pbs--2020-01-10--Pelosi to send impeachment articles to the Senate next week

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday the House will take steps next week to send articles of impeachment to the Senate ending Democrats ’ blockade of President Donald Trump ’ s Senate trial .
In a letter to her Democratic colleagues , Pelosi said she was proud of their ” courage and patriotism ” and warned that senators now have a choice as they consider the charges of abuse and obstruction against the president .
“ In an impeachment trial , every Senator takes an oath to do ‘ impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now faces a choice : to be loyal to the President or the Constitution.
” Pelosi has been in a standoff with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that has consumed Capitol Hill and scrambled the political dynamic more than three weeks after the House impeached Trump .
She said she has asked House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler to be prepared to bring to the floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate .
“ I will be consulting with you at our Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proceed further , ” Pelosi wrote .
She did not announce a date for the House vote .
The protracted showdown has scrambled the politics of impeachment and the congressional calendar three weeks after the House Democrats impeached Trump on charges of abuse and obstruction over his actions toward Ukraine .
WATCH : House votes to impeach Trump after hours of debate Transmittal of the documents and naming of House impeachment managers are the next steps needed to start the Senate trial .
McConnell wants to launch a speedy trial without new witnesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Friday and derided her and other Democrats late Thursday in Toledo , his first rally of 2020 .
The House impeached Trump in December on the charge that he abused the power of his office by pressuring Ukraine ’ s new leader to investigate Democrats , using as leverage $ 400 million in military assistance for the U.S. ally as it counters Russia at its border .
Trump insists he did nothing wrong , but his defiance of the House Democrats ’ investigation led to an additional charge of obstruction of Congress .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ third impeachment trial in the nation ’ s history .
McConnell told GOP senators at a lunchtime meeting this week to expect the trial next week , according to two people familiar with his remarks .
The people requested anonymity to discuss the private meeting .
He had signed on to a resolution from Sen. Josh Hawley , R-Mo.
, to allow for the dismissal of articles of impeachment if the House doesn ’ t transmit them in 25 days .
That change to Senate rules appears unlikely to happen before Pelosi transmits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump was impeached , Democrats have focused on new evidence about Trump ’ s effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals and they pushed the Senate to consider new testimony , including from former White House national security adviser John Bolton .
Republicans are just as focused on a speedy trial with acquittal .
Republicans have the leverage , with a slim 53-47 Senate majority , as McConnell rebuffs the Democratic demands for testimony and documents .
But Democrats are using the delay to sow public doubt about the fairness of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off wavering GOP senators for the upcoming votes .
It takes just 51 senators to set the rules .
“ When we say fair trial , we mean facts , we mean witnesses , we mean documents , ” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y. , promising votes ahead .
“ Every single one of us , in this Senate , will have to have to take a stand .
How do my Republican friends want the American people , their constituents , and history to remember them ?
” Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he , too , would like more witnesses at trial .
They include former Vice President Joe Biden , who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination now , and his son Hunter , as well as the government whistleblower whose complaint about the president ’ s pressure on Ukraine sparked the impeachment investigation .
On a July telephone call with Ukraine ’ s new president , Trump asked his counterpart to open an investigation into the Bidens while holding up military aid for Ukraine .
A Ukrainian gas company had hired Hunter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Obama administration ’ s point man on Ukraine .
There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden .
Trump suggested that his administration would continue to block Bolton or others from the administration from appearing before senators .
Many of those officials have defied congressional subpoenas for their testimony .
“ When we start allowing national security advisers to just go up and say whatever they want to say , we can ’ t do that , ” Trump said during an event with building contractors .
“ So we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but for future presidents .
That ’ s very important.
” Bolton , one of four witnesses that Democrats have requested , said this week that he would testify if subpoenaed .
McConnell has said from the start he is looking to model Trump ’ s trial on the last time the Senate convened as the court of impeachment , for President Bill Clinton in 1999 .
McConnell has said there will be “ no haggling ” with House Democrats over Senate procedures .
“ There will be no unfair , new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” McConnell said Thursday .
The delay on impeachment has also upended the political calendar , with the weekslong trial now expected to bump into presidential nominating contests , which begin in early February .
Several Democratic senators are running for the party ’ s nomination .
One 2020 hopeful , Sen. Cory Booker , D-N.J. , told The Associated Press ’ s Ground Game podcast that a looming impeachment trial and other pressing issues in Washington could deal a “ big , big blow ” to his presidential campaign by keeping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks before the Feb. 3 caucuses .
Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman , Alan Fram , Andrew Taylor , Darlene Superville and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report .

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday the House will take steps next week to send articles of impeachment to the Senate ending Democrats’ blockade of President Donald Trump’s Senate trial.
In a letter to her Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said she was proud of their ”courage and patriotism” and warned that senators now have a choice as they consider the charges of abuse and obstruction against the president.
“In an impeachment trial, every Senator takes an oath to do ‘impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws,” Pelosi wrote. ”Every Senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the President or the Constitution.”
Pelosi has been in a standoff with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that has consumed Capitol Hill and scrambled the political dynamic more than three weeks after the House impeached Trump.
