That is it from me for the night. Here are the top stories to note from this afternoon:
- Ilhan Omar said she does not back Joe Biden for 2020 elections.
- Three House chairmen are threatening to subpoena Trump on the Ukraine controversy.
- Manhattan’s district attorney urged a judge on Monday to reject Donald Trump’s efforts to block prosecutors from obtaining his tax returns.
- Trump tells reporters he would win the Nobel Peace prize ‘if they gave it out fairly’
- Trump administration asks city officials in Iowa to remove LGBTQ-inclusive art from public spaces.
Happy Monday and good night!
Trump administration asks city officials in Iowa to remove LGBTQ-inclusive art from public spaces
Officials in Ames, Iowa say the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has requested the city remove inclusive multi-colored crosswalk art in a letter sent this month.
Ames, a college town with a population of around 67,000 people, installed painted sidewalks earlier this month. The new art includes gender non-binary pride colors, rainbow colors for LGBTQ rights, and colors representing support of transgender equality.
It is reportedly unusual for a federal agency to make such a call and Ames officials believe the FHWA does not have jurisdiction over the roads in question.
“The FHWA did not have a direct answer to this question, and it appears they are still researching whether they have any regulatory authority in this situation,” officials in Ames said, according to local news station KCCI. “These streets are not part of a federal highway and these streets receive no federal funding. With the system of federalism in the United States, the federal government does not have jurisdiction over everything.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden implied he will not attempt to convince Iowans to vote for him in the state’s 2020 Caucus.
Joe Biden tells a reporter in Iowa that he won’t make his case for why people there should vote for him.
— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) September 23, 2019
His camp has previously warned that he may lose the early state. Seems he’s resigned to that possibility.pic.twitter.com/dCecY0fCZX
Biden is currently in second place, according to the latest polls of Iowa voters, at 20%. Elizabeth Warren is leading the polls in Iowa, with 22% of voters saying she is most likely to receive their vote.
Trump tells reporters he would win the Nobel Peace prize 'if they gave it out fairly'
In an erratic exchange with reporters from Pakistan on Monday, Donald Trump said he would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “if they gave it out fairly.”
He spoke with the press outside the United Nations General Assembly ahead of a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Members of the Pakistani press praised him , saying he would “definitely” be deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize if he could solve tensions in the Kashmir region.
“I think I’m gonna get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly, which they don’t,” Trump said.
He went on to complain about former president Barack Obama receiving the prize in 200. The committee awarded Obama the prize for his “efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
“They gave one to Obama immediately upon his ascent to the presidency, and he had no idea why he got it,” Trump said. “And you know what? That was the only thing I agreed with him on.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize at the request of the U.S. government in February 2019.
Manhattan’s district attorney urged a judge on Monday to reject Donald Trump’s efforts to block prosecutors from obtaining his tax returns, saying the president wants “sweeping immunity.”
From the Associated Press:
District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. filed papers in federal court after Trump’s attorneys sued last week to stop Vance from forcing the president’s accounting firm to release eight years of his state and federal returns in a criminal probe.
Vance urged a judge to reject Trump’s request for a temporary order blocking Vance’s subpoena for the records in a probe of payments made to two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump. He also asked U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero to dismiss the lawsuit.
Vance said Trump was asserting the “remarkable proposition” that a sitting president not only enjoys blanket immunity from criminal prosecution, but also isn’t required to submit to any routine grand jury request for information about what he, his businesses or employees did before he took office.
“The law provides no such sweeping immunity,” the court papers said.
“Here, the question is not whether a state prosecutor can indict a sitting President,” the papers said. “Instead, the issue is whether a third party, having been duly served with a state grand jury subpoena seeking the books and records of a number of individuals and corporate entities, including those of the President, must comply with the subpoena.”
Trump’s lawyers have called the subpoena requests by Vance, a Democrat, a “bad faith effort to harass” Trump.
Trump’s lawyers say records shouldn’t be released until Trump leaves office.
Three House chairmen have threatened to subpoena the Trump administration for documents related to Donald Trump’s attempts to dig up damaging information on rival Joe Biden.
