Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Cal Thomas, Bob Barr, Hans Von Spakovsky, Sean Davis and NORML’s Tyler McFadden joined WMAL on Thursday morning!

5am – A/B/C Trump Phone Call Transcript Appears To Undercut Two ‘Bombshell’ Reports About Whistleblower Complaint.

• The Washington Post reported Trump made a “promise” to the Ukrainian president during a phone call central to the complaint.
• The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Trump “repeatedly pressed” for an investigation into Joe Biden’s son.
• A rough transcript of the call released Wednesday by the White House contains no indication of a “promise.” It also shows Trump mentioned the Bidens only during one part of their 30-minute conversation.
• The Federalist: CNN Just Yadda-Yadda-Yadda’d 540 Words To Frame Trump For ‘Favor’ He Never Requested. By Tristan Justice // In the media’s efforts to tie President Donald Trump with its latest conspiracy theory, CNN skipped an entire section of the released and unredacted transcript of a phone call to charge Trump with requesting a favor he never asked for… The transcript that CNN read on air, however, connects the word “favor” in this section with Trump 540 words later asking the Ukrainian leader to look into former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s questionable business dealings with a Ukrainian energy company. Hunter sat on the board of the company for $50,000 a month while, as Joe Biden bragged in 2018 on camera, his dad put pressure on the Ukrainian government to end a corruption probe into the company.
• TRUMP URGED ZELENSKY TO CONTACT BARR (MSN) – “I would like you to do us a favor,” Mr. Trump said in response to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine raising the prospect of acquiring military equipment from the United States. The president then also asked for another inquiry: that the Ukrainians examine an unsubstantiated theory about stolen Democratic emails.
• TRUMP DEMANDS TRANSPARENCY: (Fox News) – A defiant President Trump said during a press conference in New York Wednesday that he wants “full transparency” not only over the “so-called whistleblower” allegations leveled against him, but also “from Joe Biden and his son Hunter on the millions of dollars that have been quickly and easily taken out of Ukraine and China.” Trump additionally demanded “transparency from Democrats who went to Ukraine and attempted to force the new president … to do things that they wanted under the form of political threat. They threatened him if he didn’t do things — now that’s what they’re accusing me of, but I didn’t do it.”
• CONGRESS GETS WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT: Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Sen. Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) will now review the confidential tip, though it’s not immediately clear how extensively the version they received is redacted.
• RNC PULLS IN APPROX $1 MILLION ON FIRST DAY OF IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY. (The Hill) – A Republican National Committee (RNC) official told The Hill that the RNC, President Trump’s reelection campaign and a joint fundraising committee began efforts at 2 p.m. and had netted $1 million at 8 p.m., a few hours after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced a formal impeachment inquiry.
• ED HENRY: Documents released this hour by admin also show IG found “political bias” by whistleblower but also found that person’s allegations credible — though transcript of call shows US aid did not come up. Biden not raised 8 times as first claimed
• MARK MEADOWS: Remember yesterday when we were told President Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden’s son? 8 times? And offered quid pro quo in exchange? None of that was true. They did it again. Just like collusion. Just like obstruction. Same old story.
• President Donald Trump Reacts To The Release Of The Ukraine Call Transcript. “There was no pressure whatsoever, and if you take a look at the Democrats, they went down to see the president of Ukraine and they asked him for all sorts of things,” Trump said at the United Nations General Assembly. “[Zelensky] himself just came out with a statement saying there was absolutely no pressure put on him.”
• MISLEADING MEDIA COVERAGE OF TRANSCRIPT: BRIANNA KEILAR AND KATY TUR:
  • CNN’s BRIANNA KEILAR shares fake news of what’s in the transcript
  • What CNN failed to mention was that in between Trump saying, “I would like you to do us a favor,” is over 500 words of conversation, part of which talks about Ukraine looking into election meddling.
  • MSNBC peddled similar news, with correspondent KATY TUR saying Trump said, “Will you do me a favor and investigate Vice President Biden’s son?”

5am – D         Shooting threat at ‘Joker’ movie premiere spurs warning from Army Criminal Investigation Command. (Stars and Stripes) – Military commanders in Oklahoma were warned of the potential threat of violence at the theatrical release of the upcoming “Joker” movie, though law enforcement officials are not sure which theaters may be affected.  An Army Criminal Investigation Command memo issued Monday put commanders at Fort Sill, Okla., on notice about an intelligence bulletin that said a Texas law enforcement agency working with the FBI had discovered “disturbing and very specific chatter in the dark web” about the possible targeting of an unknown theater for a mass shooting during the Oct. 4 release. An image of the memo was posted briefly to the popular Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page before being removed Tuesday. The command, which is also known as CID, confirmed its authenticity to Stars and Stripes. “Out of an abundance of caution, our Fort Sill office distributed the memo to internal military personnel at Fort Sill,” said CID spokesman Christopher Grey. The memo was based on information in a bulletin from the Texas Joint Crime Information Center, Grey said. An official at the Texas center, who declined to be named to discuss the matter freely, called the threat “valid,” but said there was no specific location mentioned.