She said she has asked House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler to be prepared to bring to the floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
“I will be consulting with you at our Tuesday House Democratic Caucus meeting on how we proceed further,” Pelosi wrote. She did not announce a date for the House vote.
The protracted showdown has scrambled the politics of impeachment and the congressional calendar three weeks after the House Democrats impeached Trump on charges of abuse and obstruction over his actions toward Ukraine.
WATCH: House votes to impeach Trump after hours of debate
Transmittal of the documents and naming of House impeachment managers are the next steps needed to start the Senate trial.
McConnell wants to launch a speedy trial without new witnesses.
Trump mocked Pelosi with his tweets Friday and derided her and other Democrats late Thursday in Toledo, his first rally of 2020.
The House impeached Trump in December on the charge that he abused the power of his office by pressuring Ukraine’s new leader to investigate Democrats, using as leverage $400 million in military assistance for the U.S. ally as it counters Russia at its border. Trump insists he did nothing wrong, but his defiance of the House Democrats’ investigation led to an additional charge of obstruction of Congress.
The Senate trial would be just the third impeachment trial in the nation’s history.
McConnell told GOP senators at a lunchtime meeting this week to expect the trial next week, according to two people familiar with his remarks. The people requested anonymity to discuss the private meeting.
He had signed on to a resolution from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to allow for the dismissal of articles of impeachment if the House doesn’t transmit them in 25 days. That change to Senate rules appears unlikely to happen before Pelosi transmits the articles.
In the weeks since Trump was impeached, Democrats have focused on new evidence about Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals and they pushed the Senate to consider new testimony, including from former White House national security adviser John Bolton. Republicans are just as focused on a speedy trial with acquittal.
Republicans have the leverage, with a slim 53-47 Senate majority, as McConnell rebuffs the Democratic demands for testimony and documents. But Democrats are using the delay to sow public doubt about the fairness of the process as they try to peel off wavering GOP senators for the upcoming votes. It takes just 51 senators to set the rules.
“When we say fair trial, we mean facts, we mean witnesses, we mean documents,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., promising votes ahead. “Every single one of us, in this Senate, will have to have to take a stand. How do my Republican friends want the American people, their constituents, and history to remember them?”
Trump weighed in from the White House suggesting that he, too, would like more witnesses at trial. They include former Vice President Joe Biden, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination now, and his son Hunter, as well as the government whistleblower whose complaint about the president’s pressure on Ukraine sparked the impeachment investigation.
On a July telephone call with Ukraine’s new president, Trump asked his counterpart to open an investigation into the Bidens while holding up military aid for Ukraine. A Ukrainian gas company had hired Hunter Biden when his father was vice president and the Obama administration’s point man on Ukraine. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden.
Trump suggested that his administration would continue to block Bolton or others from the administration from appearing before senators. Many of those officials have defied congressional subpoenas for their testimony.
“When we start allowing national security advisers to just go up and say whatever they want to say, we can’t do that,” Trump said during an event with building contractors. “So we have to protect presidential privilege for me, but for future presidents. That’s very important.”
Bolton, one of four witnesses that Democrats have requested, said this week that he would testify if subpoenaed.
McConnell has said from the start he is looking to model Trump’s trial on the last time the Senate convened as the court of impeachment, for President Bill Clinton in 1999. McConnell has said there will be “no haggling” with House Democrats over Senate procedures.
“There will be no unfair, new rule rule-book written solely for President Trump,” McConnell said Thursday.
The delay on impeachment has also upended the political calendar, with the weekslong trial now expected to bump into presidential nominating contests, which begin in early February. Several Democratic senators are running for the party’s nomination .
One 2020 hopeful, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told The Associated Press’s Ground Game podcast that a looming impeachment trial and other pressing issues in Washington could deal a “big, big blow” to his presidential campaign by keeping him away from Iowa in the final weeks before the Feb. 3 caucuses.
Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman, Alan Fram, Andrew Taylor, Darlene Superville and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report.


pbs--2020-01-09--WATCH: Trump holds rally amid impeachment tensions, Iran turmoil

TOLEDO , Ohio ( AP ) — President Donald Trump used his first campaign election rally of 2020 to argue that he served up “ American justice ” by ordering a drone strike to take out Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani , while jeering Democratic leaders for questioning his decision to carry out the attack without first consulting Congress .
Trump ’ s remarks on Thursday careened from mockery of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff , who heads the House Intelligence Committee , to a suggestion that he should have won the Nobel Prize , a preview of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wage .
The president made his comments shortly after the Democratic-controlled House approved a resolution asserting that Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran .
Trump mocked Pelosi ’ s mental acuity and called Schiff a “ pencil neck.
” He also tagged Sen. Bernie Sanders as “ Crazy Bernie ” for raising objections to how he carried out the strike on Soleimani .
“ We got a call .
We heard where he was .
He knew the way he was getting there , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We didn ’ t have time to call up Nancy , who isn ’ t operating with a full deck.
” “ They want us to tell them so they can leak it to their friends in the corrupt media , ” Trump added .
Last week ’ s killing of Soleimani brought long , simmering tensions between the U.S. and Iran to a boil .
