The White House has launched its own fact-finding inquiry into the handling of the infamous July 25 call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, The New York Times reported.
Many White House aides believe the probe is more of an effort to find a scapegoat for the scandal that’s erupted around the call, which has become the basis of the House’s impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
The review is being conducted by White House lawyers, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Times. White House counsel reportedly wants to get clarity on why deputy White House counsel John Eisenberg placed a memo on the call into a password-protected vault — a computer system typically used for highly classified information.
According to people who heard about Eisenberg’s reaction to the inquiry, the White House counsel is furious that his actions are under scrutiny. Eisenberg claims he placed the document, which is a rough transcript of the Ukraine call, in the secret system in order to prevent leaks, which have been a consistent problem for the Trump administration.
While it is not immediately clear who ordered the review, acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney reportedly supports the idea and has directed some of his aides to help out. The White House is also reportedly conducting a different review, interviewing staffers about how Trump’s calls with foreign powers are typically handled.
And Mitch McConnell is working on a project to restore the honor of the Senate.
And Fox News is looking for truth to report.
And I seem to be laughing uncontrollably.
White House shocked, SHOCKED to find gambling in this establishment…
“WH Seeking Way to Turn on Yet One More Person Deluded Enough to Work for Trump”
Fixed that headline for ya, TPM
It doesn’t change the fact that the call occurred and that Trump is abusing the presidency several times over
In other news, Erdoğan is making vague threats he’ll take advantage of a ready-made nuclear arsenal in his back yard.
Officials are reviewing plans to evacuate up to 50 U.S. nuclear bombs that have long been stored at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey in the wake of Ankara’s military offensive in northern Syria, according to a report.
The weapons are now essentially “hostage” to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a senior official told The New York Times on Monday.
The Cold War-era B61 nuclear bombs are said to be 100-250 miles from the Syrian border, according to The Guardian. A former U.S. official told the outlet that Turkish diplomats responded to suggestions about moving the bombs by saying Turkey would start to develop its own.
“The potential problems have been discussed for over a decade,” the former official said. “And now we’ve finally gotten to a point where this is a problem that we can’t ignore anymore.”
Erdogan has previously expressed a desire to boost Turkey’s nuclear arsenal.
“Some nations have missiles with nuclear warheads – not just one or two. But [they say] I should not have missiles with nuclear warheads. I don’t accept this," Erdogan said last month, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.