Trump admitted Sunday he had spoken to the president of Ukraine in an attempt to reopen an investigation of a business with links to the former vice-president’s son.
Democratic lawmakers have said this use of the presidential office to investigate a political adversary is grounds for impeachment.
A joint statement penned by Eliot L Engel, the House foreign affairs committee chairman, Adam B Schiff, the House intelligence committee chairman, and Elijah E Cummings, the House oversight committee chairman, took the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to task for withholding documents on the matter and gave him until Thursday to respond to the inquiry.
“Seeking to enlist a foreign actor to interfere with an American election undermines our sovereignty, democracy and the constitution, which the president is sworn to preserve, protect and defend,” the chairmen wrote in the letter. “Yet the president and his personal attorney now appear to be openly engaging in precisely this type of abuse of power involving the Ukrainian government ahead of the 2020 election.”
The committees asked for the documents two weeks ago. Since then, it has emerged that Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire is holding back a whistleblower complaint from Congress. The AP and other news outlets have reported the complaint is linked to a phone call where Trump pressured Ukraine’s leader to investigate Joe Biden’s son.
Updated
Ilhan Omar said in an interview at the Iowa People’s Presidential Forum that Joe Biden is not the right candidate for “progress we all want to see”.
“I think it’s been very clear to many of the people creating the kind of movement that is exciting generations that we want somebody who really has a plan that is going to tackle a lot of the systematic challenges that we have,” she said. “And he doesn’t.”
Omar, a House representative from Minnesota, has made waves as a member of a progressive group of new Congress members alongside representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
She did not indicate if she backed any of the other candidates running for office in 2020.
Updated
Hello readers, this is Kari Paul in San Francisco taking over the blog for the next few hours. More news to come.
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Kari Paul, will be taking over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Trump pushed back against reports that he allegedly pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden, arguing that “crooked” journalists should be more concerned about the former vice-president’s actions. (But there has been no evidence to substantiate Trump’s corruption claims against Biden.)
- Meanwhile, one of Trump’s advisers reportedly acknowledged that the Ukraine controversy could become a “serious problem”.
- Mitch McConnell accused Democratic lawmakers of trying to “politicize” the whistleblower complaint about Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president after Chuck Schumer demanded oversight hearings on the matter.
- The Democratic National Committee announced its heightened requirements to qualify for the fifth presidential debate. Candidates must attract at least 165,000 unique donors and receive at least 3% of support in four polls (or 5% of support in two early-state polls).
- Young climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the UN general assembly and denounced leaders’ inaction on combating climate change. “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,” Thunberg said.
Kari will have more on the news of the day, so stay tuned.
Updated
Another Democratic presidential candidate, Amy Klobuchar, is tweeting about the DNC’s heightened requirements to qualify for the fifth debate, urging her supporters to donate.
ALERT: The DNC just raised the thresholds for the next #DemDebate. We have one poll in and three to go. Can you help keep our momentum going to ensure we have a spot on the debate stage?
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) September 23, 2019
DONATE HERE: https://t.co/iVg91M9DTq
But according to an MSNBC reporter, the Minnesota senator has already crossed the fundraising threshold of attracting at least 165,000 unique donors.
Klobuchar has the donors to make the November stage, and recent polls (especially in Iowa) have been heading in the right direction for her, too. https://t.co/NqrdQQ0vEc
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) September 23, 2019
Climate protests halt traffic in Washington
There were more than two dozen arrests in the nation’s capital over this morning’s “Shut Down DC” climate crisis protests.
Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Strategically staged as a direct action, demonstrators blocked major commuter arteries in Washington, DC.
At least 26 people had been arrested before 9.30AM, according to the capital’s Metropolitan Police Department. The protests were organized under the umbrella of at least 20 organizations, including 350.org, Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the Earth, with the hashtag #ShutDownDC, demanding “sweeping action” on the climate crisis.
Crowds blocked traffic, causing gridlock, as they demanded action from world leaders. They were part of the global climate strike led by youth activists that brought many millions of people out to protest last Friday in the largest climate protest in history.
Monday’s protest was followed by an angry and emotional speech at the UN climate summit in New York by youth activist Greta Thunberg.