Iran , in retaliation , fired a barrage of missiles this week at two military bases in neighboring Iraq that house hundreds of U.S. troops .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iraqi troops , Trump said he had no plans to take further military action against Iran and would instead enact more sanctions against the Islamic Republic .
The Iran crisis , which momentarily overshadowed Trump ’ s looming impeachment trial , has also opened a new front in the 2020 presidential campaign for Trump , who in 2016 campaigned on a promise to end American involvement in “ endless wars.
” Vice President Mike Pence , who joined Trump for the rally , said the president deserved credit for taking out a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the engagement from escalating into an all-out war .
“ And when American lives were threatened by the most dangerous terrorist in the world , President Donald Trump took action and Qassem Soleimani is gone , ” Pence said .
“ And in the wake of that attack , Iran responded , but thanks to the professionalism of the military , we suffered no American casualties and Iran appears to be standing down .
That ’ s what leadership looks like.
” Trump also sought to compare his response to the recent attack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2012 attack on U.S. government facility in Benghazi .
A U.S. ambassador to Libya , a foreign service officer and two CIA contractors were killed in the Benghazi attack , which led to a two-year Republican-led investigation into then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , who was not found to have committed wrongdoing .
No Americans were killed in the Baghdad assault .
The protesters managed only to breach the edge of the sprawling embassy complex .
“ This was the anti-Benghazi , ” he said .
“ We got there very quickly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump also turned to a topic that frequently rankles him : the fact that he has never won a Nobel Prize .
Referencing the 2019 Nobel Prize winner , Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed , Trump said that he himself deserved the honor instead .
“ I made a deal .
I saved a country , and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country , ” Trump said .
“ I said , ‘ What ?
’ Did I have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But , you know , that ’ s the way it is .
As long as we know , it ’ s all that matters.
” Abiy was awarded the prize in October for his sweeping reforms and surprising embrace of a bitter rival .
Trump enters the election year flush with more than $ 100 million in campaign cash , a low unemployment rate , and an unsettled Democratic presidential field .
Yet , polling shows he remains vulnerable .
In December , an AP-NORC poll showed Trump ’ s approval @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not been more recent polls to gauge support for the president in the wake of the targeted killing of Soleimani , though opinions of Trump have changed little over the course of his presidency .
Trump has never fallen into historic lows for a president ’ s approval ratings , but Gallup polling shows his December rating registers lower than that of most recent presidents at the same point in their first terms .
Notably , approval of Trump and former President Barack Obama in the December before their reelection bid is roughly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approval rating never fell below 40 % in Gallup polling , and he recovered slightly in the months leading up to his reelection to finish his first term with an average rating just below 50 % .
Trump ’ s approval rating has never been higher than 46 % in Gallup polling .
For Trump to win reelection , securing Ohio ’ s 18 electoral votes will be critical .
He won Ohio by 8 points in 2016 , after Obama held the state in 2008 and 2012 .
The visit to Toledo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ohio as president .
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin , Hannah Fingerhut , Brian Slodysko and Joshua Boak in Washington and Mike Householder in Toledo , Ohio , contributed to this report .

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — President Donald Trump used his first campaign election rally of 2020 to argue that he served up “American justice” by ordering a drone strike to take out Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, while jeering Democratic leaders for questioning his decision to carry out the attack without first consulting Congress.
Trump’s remarks on Thursday careened from mockery of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff, who heads the House Intelligence Committee, to a suggestion that he should have won the Nobel Prize, a preview of the sharp-edged reelection campaign that he will wage.
The president made his comments shortly after the Democratic-controlled House approved a resolution asserting that Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran.
Trump mocked Pelosi’s mental acuity and called Schiff a “pencil neck.” He also tagged Sen. Bernie Sanders as “Crazy Bernie” for raising objections to how he carried out the strike on Soleimani.
“We got a call. We heard where he was. He knew the way he was getting there,” Trump told cheering supporters in Toledo. “We didn’t have time to call up Nancy, who isn’t operating with a full deck.”
“They want us to tell them so they can leak it to their friends in the corrupt media,” Trump added.
Last week’s killing of Soleimani brought long, simmering tensions between the U.S. and Iran to a boil. Iran, in retaliation, fired a barrage of missiles this week at two military bases in neighboring Iraq that house hundreds of U.S. troops. But with no casualties to U.S. or Iraqi troops, Trump said he had no plans to take further military action against Iran and would instead enact more sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The Iran crisis, which momentarily overshadowed Trump’s looming impeachment trial, has also opened a new front in the 2020 presidential campaign for Trump, who in 2016 campaigned on a promise to end American involvement in “endless wars.”
Vice President Mike Pence, who joined Trump for the rally, said the president deserved credit for taking out a “dangerous terrorist” while managing to keep the engagement from escalating into an all-out war.
“And when American lives were threatened by the most dangerous terrorist in the world, President Donald Trump took action and Qassem Soleimani is gone,” Pence said. “And in the wake of that attack, Iran responded, but thanks to the professionalism of the military, we suffered no American casualties and Iran appears to be standing down. That’s what leadership looks like.”
Trump also sought to compare his response to the recent attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad to the 2012 attack on U.S. government facility in Benghazi. A U.S. ambassador to Libya, a foreign service officer and two CIA contractors were killed in the Benghazi attack, which led to a two-year Republican-led investigation into then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was not found to have committed wrongdoing.