5am – E         Bill Kristol excitedly reports the prospect that Sen. Mitt Romney’s criticism of President Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president may result in House and Senate Republicans supporting impeachment.

• Kristol: Mitt Romney Has Helped Reassure Pelosi There Is Republican Support For Impeachment in Senate

• Mike Murphy, a former advisor to John McCain and Mitt Romney, appeared on MSNBC and began by claiming that Trump’s alleged misconduct was “much clearer” in the transcript of the president’s conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky than the Mueller report and that a direct “quid pro quo” wasn’t necessary, calling it a “classic shakedown.”

6am – A/B/C DNI HEARING TODAY / WASH POST FAKE NEWS / GRISHAM RESPONSE:

• Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire will testify before the House Intelligence Committee in an open hearing (9am ET) on Thursday where he will be asked about the whistleblower complaint which has been viewed by House and Senate Intelligence committees behind closed doors. That complaint suggests President Trump discussed having Ukrainian President Zelensky investigate 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) describes the whistleblower’s allegations as both disturbing and credible. Appearing with Maguire will be Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.
• Acting Director of National Intelligence to testify before Congress on whistleblower complaint. Rep. Stewart’s claim came hours before Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire was set to testify before Congress on Thursday. On Wednesday, Maguire denied a Washington Post report that he had threatened to turn in his resignation over concerns that the White House might try to make him stonewall Congress over the whistleblower controversy. Meanwhile, Fox News is told there was serious conversation among lawmakers as to how far Maguire could go in an open session at the hearing. One source tells Fox News the administration may have declassified the document so it could be discussed publicly during the hearing.
• WAPO: Trump’s intelligence chief threatened to quit if White House forced him to stonewall Congress on whistleblower, officials say
• STEPHANIE GRISHAM: This is actually not true. And we would have gone on the record to say that if the @washingtonpost had given us more than 6 minutes (literally) to respond.
• Intelligence Director Adamantly Disputes WaPo Report He Threatened To Resign. Statement by Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire: “At no time have I considered resigning my position since assuming this role on Aug. 16, 2019. I have never quit anything in my life, and I am not going to start now. I am committed to leading the Intelligence Community to address the diverse and complex threats facing our nation.”
• Acting intel chief Joseph Maguire denies report that he threatened to resign. (Fox News) – Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire denied a report by The Washington Post Wednesday that he had threatened to resign amid the clamor over President Trump’s July phone call with the Ukrainian president. “At no time have I considered resigning my position since assuming this role on Aug. 16, 2019,” Maguire said in a statement. “I have never quit anything in my life, and I am not going to start now. I am committed to leading the Intelligence Community to address the diverse and complex threats facing our nation.” The Post report, which cited “current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter,” said that Maguire had threatened to turn in his resignation over concerns that the White House might try to make him stonewall Congress. He is set to testify Thursday about a whistleblower complaint that has spurred House Democrats to open an impeachment inquiry into Trump. The White House has also denied that Maguire threatened to resign, with Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham complaining on Twitter that the Post had only given them six minutes to respond to their request for comment. “This is actually not true,” Grisham said of the newspaper’s story. “And we would have gone on the record to say that if the @washingtonpost had given us more than 6 minutes (literally) to respond.”
• Stephanie Grisham @PressSec This is actually not true. And we would have gone on the record to say that if the @washingtonpost had given us more than 6 minutes (literally) to respond.

6am – B/C     FLASHBACKS OF DEMS REACTING TO CLINTON’S IMPEACHMENT IN 1998:

• FLASHBACK – NADLER IN 1998: “An impeachment of a President is an undoing of a National Election!” One of the reasons we feel so angry about what they are doing is because … they’re telling us our votes don’t count!”
• FLASHBACK – Nancy Pelosi in 1998: Impeaching the President out of Vengeance Is Not Fair
• PELOSI TODAY: Democrat Nancy Pelosi condemns President Trump over the phone call he had with Ukraine immediately after admitting that she has not even seen the transcript
• FLASHBACK: Resurfaced video from 1998 shows Biden warning against impeaching Bill Clinton based on ‘politics’

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist discussed the impeachment push and the politics behind it.