Johnson expresses confidence in Trump's ability to strike Iran deal
Boris Johnson, the British prime minister facing severe political troubles back home, expressed confidence that Trump would be able to strike a new deal with Iran after throwing out the 2015 nuclear agreement.
UK PM Boris Johnson to @LesterHoltNBC: "We are virtually certain" Iran is behind the recent attacks on major oil sites in Saudi Arabia.
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) September 23, 2019
Watch Johnson's first U.S. network television interview tonight on @NBCNightlyNews at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT. pic.twitter.com/FRhfnS14TJ
“Let’s do a better deal,” Johnson told NBC News. “I think there’s one guy who can do a better deal ... and that is the president of the United States. I hope there will be a Trump deal.”
Johnson added that Britain was “virtually certain” Iran was behind the attack earlier this month on a Saudi oil facility and that he considered Trump to be a “very, very brilliant negotiator”.
Updated
Trump resurfaced his “Fredo” insult against Chris Cuomo when discussing the CNN host’s recent interview with the president’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
“I watched Rudy take apart Fredo,” Trump said of the interview. “Rudy Giuliani took Fredo to the cleaners. First time I’ve watched CNN in a long time.”
CNN's @ChrisCuomo: "Did you ask Ukraine to look into Joe Biden?"@RudyGiuliani: "Of course I did"
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) September 20, 2019
President Trump's attorney says he had spoken with a Ukrainian official about Joe Biden's possible role in that government's dismissal of a prosecutor who investigated Biden's son. pic.twitter.com/hqmqtmx2VW
Giuliani’s interview with Cuomo went viral after the president’s lawyer contradicted himself about whether he had asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and accused the CNN host of being “the enemy”.
Updated
The campaign manager for Tom Steyer announced that the billionaire activist has similarly already met the donor threshold for the fifth Democratic debate, which was announced this afternoon.
I'm excited that the campaign has already surpassed the new DNC donor threshold & am confident that we will meet the polling req. @TomSteyer was the last candidate to enter this race & in just over 2 months we are seeing his vision resonate with voters across the country.
— Heather Hargreaves (@hmhargreaves) September 23, 2019
The campaign manager for Cory Booker, who qualified for the third and fourth debates but issued a fundraising plea to supporters this weekend, acknowledged that the New Jersey senator has not yet met either threshold.
McConnell accuses Democrats of trying to 'politicize' whistlebower complaint
In a Senate floor speech, Mitch McConnell accused senior Democratic lawmakers, including Chuck Schumer, of trying to “politicize” allegations that Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate one of his political opponents.
McConnell says it's "regrettable" that Schumer & Schiff are trying to "politicize" the whistleblower situation. He is pleased that the administration released security funds for Ukraine. Says he personally pressed secretaries of state and defense to ensure this would happen.
— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) September 23, 2019
Schumer wrote a letter to McConnell earlier today urging the Senate majority leader to hold hearings on whether Trump withheld aid from Ukraine to incentivize launching a probe into Biden.
Schumer wrote: “The Republican-led Senate has remained silent and submissive, shying away from this institution’s constitutional obligation to conduct oversight.”
While speaking to (and disparaging) reporters at the UN General Assembly, Trump also denied that he pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden.
Pres. Trump on his call with president of Ukraine: "There was no pressure put on them whatsoever. I put no pressure on them whatsoever. I could have. I think it might probably, possibly have been okay if I did, but I didn't." https://t.co/bi5p37V0MI #UNGA pic.twitter.com/c6hpp0Pj86
— ABC News (@ABC) September 23, 2019
But he very questionably argued that such a move, pressuring a foreign leader to investigate a political opponent, would be acceptable.
“I think it might probably, possibly have been okay if I did, but I didn’t,” Trump said, much to the likely chagrin of every ethics expert in the country.
The campaign manager for Cory Booker, who issued a fundraising plea to his supporters over the weekend, acknowledged that the New Jersey senator has not met either of the qualification thresholds for the November debate.