No Americans were killed in the Baghdad assault. The protesters managed only to breach the edge of the sprawling embassy complex.
“This was the anti-Benghazi,” he said. “We got there very quickly. This is the exact opposite.”
Trump also turned to a topic that frequently rankles him: the fact that he has never won a Nobel Prize. Referencing the 2019 Nobel Prize winner, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Trump said that he himself deserved the honor instead.
“I made a deal. I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country,” Trump said. “I said, ‘What?’ Did I have something to do with it? Yeah. But, you know, that’s the way it is. As long as we know, it’s all that matters.”
Abiy was awarded the prize in October for his sweeping reforms and surprising embrace of a bitter rival.
Trump enters the election year flush with more than $100 million in campaign cash, a low unemployment rate, and an unsettled Democratic presidential field. Yet, polling shows he remains vulnerable.
In December, an AP-NORC poll showed Trump’s approval rating at 40%. There have not been more recent polls to gauge support for the president in the wake of the targeted killing of Soleimani, though opinions of Trump have changed little over the course of his presidency.
Trump has never fallen into historic lows for a president’s approval ratings, but Gallup polling shows his December rating registers lower than that of most recent presidents at the same point in their first terms. Notably, approval of Trump and former President Barack Obama in the December before their reelection bid is roughly the same.
But Obama’s approval rating never fell below 40% in Gallup polling, and he recovered slightly in the months leading up to his reelection to finish his first term with an average rating just below 50%. Trump’s approval rating has never been higher than 46% in Gallup polling.
For Trump to win reelection, securing Ohio’s 18 electoral votes will be critical. He won Ohio by 8 points in 2016, after Obama held the state in 2008 and 2012. The visit to Toledo marked Trump’s 15th appearance in Ohio as president.
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Hannah Fingerhut, Brian Slodysko and Joshua Boak in Washington and Mike Householder in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.


pbs--2020-01-11--AP Fact Check: Trump's distortions are across the board

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump systematically fabricated his record before boisterous supporters and the eyes of the world this past week .
To a core question — did the U.S. killing of an Iranian general avoid an imminent attack on U.S. interests ?
— there is no definitive answer days after missiles flew .
Trump and his officials said the U.S. attack achieved that result but have yet to prove it .
In other matters , Trump offered distortion across the breadth of public policy .
He declared clean-air achievements when the air has become dirtier .
He claimed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea ” of letting veterans seek private care at public expense , when that was already law , accomplished by President Barack Obama .
He complained that he didn ’ t get the Nobel Peace Prize for peace in Ethiopia , when he had little to nothing to do with it .
He invented a dialogue with a Democrat in Congress and claimed he succeeded on two fronts where other presidents failed , each time for at least 44 years , a made-up number .
And as he done repeatedly , but this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Iran , he falsely accused Obama of opening the U.S. treasury to Tehran and handing over a fortune .
TRUMP : “ I ’ m going to tell you about the Nobel Peace Prize , I will tell you about that .
I made a deal , I saved the country and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country .
I said , what , did I have something to do with it ?
Yeah but , you know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
” Toledo , Ohio , rally Thursday .
THE FACTS : Trump did not save Ethiopia .
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the prize in October after he fully accepted a peace deal ending a 20-year border war with neighboring Eritrea that saw some 80,000 people killed .
Trump had no known involvement in the peace deal .
The prize also recognized Abiy , Africa ’ s youngest leader , for sweeping changes in Ethiopian society as he released tens of thousands of prisoners , welcomed home once-banned opposition groups , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country ’ s past abuses .
Trump did agree to a request from Egypt ’ s president to mediate a dispute among Egypt , Ethiopia and Sudan over a proposed dam on the Nile River .
That mediation continues .
Trump is known to express pique when he is not recognized in the manner he thinks is deserved .
He mocked teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg when Time magazine named her person of the year last month .
TRUMP : “ America lost 60,000 factories under the previous administration , 60,000 .
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possible but I know it ’ s true .
… No , it ’ s true .
No , it ’ s true .
… It ’ s 60,000 closed , gone .
They are all coming back .
They are all coming back.
” — Toledo rally .
The U.S. has indeed lost roughly 60,000 factories but that ’ s since 2001 , the start of President George W. Bush ’ s administration .
It didn ’ t happen “ under the previous administration.
” And they ’ re not “ all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has declined since a recent peak in 2015 during Obama ’ s presidency .
Factories cut 12,000 jobs in December , according to the jobs report Friday .
Growth in manufacturing jobs decelerated sharply in 2019 , to 46,000 , down from 264,000 added jobs in 2018 .
TRUMP on the Veterans Administration : “ For 44 years they try to get accountability .
… I said , you know … I have an idea , such a great idea .
You are going to go out private , you ’ re going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are going to get yourself fixed up , we ’ re going to pay the bill , right ?
And you know what happened ?
And I said how — how brilliant is that ?
They say sir , we ’ ve been working on that for 48 years but we ’ ve never been able to get it approved .
So I was very , very disillusioned but you know what I ’ m good at , getting things approved and we got it approved.