6am – E/F      DC leaders consider 2 bills aimed at dropping workplace marijuana testing. (WTOP) – D.C. council members are considering two bills that would do away with marijuana testing of employees at work. Possession of marijuana and its recreational use is legal in D.C., and many District residents have a prescription for medical marijuana. But as the law stands, employees can be penalized at work if they test positive for the drug. “Our thinking on marijuana from a criminal justice perspective has evolved. But our thinking on marijuana from an employment perspective is stuck in the last century,” said At-Large Council member David Grosso. The two bills under discussion by the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development involve drug testing at work: The Prohibition of Marijuana Testing Act of 2019 proposes to eliminate marijuana testing in the workplace. This bill passed as emergency legislation but now must transition through the legal process for adoption as a permanent law. The second, the Medical Marijuana Program Patient Protection Amendment Act of 2019, would do away with marijuana testing on employees enrolled in the city’s medical marijuana program who have a prescription.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – Bob Barr – former Congressman and Impeachment Manager during the Clinton Admin – shared his thoughts on the push for impeachment.

• BIO: Bob Barr served as a federal prosecutor and as a Congressman. He represented Georgia’s 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Barr attained national prominence as one of the leaders of the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Barr is also a former presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party in 2008.
• BARR: “Pelosi is trying to have it both ways, with one foot in and the other out of the water. Calling for an impeachment inquiry but not taking the formal steps that precedent requires, not taking a vote of the members. She says it, but doesn’t follow through. In both the Nixon and the Clinton impeachments, the House voted on a formal inquiry of impeachment. Even though the rules of the house don’t say that you have to have this vote, it has been done in the past. The Democrats continue to fiddle around, they don’t want to proceed down the formal path to pursue impeachment, they only want citizens to think that they are.”

7am – B/C     ‘Partisanship as news coverage’: Tucker Carlson hits back at Shepard Smith for scolding him. (Washington Examiner) – A war of words between two Fox News personalities escalated when Tucker Carlson hit back at Shepard Smith after the daytime host characterized Carlson’s handling of one of his guests as “repugnant.” The feud began Tuesday when Carlson brought former U.S. Attorney Joe diGenova on his opinion show after Democrats announced they had begun an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. DiGenova ripped Fox News contributor Judge Andrew Napolitano, calling him “a fool” for saying during an interview with Smith that Trump had already admitted to committing a crime. Smith on Wednesday expressed pointed disapproval that Carlson did not challenge diGenova over the statement, and said, “Attacking our colleague who is here to offer legal assessments on our air, in our work home, is repugnant.” During Wednesday night’s episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight, diGenova returned to defend himself, while Carlson took swipes at Smith. “Well, apparently our daytime host, who hosted Judge Napolitano, was watching last night and was outraged by what you said, and quite ironically, called you ‘partisan,’” Carlson said before showing a clip of Smith’s show. “Repugnant! Not clear if that was you or me but someone is repugnant,” Carlson exclaimed. “Now, unlike maybe some dayside hosts, I’m not very partisan,” Carlson said with a smile, before asking diGenova once again if he thought Trump had committed a crime. DiGenova went on to discuss how he did not believe the president to have committed any crimes and criticized Napolitano once more. “Why do we find ourselves in a situation where people aren’t willing to admit that their passions are guiding their news coverage?” Carlson said. “Wouldn’t it be better if we just said out loud, you know, ‘This is what I think.’”   “When you dress up news coverage, when you dress up rather partisanship as news coverage and pretend that your angry political opinions are news, people tune out. They know dishonesty when they see it,” he added.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – HANS VON SPAKOVSKY – senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation and the coauthor of “Who’s Counting? How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk” and “Obama’s Enforcer: Eric Holder’s Justice Department.” He served as a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission from 2006 to 2007.

• Hans von Spakovsky: Trump impeachment effort will be historic political battle – Here’s how process works (By Hans A. von Spakovsky | Fox News) — The announcement Tuesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the House “is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry” against President Trump because she believes his actions “have seriously violated the Constitution” kicks off a complex and enormously consequential process. But what exactly is impeachment? And how hard would it be to impeach the president and actually remove him from office? The average American understandably isn’t an expert on impeachment. Only two presidents have been impeached by the House – Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999. But neither man lost his job. Impeachment is complicated and takes time. Parliamentary democracies can quickly remove a prime minister when a majority of lawmakers cast a vote of no-confidence in the leader. But in the U.S., the impeachment process is a much tougher task to accomplish.”