Crunched the numbers and keeping it 💯: we’re not to either threshold yet. Underscores the point of our call from this weekend — the bar is going to continue to go up, and it’s not just debate stage qualification. We have to scale up this fall. Help us:https://t.co/eR9Nn3OgYp https://t.co/X00xxGT7iz
— Addisu Demissie (@ASDem) September 23, 2019
The Democratic National Committee has just announced that each debate participant must attract at least 165,000 unique donors and at least 3 percent in four polls (or at least 5 percent in two early-state polls).
But one of Booker’s competitors, tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, voiced confidence that he would qualify for the November debate.
The @DNC has set 3% in 4 polls as the qualification for the November debate as well as 165,000 donors. We have the donors and got 4% in a recent poll - we will be there. 😀👍🇺🇸 https://t.co/tYc6DXVT7R. Thank you #YangGangLove #YangGangRising
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) September 23, 2019
Trump adviser reportedly acknowledged Ukraine call is a 'serious problem'
An adviser to Trump acknowledged to CNN that his call with the Ukrainian president about Joe Biden could become a major issue for the administration.
“This is a serious problem for us,” the adviser said. “He admitted doing it.”
CNN has more:
A separate source close to the White House said Trump’s team is treating the Ukraine story like the President’s taxes: That is, a problem but one that can potentially be fought out in the media and in the courts, if needed.
The source familiar with the matter said some on Trump’s internal White House legal team are currently leaning against releasing the transcript from the call.
But a White House official brushed off concerns about Trump’s interactions with Ukraine’s president, calling it ‘Mueller 2.’
‘We’ve seen this movie before,’ the official said.
Trump claims Biden would get 'electric chair' if he were a Republican
Trump repeated his debunked corruption claims against Joe Biden and accused the media of being “crooked as hell” for not reporting the false accusations as fact.
“Joe Biden and his son are corrupt ... but the fake news doesn’t want to report it because they’re Democrats,” Trump said at the UN General Assembly.
Trump screams that the media is "crooked as hell" and says a Republican would "get the electric chair" for what Biden has done, doesn't actually say what Biden has done but tries to cast aspersions. This is all occurring at the annual UN meeting. pic.twitter.com/TR0RSNkzMa
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) September 23, 2019
The president added, “If a Republican ever said what Joe Biden said, they’d be getting the electric chair probably right now.” Again, there has been no evidence of Biden trying to profit off his office while serving as vice president.
Trump went on to slam the media. “You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves,” he told the assembled journalists. While noting that he appreciated the work of some reporters, he argued that most were “crooked as hell.”
DNC announces fifth debate qualifications
The Democratic National Committee has once again ratcheted up the qualifications for the next Democratic debate, which will take in November.
The DNC announced in a statement that presidential candidates would have two means of meeting the polling qualification and would also have to attract 165,000 unique donors to make the debate stage.
On the polling front, candidates would either have to receive at least 3 percent of support in four polls or at least 5 percent in two single-state polls from the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada.
The raised qualifications threaten to once again decrease the number of debate-eligible candidates. After the DNC hiked the minimum figures for the third and fourth debates, the number of participants was essentially cut in half.
This could spell trouble for lower-polling candidates like Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar and Julián Castro who managed to qualify for the last debates -- let alone candidates like Steve Bullock and John Delaney who failed to make the cut last time.
Trump’s dubious claims about Joe Biden trying to profit off his vice presidency are now being supported by the Republican National Committee in an email to supporters.
Email subject line from the RNC: "Quid Pro Joe."
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) September 23, 2019
It says, "Joe Biden’s family has capitalized off of sweetheart deals only available because of his political connections."
Republicans now sending out articles to seemingly back up Trump asking Ukraine to investigate Biden.
But Trump’s claims are completely baseless, as the Washington Post reports:
Trump has claimed that Biden in 2016 pressured the Ukrainian government to fire Viktor Shokin, the top Ukrainian prosecutor, because he was investigating a Ukrainian gas producer, Burisma Holdings, that had added Biden’s son Hunter to its board. But it turns out that the investigation had already been shelved when Biden acted and may have even involved a side company, not Burisma. The Ukrainian prosecutor was regarded as a failure, and ‘Joe Biden’s efforts to oust Shokin were universally praised,’ said Anders Aslund, a Swedish economist heavily involved in Eastern European market reforms.