” — to cheers at Toledo rally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think up the idea and get it approved .
Obama got it approved .
Obama signed into law the Choice program that lets veterans go to a private doctor at public expense under some circumstances .
Trump routinely ignores that and says presidents have tried to get it done for 44 years .
He only expanded the program .
As for accountability , Trump claims that his law means bad VA employees are swiftly fired .
But a report released in October by the VA inspector general found “ significant deficiencies ” in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , such as poor leadership , shoddy training of investigators and a failure to push out underperforming senior leaders .
Also at the rally , Trump claimed that “ 44 years ” of failure preceded his success in getting the “ right to try ” initiative into law .
That initiative , aimed at giving terminally ill patients more access to unapproved drugs , only goes back five or so years .
TRUMP : “ U.S .
Cancer Death Rate Lowest In Recorded History !
A lot of good news coming out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ THE FACTS : The news came from the American Cancer Society , not the administration , and it does not reflect Trump ’ s record .
The group said the death rate from cancer has declined nearly 30 % since 1991 and took its sharpest one-year drop in 2017 .
But the data did not reflect cancer-research spending under the Trump administration .
Trump proposed cutting spending at the National Institutes of Health but Congress ignored the effort and raised spending in a bill the president signed .
That is not reflected in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Iran ’ s hostility substantially increased after the foolish Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2013 .
And they were given $ 150 billion , not to mention $ 1.8 billion in cash.
” — address Wednesday .
TRUMP : “ Iran now is not wealthy like it was when President Obama handed him $ 150 billion.. ” — remarks Thursday .
TRUMP : “ They gave around $ 150 billion including $ 1.7 billion in the hard cold cash , can you imagine ?
No , no , can you imagine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billion in cash.
” — Toledo rally .
THE FACTS : There was no $ 150 billion payout from the U.S. treasury or other countries .
The U.S. made a separate payment of roughly $ 1.8 billion to cover a decades-old IOU .
When Iran signed the multinational deal to restrain its nuclear development in return for being freed from sanctions , it regained access to its own assets , which had been frozen abroad .
Iran was allowed to get its money back .
The deal actually was signed in 2015 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has taken the U.S. out of it .
As for the $ 1.8 billion : In the 1970s , Iran paid the U.S. $ 400 million for military equipment that was never delivered because the Iranian government was overthrown and diplomatic relations ruptured .
After the nuclear deal , the U.S. and Iran announced they had settled the matter , with the U.S. agreeing to pay the $ 400 million principal along with about $ 1.3 billion in interest .
The $ 400 million was paid in cash and flown to Tehran on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Trump ’ s previous dramatic accounts of money stuffed in barrels or boxes and delivered in the dead of night .
The arrangement provided for the interest to be paid later , not crammed into containers .
TRUMP : “ The foolish Iran nuclear deal financed Iranian aggression while allowing a quick path to nuclear breakout .
That is what it did .
And by the way it expires so soon .
They can have nuclear weapons.
” — Toledo rally .
TRUMP : “ It ’ s close to expiring .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t terminate it , it expires in a very short period of time.
” — remarks at White House on Thursday .
THE FACTS : The 2015 agreement is not about to expire .
It imposes limits on Iran ’ s nuclear development for 15 years .
TRUMP : “ The missiles fired last night at us and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration.
” — address Wednesday .
THE FACTS : That accusation comes without corroboration .
The administration has offered no information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to $ 150 billion of its assets that had been frozen abroad , Iran steered a chunk of that money to the missiles that hit the U.S. bases in Iraq .
“ I doubt anyone has the insight into Iran ’ s budgetary mechanisms to say that this money was used for this purpose , ” said Gerald Feierstein , a career U.S. diplomat who retired in 2016 as the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs .
“ It ’ s a funds-are-fungible kind of argument , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they have money , can you say that dollar went directly to buy a missile , as opposed to freeing up another dollar that went to buy a missile ?
” Joseph Votel , who retired from the U.S. Army in March as the top military commander for the Middle East , said he was not aware of any specific intelligence on this question .
“ I don ’ t have anything that would particularly support that , ” he said .
“ I ’ m not saying it did or it didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t have details to demonstrate it one way or the other.
” TRUMP : “ We have some of the cleanest air and cleanest water on earth , and for our country the air is right now cleaner than it ’ s been in 40 years.
” — remarks Thursday .
THE FACTS : No , air quality has worsened under the Trump administration .
And it ’ s a stretch to say the U.S. is among the countries with the cleanest air .
Dozens of nations have less smoggy air .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ latest enforcement rollbacks for the bedrock environmental acts credited with beginning the clean-up of U.S. air and water a half-century ago .
As to water quality , one measure , Yale University ’ s global Environmental Performance Index , finds the U.S. tied with nine other countries as having the cleanest drinking water .
But after decades of improvement , progress in air quality has stalled .
There were 15 % more days with unhealthy air in America in 2017 and 2018 than there were on average from 2013 through 2016 , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fewest number of those days since at least 1980 , according to an AP analysis of EPA data .
A recent study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that deadly air particle pollution increased 5.5 % in the United States between 2016 and 2018 after declining by 24.2 % from 2009 to 2016 .