7am – E         Warren passes Biden in new nationwide poll. (Politico) – A new national survey shows Elizabeth Warren now sitting atop the 2020 Democratic field, further cementing her ascendancy in the party’s presidential primary after a pair of polls reported her leading in the first two primary states. Twenty-seven percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents polled by Quinnipiac University said they favor Warren, according to a survey released Wednesday morning. Twenty-five percent said they prefer former Vice President Joe Biden. Although the Massachusetts senator’s edge falls within the survey’s margin of error, Biden’s formidable lead over the rest of the field has crumbled since the last Quinnipiac national poll in August, which showed him with 32 percent support and Warren with 19 percent support. The latest survey reinforces other public polling showing Warren and Biden separating from their fellow contenders in the Democratic presidential race. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ranked third in Tuesday’s poll, achieving 16 percent support, followed by Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., with 7 percent, and California Sen. Kamala Harris at 3 percent

8am – A         INTERVIEW – SEAN DAVIS – co-founder of The Federalist – analyzed

the impeachment push and the misleading news coverage of the transcript.

• SEAN DAVIS: Like Russian Collusion, Ukraine Hysteria Is Pure Projection By Media And Democrats. The only 2016 campaign that colluded with Russia was Hillary Clinton’s, and the only 2020 candidate who bragged about threatening Ukraine to fire a prosecutor investigating corruption is Joe Biden.
• The Federalist: CNN Just Yadda-Yadda-Yadda’d 540 Words To Frame Trump For ‘Favor’ He Never Requested. By Tristan Justice // In the media’s efforts to tie President Donald Trump with its latest conspiracy theory, CNN skipped an entire section of the released and unredacted transcript of a phone call to charge Trump with requesting a favor he never asked for…The transcript that CNN read on air, however, connects the word “favor” in this section with Trump 540 words later asking the Ukrainian leader to look into former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s questionable business dealings with a Ukrainian energy company. Hunter sat on the board of the company for $50,000 a month while, as Joe Biden bragged in 2018 on camera, his dad put pressure on the Ukrainian government to end a corruption probe into the company.

8am – B/C     CLIMATE PROTESTERS ARE BACK ON FRIDAY!

• Climate Protesters Are Planning Another Traffic Shutdown On Friday. (DCist) – Climate protesters shut down multiple key D.C. intersections Monday—and they want to do it again on Friday morning. In a text message to supporters on Monday afternoon, organizers of #ShutDownDC said, “Friday we are going to hit the streets again.” They also asked for donations to keep the movement going. While details are not yet set in stone, it appears the protesters will try to close intersections again Friday at 7 a.m. Organizers say they managed to block 22 intersections on Monday for at least a little bit of time. Some intersections, like 16th and K St. NW, were closed for more than three hours during the morning rush hour. Police arrested at least 26 protesters for blocking traffic.

• ‘More than worth it’: Climate protesters justify snarling DC traffic and forcing cars to idle. A media spokesperson for the protest named Devyn told the Washington Examiner the few hours of extra carbon emissions are worth it if their actions can spur lawmakers into action. “I think criticizing folks like this who are taking action to demand systemic policy solutions to the climate crisis, which is a global collective action problem. I think to call those folks out by criticizing us for taking individual actions, like driving somewhere or using plastic, completely misses the point,” she said. “We’re all trapped in a system that forces us to continue to use fossil fuels and many of are doing the best that we can to reduce carbon emissions in our own lives.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW – TYLER MCFADDEN – NORML spokesperson for NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws)

• DC leaders consider 2 bills aimed at dropping workplace marijuana testing. (WTOP) – D.C. council members are considering two bills that would do away with marijuana testing of employees at work. Possession of marijuana and its recreational use is legal in D.C., and many District residents have a prescription for medical marijuana. But as the law stands, employees can be penalized at work if they test positive for the drug. “Our thinking on marijuana from a criminal justice perspective has evolved. But our thinking on marijuana from an employment perspective is stuck in the last century,” said At-Large Council member David Grosso. The two bills under discussion by the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development involve drug testing at work: The Prohibition of Marijuana Testing Act of 2019 proposes to eliminate marijuana testing in the workplace. This bill passed as emergency legislation but now must transition through the legal process for adoption as a permanent law. The second, the Medical Marijuana Program Patient Protection Amendment Act of 2019, would do away with marijuana testing on employees enrolled in the city’s medical marijuana program who have a prescription. “Employers should treat medical marijuana employees as they would with other medical issues,” Queen Adesuyi, with the Drug Policy Alliance, testified to the committee. Jim Greer, with the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association, presented to council members information in favor of keeping workplace drug testing in place.