Moreover, Yuri Lutsenko, a former Ukrainian prosecutor general who succeeded the fired prosecutor, told Bloomberg News that there was no evidence of wrongdoing by Joe or Hunter Biden.
Updated
Another Democratic presidential candidate, Pete Buttigieg, appeared more cautious when asked about lawmakers gaining access to a transcript of the phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president.
He noted the concerns about potentially classified information but emphasized that Democrats should investigate the matter.
.@PeteButtigieg starts 3rd day of his bus tour, answering question on Biden/Ukraine. @PriscillaWT asks if the transcript of the call should be released, Buttigieg says: "I don't know the classification level [of the conversation]. At a minimum, Congress needs to have a look."
— Elena Schneider (@ec_schneider) September 23, 2019
Buttigieg has returned to Iowa to campaign in the first-in-the-nation caucus state as a new poll shows him nearly even with Bernie Sanders in his support.
While speaking to reporters at the UN General Assembly, Trump once again proved that flattery will get you everywhere with the US president.
American reporters complained on Twitter that Trump stopped taking questions from them during his meeting with Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, after a Pakistani reporter lavished praise on the president.
Trump basically stopped even looking at the White House press pool as some of his aides struggled to stifle their laughter https://t.co/yxHbopUKGz
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) September 23, 2019
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris had harsh words for Trump amid his Ukraine controversy, saying the incident demonstrates why the president should be impeached.
ICYMI: @KamalaHarris to me in an interview re: Trump’s Ukraine controversy: “He’s not a patriot.”
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) September 23, 2019
“We need to proceed with an impeachment process and he needs to be impeached.” pic.twitter.com/SghBo2XCLH
Trump has already repeatedly faced questions at the UN General Assembly today about what he and Volodymyr Zelensky discussed regarding Joe Biden in their July phone call.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Trump has confirmed he discussed Joe Biden with the Ukrainian president as calls for his impeachment escalate among House Democrats. The president will likely face more questions on the controversy today as he attends the UN General Assembly.
- The young climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the UN, denouncing leaders for their inaction on combating climate change.
- A new Iowa poll shows Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren are neck-and-neck in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, as Bernie Sanders has slipped into a decided third place.
The blog is still covering the latest updates on the Ukraine controversy and the campaign trail, so stay tuned.
Booker raises more than $500,000 since weekend fundraising plea
Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker has raised more than 500,000 since his campaign sent out a desperate weekend email asking supporters to offer financial support to his bid.
“Here’s the bottom line: Cory 2020 needs to raise an additional $1.7 million by September 30 to be in a position to build the organization necessary to continue competing for the nomination,” his campaign manger, Addisu Demissie, wrote in an email to supporters on Saturday. “Without a fundraising surge to close out this quarter, we do not see a legitimate long-term path forward.”
This is a herculean challenge—but it can be done. I know because we’ve done it before. So today, I’m asking for your help. Chip in $5, $10—whatever you can—to help keep my voice in this race: https://t.co/thGpnEeVEd
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 21, 2019
The campaign announced this morning that it is almost a third of the way toward its goal, having raised $508,629 since it sent out the request.
“We’re lifted by the influx of support for Cory’s campaign for president -- even from individuals who haven’t made up their minds who to support in this race but who believe Cory’s voice is vital,” Demissie said in a statement. “We still have a long way to go over the next 8 days to reach our $1.7 million goal -- but the past two days have shown the power of people rallying together to take on tough challenges. It’s the same spirit that will beat Donald Trump and change this country.”
Thunberg to UN: 'You have stolen my dreams'
The young climate activist Greta Thunberg denounced inaction on combating climate change in her address to the UN General Assembly, saying the gathered leaders had “stolen my dreams.”
Reuters has more:
Thunberg, visibly emotional, said in shaky but stern remarks at the opening of the summit that the generations that have polluted the most have burdened her and her generation with the extreme impacts of climate change.
‘This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you,’ she said.
‘You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,’ Thunberg said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who convened the [UN Climate Action Summit], had warned governments ahead of the event that they would have to offer action plans to qualify to speak at the summit, which is aimed at boosting the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat global warming.
Updated
Trump is currently speaking at a UN General Assembly session on protecting religious freedom.