“ The increase was associated with 9,700 premature deaths in 2018 , ” the study by Karen Clay and Nicholas Muller said .
“ At conventional valuations , these deaths represent damages of $ 89 billion.
” The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ air-polluted days .
Trump ’ s proposal would greatly cut back on the National Environmental Policy Act ’ s requirement that federal agencies consider whether a big construction project would hurt the environment before they approve the project .
Other Trump proposals would roll back restrictions on major sources of air and water pollution , including coal-fired power plants and autos.
” TRUMP : “ Three months ago , after destroying 100 % of ISIS and its territorial caliphate … ” — address Wednesday on Iran ’ s missile strike on two Iraqi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a 100 % defeat is misleading as the Islamic State group still poses a threat .
IS was defeated in Iraq in 2017 , then lost the last of its land holdings in Syria in March , marking the end of the extremists ’ self-declared caliphate .
Still , extremist sleeper cells have continued to launch attacks in Iraq and Syria and are believed to be responsible for targeted killings against local officials and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces .
U.N. experts have warned that IS leaders are seeking a resurgence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mark Esper said the fight against the group was continuing in Syria .
TRUMP , on the House Intelligence Committee chairman : “ He ’ s a corrupt politician , Adam Schiff .
He ’ s corrupt .
… He gave a sentence that he made up .
He made it up , and it was not — it was not what was said in the conversation .
That ’ s why I released the transcript , got approval from Ukraine.
” — remarks Thursday .
THE FACTS : Trump ’ s timeline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the episode and botching the timeline .
Schiff , D-Calif. , delivered what he called a parody of Trump ’ s remarks in the president ’ s July 25 phone call with Ukraine ’ s leader .
Schiff did so after the White House released a rough transcript of the call , not before , as Trump states .
So people who read the official account knew Schiff was riffing from it , not quoting from it .
Though Trump took umbrage at having words put in his mouth by Schiff , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a staple of his rhetoric when he mocks political rivals .
He did it Thursday night at a rally , making up a conversation he pretended he had — with Schiff .
THE FACTS : No , the White House memo describing Trump ’ s phone conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy isn ’ t exact .
It was presented by the White House as a rough transcript .
The public does not know precisely what each leader said .
Officials who were tasked to listen in to the call say the rough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ material aspects of the conversation as they heard it .
One such witness testified that some quotations in the account were not exact , though he did not consider the variance to be consequential .
TRUMP , explaining why he initially held up military aid to Ukraine : “ Why is it that the United States pays ?
And it affects Europe far more than it affects the United States .
So why isn ’ t it that France , Germany , and all of those countries in Europe that are so strongly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ paying ?
” — remarks Tuesday with Greece ’ s prime minister .
THE FACTS : He ’ s incorrect that European countries weren ’ t putting up aid for Ukraine .
European Union institutions have provided far more development assistance than the $ 204 million from Washington .
Specific EU members , Japan and Canada also contribute significantly .
Since 2014 , the EU and European financial institutions have mobilized more than $ 16 billion to help Ukraine ’ s economy , counter corruption , build institutions and strengthen its sovereignty against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Crimea .
The U.S. is a heavy source of military assistance .
But NATO also contributes a variety of military-assistance programs and trust funds for Ukraine .
In most such cases , the programs are modest and NATO countries other than the U.S. take the lead TRUMP : “ We are independent , and we do not need Middle East oil.
” — address Wednesday .
THE FACTS : Trump ’ s declaration of energy independence is premature .
The U.S. still needs plenty of oil from the Mideast .
The volume @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gulf alone — 23 million barrels in October – would not be easy to make up elsewhere , at least not without major changes in U.S. demand or production .
Technological advances like fracking and horizontal drilling have allowed the U.S. to greatly increase production , but demand remains brisk and the country still imports millions of barrels of oil from Saudi Arabia , Canada , Iraq and other countries .
Moreover , much of what the U.S. produces is hard for domestic refiners to convert to practical use .
So the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is more suitable for American refineries to handle .
On energy more broadly , the U.S. is indeed close to parity on how much energy it produces and how much it consumes .
In some months , it produces more than it consumes .
But it has not achieved self-sufficiency .
In the first nine months of last year , it imported about as much energy as it exported .
TRUMP : “ The American military has been completely rebuilt under my administration , at a cost of $ 2.5 trillion.
” — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that his administration has accelerated a sharp buildup in defense spending , including a respite from what the U.S. military considered to be crippling spending limits under budget sequestration .
But a number of new Pentagon weapons programs , such as the F-35 fighter jet , were started years before the Trump administration .
And it will take years for freshly ordered tanks , planes and other weapons to be built , delivered and put to use .
The Air Force ’ s Minuteman 3 missiles , a key part of the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been operating since the early 1970s and the modernization was begun under the Obama administration .
They are due to be replaced with a new version , but not until later this decade .
Associated Press writers Christopher Rugaber , Ellen Knickmeyer , Matthew Lee , Michael Biesecker , Lolita C. Baldor , Matthew Daly and Robert Burns contributed to this report .
EDITOR ’ S NOTE — A look at the veracity of claims by political figures .

