Earlier he said "he is a partisan" about the whistleblower.

Did Trump see the complaint? How does he know it is a "he"?

https://twitter.com/Scout_Finch/status/1175076035722907648

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

The Radical Left Democrats and their Fake News Media partners, headed up again by Little Adam Schiff, and batting Zero for 21 against me, are at it again! They think I may have had a “dicey” conversation with a certain foreign leader based on a “highly partisan” whistleblowers..

8:27 AM · Sep 20, 2019·Twitter for iPhone

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1175023772375683074

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

....statement. Strange that with so many other people hearing or knowing of the perfectly fine and respectful conversation, that they would not have also come forward. Do you know the reason why they did not? Because there was nothing said wrong, it was pitch perfect!

8:27 AM · Sep 20, 2019·Twitter for iPhone

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1175023773180932097

Robert Costa
@costareports

VP Pence met with Ukraine's Zelensky a few weeks ago in Poland, sitting in for Pres. Trump, who couldn't make the trip. The meeting was in a windowless hotel room. Bolton sat silent, Sec. Perry there, too, as pool reporters were brought int. Zelensky kept bouncing his knees...

8:56 PM · Sep 19, 2019·Twitter Web App

https://twitter.com/costareports/status/1174849840414633987

Robert Costa
@costareports

I was the pool reporter in the room. VP Pence did not respond to questions, including questions from reporters about whether the Trump administration would still allocate $250 million in planned security aid to Ukraine.

9:00 PM · Sep 19, 2019·Twitter Web App

https://twitter.com/costareports/status/1174850899484839937


Robert Costa
@costareports

As Bolton looked on, VP Pence said that he could assure Zelensky "that we will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine on your security, on territorial integrity," but didn't get into details.

Zelensky said his administration is poised to "defeat corruption."

9:04 PM · Sep 19, 2019·Twitter Web App

Robert Costa
@costareports

A day later, VP Pence took questions at a news conference. Pay attention to this response to a question from AP's @colvinj
. Full remarks at the link. https://whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-vice-president-pence-president-duda-poland-joint-press-conference-warsaw-poland/



https://twitter.com/costareports/status/1174852491617415169

U.S. Marine unit wants to hold annual ball at presidential venue: Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article235279797.html

At a time when taxpayer and foreign-government spending at Trump Organization properties is fueling political battles, a U.S. Marine Corps reserve unit stationed in South Florida hopes to hold an annual ball at a venue that could profit the commander-in-chief.

The unit is planning a gala to celebrate the 244th anniversary of the Marines’ founding at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach on Nov. 16, according to a posting on the events website Evensi.

“It’s a work in progress,” said a Marine who picked up the phone late Thursday at the drill center of the 4th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) in West Palm Beach. “We are planning on Mar-a-Lago but nothing is set in stone. We booked it but there were complications involved. ... It’s just money and some other things. We’re doing our best.”

The Marine said a final decision would be made next week. A link from the event posting to buy tickets was not working late Thursday.

Joyce Alene
@JoyceWhiteVance

If this turns out to be what the whistleblower complaint is about & it’s accurate, Trump must leave office immediately. A president can’t offer US aid to a foreign country in exchange for prosecution of a political opponent. Heaven help us if we can’t all agree on that.

https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1174847493634441216

McConnell changes position and backs $250 million for election security

Democrats said the Senate majority leader had finally caved into their pressure to safeguard the voting system.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mcconnell-changes-position-backs-250-million-election-security-n1056636

WASHINGTON — In a surprise development, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his support on Thursday for additional money to bolster the country's election system ahead of the 2020 vote, a move that counters his earlier position resisting calls for more funding.

McConnell, R-Ky., said he is co-sponsoring an amendment to an appropriations bill that would provide $250 million for election security.

"I'm proud the Financial Services & General Government bill will include a bipartisan amendment providing another $250 million for the administration and security of their elections, to help states improve their defenses and shore up their voting systems," McConnell said. "I am proud to have helped develop this amendment and to co-sponsor it in committee."

McConnell's backing comes after Democrats have been putting political pressure on him and Republicans for more than a year to get behind additional provisions, including new funding, to protect against hacking and interference in the elections.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson makes dismissive comments about transgender people, angering agency staff



By Tracy Jan and
Jeff Stein September 19 at 7:11 PM

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson expressed concern about “big, hairy men” trying to infiltrate women’s homeless shelters during an internal meeting, according to three people present who interpreted the remarks as an attack on transgender women.

While visiting HUD’s San Francisco office this week, Carson also lamented that society no longer seemed to know the difference between men and women, two of the agency staffers said.

Carson’s remarks visibly shocked and upset many of the roughly 50 HUD staffers who attended Tuesday’s meeting, and prompted at least one woman to walk out in protest, the staffers said.

Carson has a history of making dismissive comments about transgender people. While running for president, he referred to transgender people as “abnormal" and said they should not be in the military. As HUD Secretary, he weakened Obama-era protections for transgender people, saying he believes in equal rights, not “special rights.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/09/19/hud-secretary-ben-carson-makes-dismissive-comments-about-transgender-people-angering-agency-staff/

On Thursday’s edition of CNN’s “The Situation Room,” CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta reported that President Donald Trump has grown furious about the state of White House leaks, and his officials are working to keep as many people in the administration as possible shut out from his phone calls with foreign leaders — precisely to avoid situations like the exploding DNI whistleblower scandal.

“As for the whistleblower complaint that’s being kept from Congress, a senior administration official tells CNN as these leaks from these calls have angered Trump, top officials in the West Wing began to limit who could listen in on these conversations so as to tighten the circle of people in the know and what the president has been discussing in some of these phone calls with foreign leaders,” said Acosta.

“That means there may be only a small number of people are aware of the details contained in this whistleblower complaint,” he added. “Lot of questions for the White House, not a lot of answers tonight.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/09/white-house-limiting-staff-access-to-trumps-phone-calls-to-prevent-future-whistleblowers-cnn/