Trump at U.N.: "As president, protecting religious freedom is one of my highest priorities and always has been." https://t.co/J6qHTqBPHI pic.twitter.com/2u7uw0dGyl
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 23, 2019
But a PBS NewsHour reporter noted that the president sidestepped some of his own past comments on the topic.
At United Nations, Pres. Trump is hosting a session to "protect religious freedom." He said all nations should "end religious persecution." So far, Trump, VP Pence, and others haven't mentioned that Trump called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims" entering the U.S.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) September 23, 2019
Trump questions the allegiance of the whistleblower
Trump has taken his attention away from the UN General Assembly long enough to fire off this two-part tweet questioning the allegiance of the whistleblower who raised concerns about the president’s phone call with the leader of Ukraine.
....know the correct facts. Is he on our Country’s side. Where does he come from. Is this all about Schiff & the Democrats again after years of being wrong?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2019
There is no evidence of the whistleblower having ties to another country, as the president seems to be suggesting here.
And it’s also worth noting that Trump has now confirmed he discussed Joe Biden during his phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, so it’s unclear what the president is denying he did here.
Trump made an unscheduled appearance at the UN General Assembly’s climate session, per a Wall Street Journal reporter.
President Trump made an unscheduled appearance at the UN’s Climate Action summit. He attended Modi and Merkel’s speeches then left. (He clapped for Merkel when she concluded her remarks). He was seated with secretary Pompeo and national security advisor O’Brien
— Vivian Salama (@vmsalama) September 23, 2019
Trump had been criticized for scheduling an appearance at a religious freedom event at the same time as the climate session, but he told reporters yesterday that he was sincerely concerned about climate change.
“The floods are very important to me, and uh, climate change – everything is very important,” Trump said.
The president was criticized last month for skipping a climate session at the G-7 summit in France, as his administration simultaneously rolls back a number of environmental regulations.
It appears Trump’s comments on impeachment upon arrival to the UN General Assembly were overheard by another one of the gathering’s most famous guests – the young climate activist Greta Thunberg.
That appears to be @GretaThunberg standing behind VP, POTUS at the UN as he’s asked about impeachment. pic.twitter.com/dBnBBrr9mo
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) September 23, 2019
The White House is reportedly giving serious consideration to releasing the transcript of Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president, despite concerns about the precedent it could set.
CNN reports:
However, some senior administration officials, like Secretary of State Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, are against the idea because of the precedent releasing it could set with future foreign leaders — and because putting it out could give Congress ammunition to demand transcripts of Trump’s calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
White House officials were soliciting opinions from outside advisers over the weekend about whether they should release the transcript of Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president, as well as how advisers think the White House should message it if the transcript was ‘embarrassing.’
A person familiar with the discussions said the White House Counsel’s Office is currently involved in evaluating whether the transcript should be released and in what form. The person saying the release could happen ‘soon.’
A Politico reporter noted that Trump’s comments on his phone call with the Ukrainian president may indicate that the possibility of withholding military aid from the country was under consideration:
"why would you give money to a country that you think is corrupt"—seems like Trump is admitting that $$ to Ukraine was on the table during that call, in which he asked Zelensky to investigate Biden. https://t.co/qMeddr6p5G
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) September 23, 2019
Trump answered a question on what he told the Ukrainian president about Joe Biden by saying, “You are going to see.”
When asked about what he spoke to the Ukrainian president about regarding Joe Biden and his son, he said, "You are going to see." https://t.co/J6qHTqBPHI pic.twitter.com/fjbCv4HLMj
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 23, 2019
The answer may indicate the White House is leaning toward releasing a transcript of the phone call between the president and Volodymyr Zelensky, as Trump himself suggested yesterday.
But Democratic lawmakers are unlikely to relent in their demands for details on the call until they receive the whistleblower complaint that kicked off this controversy.
Trump says he's not taking impeachment talks seriously
Arriving at the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump said he was talking Democrats’ talk of impeachment “not at all seriously.”
NEW: Asked how seriously he is taking talk of impeachment, Pres. Trump says "not at all seriously."