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump systematically fabricated his record before boisterous supporters and the eyes of the world this past week.
To a core question — did the U.S. killing of an Iranian general avoid an imminent attack on U.S. interests? — there is no definitive answer days after missiles flew. Trump and his officials said the U.S. attack achieved that result but have yet to prove it.
In other matters, Trump offered distortion across the breadth of public policy. He declared clean-air achievements when the air has become dirtier. He claimed to have come up with the “great idea” of letting veterans seek private care at public expense, when that was already law, accomplished by President Barack Obama.
He complained that he didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize for peace in Ethiopia, when he had little to nothing to do with it.
He invented a dialogue with a Democrat in Congress and claimed he succeeded on two fronts where other presidents failed, each time for at least 44 years, a made-up number.
And as he done repeatedly, but this time in the midst of dangerous brinkmanship with Iran, he falsely accused Obama of opening the U.S. treasury to Tehran and handing over a fortune.
A sampling from the week:
PEACE PRIZE
TRUMP: “I’m going to tell you about the Nobel Peace Prize, I will tell you about that. I made a deal, I saved the country and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country. I said, what, did I have something to do with it? Yeah but, you know, that is the way it is. ” Toledo, Ohio, rally Thursday.
THE FACTS: Trump did not save Ethiopia.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the prize in October after he fully accepted a peace deal ending a 20-year border war with neighboring Eritrea that saw some 80,000 people killed. Trump had no known involvement in the peace deal.
The prize also recognized Abiy, Africa’s youngest leader, for sweeping changes in Ethiopian society as he released tens of thousands of prisoners, welcomed home once-banned opposition groups, expanded freedom of expression and acknowledged his country’s past abuses.
Trump did agree to a request from Egypt’s president to mediate a dispute among Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over a proposed dam on the Nile River. That mediation continues.
Trump is known to express pique when he is not recognized in the manner he thinks is deserved. He mocked teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg when Time magazine named her person of the year last month.
___
JOBS
TRUMP: “America lost 60,000 factories under the previous administration, 60,000. You wouldn’t believe that’s possible but I know it’s true. … No, it’s true. No, it’s true. … It’s 60,000 closed, gone. They are all coming back. They are all coming back.” — Toledo rally.
THE FACTS: It’s not true.
The U.S. has indeed lost roughly 60,000 factories but that’s since 2001, the start of President George W. Bush’s administration. It didn’t happen “under the previous administration.” And they’re not “all coming back.”
Construction spending on factories has declined since a recent peak in 2015 during Obama’s presidency. Factories cut 12,000 jobs in December, according to the jobs report Friday. Growth in manufacturing jobs decelerated sharply in 2019, to 46,000, down from 264,000 added jobs in 2018.
___
VETERANS
TRUMP on the Veterans Administration: “For 44 years they try to get accountability. … I said, you know … I have an idea, such a great idea. You are going to go out private, you’re going to pick up a doctor, you are going to get yourself fixed up, we’re going to pay the bill, right? And you know what happened? And I said how — how brilliant is that? They say sir, we’ve been working on that for 48 years but we’ve never been able to get it approved. So I was very, very disillusioned but you know what I’m good at, getting things approved and we got it approved.” — to cheers at Toledo rally.
THE FACTS: He did not think up the idea and get it approved. Obama got it approved. Obama signed into law the Choice program that lets veterans go to a private doctor at public expense under some circumstances. Trump routinely ignores that and says presidents have tried to get it done for 44 years. He only expanded the program.
As for accountability, Trump claims that his law means bad VA employees are swiftly fired. But a report released in October by the VA inspector general found “significant deficiencies” in the accountability office established by the law, such as poor leadership, shoddy training of investigators and a failure to push out underperforming senior leaders.
Also at the rally, Trump claimed that “44 years” of failure preceded his success in getting the “right to try” initiative into law. That initiative, aimed at giving terminally ill patients more access to unapproved drugs, only goes back five or so years.
___
CANCER
TRUMP: “U.S. Cancer Death Rate Lowest In Recorded History! A lot of good news coming out of this Administration.” — tweet Thursday.
THE FACTS: The news came from the American Cancer Society, not the administration, and it does not reflect Trump’s record.
The group said the death rate from cancer has declined nearly 30% since 1991 and took its sharpest one-year drop in 2017. But the data did not reflect cancer-research spending under the Trump administration.
Trump proposed cutting spending at the National Institutes of Health but Congress ignored the effort and raised spending in a bill the president signed. That is not reflected in the cancer society report.
___
IRAN
TRUMP: “Iran’s hostility substantially increased after the foolish Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2013. And they were given $150 billion, not to mention $1.8 billion in cash.” — address Wednesday.
TRUMP: “Iran now is not wealthy like it was when President Obama handed him $150 billion..” — remarks Thursday.
TRUMP: “They gave around $150 billion including $1.7 billion in the hard cold cash, can you imagine? No, no, can you imagine? $1.7 billion, $1.8 billion in cash.” — Toledo rally.
THE FACTS: There was no $150 billion payout from the U.S. treasury or other countries. The U.S. made a separate payment of roughly $1.8 billion to cover a decades-old IOU.