— ABC News (@ABC) September 23, 2019
"We had a perfect phone call with the president of Ukraine," he adds, amid increasing scrutiny following whistleblower complaint. https://t.co/AJBZOeonUe #UNGA pic.twitter.com/v4xwRfuvRm
The president also dubiously argued that his conversation with the Ukrainian leader was appropriate given the importance of discussing corruption.
“It’s very important to talk about corruption,” Trump said. “If you don’t talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country that you think is corrupt? ... It’s very important that on occasion you speak to somebody about corruption.”
But it’s one thing to bring up a country’s history with corruption and quite another to suggest that the country investigate one of your political rivals.
Schumer presses McConnell to request information on whistleblower complaint
The Senate’s top Democrat is now pushing the chamber’s majority leader, Mitch McConnell, to request access to the whistleblower complaint about Trump allegedly pressuring the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden.
In new letter, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer calls on McConnell to take steps to obtain whistleblower complaint and investigate why military aid was withheld from Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/N2bXfbMGJ1
— Lauren Fox (@FoxReports) September 23, 2019
But it’s highly unlikely McConnell will give any credence to Chuck Schumer’s request. With Republicans in control of the Senate and few of its caucus members coming out to demand the information, McConnell is much more likely to try to avoid the issue in the hope that it will eventually go away.
With Democrats in control of the House, though, the issue is bound to stay in the spotlight for the foreseeable future.
Updated
The eye-popping statistic of the day: nearly 40 percent of House Republicans are leaving or have been pushed out of office since Trump became president.
The Washington Post reports:
Since Trump’s inauguration, a Washington Post analysis shows, nearly 40 percent of the 241 Republicans who were in office in January 2017 are gone or leaving because of election losses, retirements including former House speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), and some, such as [Michigan’s Paul] Mitchell, who are simply quitting in disgust. ...
The retirement numbers are particularly staggering. All told, 41 House Republicans have left national politics or announced they won’t seek reelection in the nearly three years since Trump took office. That dwarfs the 25 Democrats who retired in the first four years of former president Barack Obama’s tenure — and Republicans privately predict this is only the beginning.
Most of the departing Republicans publicly cite family as the reason for leaving. But behind the scenes, Republicans say the trend highlights a greater pessimism about the direction of the party under Trump — and their ability to win back the House next year.
Pivoting back to the Democratic campaign trail: presidential candidate Pete Buttigeig announced his second television ad buy in Iowa, the nation’s first caucus state.
The ad, entitled “Had To,” focuses on Buttigieg’s biography as an Afghanistan War veteran and Indiana mayor.
“Serving in Afghanistan, we had to be united in our mission,” Buttigieg says in the ad. “After corporate greed ripped apart the rust belt, my city had to find a way forward. Whenever I visit, I hear Iowans’ frustration with politics so broken for so long.”
The latest CNN/Des Moines Register poll from Iowa shows Buttigieg holding steady in the state, attracting the support of 9 percent of Democratic voters. The number puts him ahead of Kamala Harris and just behind Bernie Sanders, who received 11 percent.
Giuliani denies Ukraine story before qualifying his denial
Rudy Giuliani, who serves as a lawyer to Trump, was asked on Fox News about whether the president threatened to cut off aid to the Ukraine if the country did not investigate Joe Biden.
Giuliani pressed about whether Trump threatened to cut off foreign aid to Ukraine: “I can’t tell you if it’s 100%”
— Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) September 23, 2019
pic.twitter.com/BruZrnBanO
The former New York mayor initially denied the reports as a “false story.” But when pressed on whether it was “100 percent” false, Giuliani said, “I can’t tell you if it’s 100 percent.”
According to reports, Trump repeatedly pressured the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to work with Giuliani on a probe into Biden. Giuliani has previously suggested that Biden leaned on Ukraine to stomp out corruption because of an investigation into a natural gas company with connections to his son, Hunter Biden. But there is no evidence of wrongdoing on the younger Biden’s part.
That has not stopped Giuliani from cranking out baseless conspiracy theories apparently meant to try to deflect attention away from Trump.
If Dem party doesn’t call for investigation of Bidens’ millions from Ukraine and billions from China, they will own it. Bidens’ made big money selling public office. How could Obama have allowed this to happen? Will Dems continue to condone and enable this kind pay-for-play?
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) September 23, 2019
Even some Republican lawmakers are acknowledging that Trump should release the details of his phone call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I’m hoping the president can share, in an appropriate way, information to deal with the drama around the phone call,” said Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a close congressional ally of the president’s. “I think it would be good for the country if we could deal with it.”
Senator Mitt Romney, the Republican senator of Utah, said it was “critical for the facts to come out.” He added, “If the president asked or pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate his political rival, either directly or through his personal attorney, it would be troubling in the extreme.”
Of course, this is a far cry from comments from many Democratic lawmakers, some of whom have warned that Trump’s reported phone call could pose a constitutional threat.
Trump's primary challenger accuses him of 'treason'
Bill Weld, the former Massachusetts governor who has launched a long-shot bid against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, said the president’s phone call with the Ukrainian leader pressing him to investigate Joe Biden constitutes “treason.”
"That's not just undermining democratic institutions. That is treason. It's treason pure and simple." -- @GovBillWeld pic.twitter.com/h0stI2lojR
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) September 23, 2019
“Talk about pressuring a foreign country to interfere with and control a U.S. election,” Weld told MSNBC. “It couldn’t be clearer, and that’s not just undermining democratic institutions. That is treason. It’s treason, pure and simple, and the penalty for treason under the U.S. code is death. That’s the only penalty.”
Weld added that, if Trump has committed treason, then the president has well crossed the threshold to be removed from office.
Senior House Democrats escalate impeachment talks
Some of the most senior House Democrats are ratcheting up their comments on impeaching Trump, even as they avoid calling for immediately launching proceedings.
Nancy Pelosi, who has stridently avoided calling for impeachment, wrote in a letter that continued White House obstruction over releasing the whistleblower complaint about Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president would trigger severe consequences.
“If the Administration persists in blocking this whistleblower from disclosing to Congress a serious possible breach of constitutional duties by the President, they will be entering a grave new chapter of lawlessness which will take us into a whole new stage of investigation,” the House speaker wrote.
And the House intelligence committee chairman, Adam Schiff, said yesterday that impeachment “may be the only remedy” if Trump refuses to release the complaint alleging that he discussed one of his political rivals, Joe Biden, with the Ukrainian president.
“If the president is essentially withholding military aid at the same time that he is trying to browbeat a foreign leader into doing something illicit that is providing dirt on his opponent during a presidential campaign, then that may be the only remedy that is coequal to the evil that conduct represents,” the California Democrat told CNN.
The real test will come Thursday, when acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire testifies publicly before the House Intelligence Committee.
Warren edges out Biden in new Iowa poll
Good morning, live blog readers!
Most eyes will be turned to Washington this week as talks intensify over whether House Democrats will move forward with impeachment now that Donald Trump has acknowledged he discussed one of his political rivals, Joe Biden, in a phone call with Ukraine’s new president.
But developments are continuing far away from Washington as well, specifically in the early voting states of the Democratic presidential primary. A new poll released this weekend found Elizabeth Warren edging out Biden in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa. According to the CNN/Des Moines Register poll, the Massachusetts senator is attracting the support of 22 percent of Iowa Democrats, compared to the former vice president’s 20 percent.
But what’s arguably even more surprising about the results is how much every other candidate, including Bernie Sanders, has fallen behind the two front-runners. Most political commentators initially viewed the Democratic primary as a four-person race between Biden, Sanders, Warren and Kamala Harris. When Harris’ polling started to dip this summer, it looked like a three-person race. Could it now become a one-on-one face-off?
It’s just one poll, and time will tell with more than four months left before the Iowa caucus, but Biden and Warren are currently the candidates to beat.
Here’s what else the blog is keeping its eye on:
- Trump is in New York for the UN General Assembly, where he will meet with a number of world leaders – including his “favorite dictator,” Egypt’s Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
- Joe Biden and Jill Biden will attend the funeral service for Emily Clyburn, the wife of Democratic representative Jim Clyburn who died last week, in South Carolina.
- Here in DC, climate activists are attempting to shut down some of the city’s major intersections to demand action on climate change.
The blog is watching all of that, so stay tuned.