When Iran signed the multinational deal to restrain its nuclear development in return for being freed from sanctions, it regained access to its own assets, which had been frozen abroad. Iran was allowed to get its money back. The deal actually was signed in 2015, after a 2013 preliminary agreement. Trump has taken the U.S. out of it.
As for the $1.8 billion: In the 1970s, Iran paid the U.S. $400 million for military equipment that was never delivered because the Iranian government was overthrown and diplomatic relations ruptured. After the nuclear deal, the U.S. and Iran announced they had settled the matter, with the U.S. agreeing to pay the $400 million principal along with about $1.3 billion in interest.
The $400 million was paid in cash and flown to Tehran on a cargo plane, which gave rise to Trump’s previous dramatic accounts of money stuffed in barrels or boxes and delivered in the dead of night. The arrangement provided for the interest to be paid later, not crammed into containers.
___
TRUMP: “The foolish Iran nuclear deal financed Iranian aggression while allowing a quick path to nuclear breakout. That is what it did. And by the way it expires so soon. They can have nuclear weapons.” — Toledo rally.
TRUMP: “It’s close to expiring. In other words, if I didn’t terminate it, it expires in a very short period of time.” — remarks at White House on Thursday.
THE FACTS: The 2015 agreement is not about to expire. It imposes limits on Iran’s nuclear development for 15 years.
___
TRUMP: “The missiles fired last night at us and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration.” — address Wednesday.
THE FACTS: That accusation comes without corroboration. The administration has offered no information supporting the contention that in regaining access to $150 billion of its assets that had been frozen abroad, Iran steered a chunk of that money to the missiles that hit the U.S. bases in Iraq.
“I doubt anyone has the insight into Iran’s budgetary mechanisms to say that this money was used for this purpose,” said Gerald Feierstein, a career U.S. diplomat who retired in 2016 as the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs.
“It’s a funds-are-fungible kind of argument,” he said. “I mean, if they have money, can you say that dollar went directly to buy a missile, as opposed to freeing up another dollar that went to buy a missile?”
Joseph Votel, who retired from the U.S. Army in March as the top military commander for the Middle East, said he was not aware of any specific intelligence on this question. “I don’t have anything that would particularly support that,” he said. “I’m not saying it did or it didn’t, but I don’t have details to demonstrate it one way or the other.”
___
ENVIRONMENT
TRUMP: “We have some of the cleanest air and cleanest water on earth, and for our country the air is right now cleaner than it’s been in 40 years.” — remarks Thursday.
THE FACTS: No, air quality has worsened under the Trump administration. And it’s a stretch to say the U.S. is among the countries with the cleanest air. Dozens of nations have less smoggy air. Trump made the remarks as he proposed the latest enforcement rollbacks for the bedrock environmental acts credited with beginning the clean-up of U.S. air and water a half-century ago.
As to water quality, one measure, Yale University’s global Environmental Performance Index, finds the U.S. tied with nine other countries as having the cleanest drinking water.
But after decades of improvement, progress in air quality has stalled.
There were 15% more days with unhealthy air in America in 2017 and 2018 than there were on average from 2013 through 2016, the four years when the U.S had its fewest number of those days since at least 1980, according to an AP analysis of EPA data.
A recent study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that deadly air particle pollution increased 5.5% in the United States between 2016 and 2018 after declining by 24.2% from 2009 to 2016.
“The increase was associated with 9,700 premature deaths in 2018,” the study by Karen Clay and Nicholas Muller said. “At conventional valuations, these deaths represent damages of $89 billion.”
The Obama administration set records for the fewest air-polluted days.
Trump’s proposal would greatly cut back on the National Environmental Policy Act’s requirement that federal agencies consider whether a big construction project would hurt the environment before they approve the project. Other Trump proposals would roll back restrictions on major sources of air and water pollution, including coal-fired power plants and autos.”
___
ISLAMIC STATE GROUP
TRUMP: “Three months ago, after destroying 100% of ISIS and its territorial caliphate …” — address Wednesday on Iran’s missile strike on two Iraqi bases.
THE FACTS: His claim of a 100% defeat is misleading as the Islamic State group still poses a threat.
IS was defeated in Iraq in 2017, then lost the last of its land holdings in Syria in March, marking the end of the extremists’ self-declared caliphate. Still, extremist sleeper cells have continued to launch attacks in Iraq and Syria and are believed to be responsible for targeted killings against local officials and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
U.N. experts have warned that IS leaders are seeking a resurgence. This past week, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the fight against the group was continuing in Syria.
___
IMPEACHMENT
TRUMP, on the House Intelligence Committee chairman: “He’s a corrupt politician, Adam Schiff. He’s corrupt. … He gave a sentence that he made up. He made it up, and it was not — it was not what was said in the conversation. That’s why I released the transcript, got approval from Ukraine.” — remarks Thursday.
THE FACTS: Trump’s timeline is wrong and he’s exaggerating the episode and botching the timeline.
Schiff, D-Calif., delivered what he called a parody of Trump’s remarks in the president’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine’s leader.
Schiff did so after the White House released a rough transcript of the call, not before, as Trump states. So people who read the official account knew Schiff was riffing from it, not quoting from it.
Though Trump took umbrage at having words put in his mouth by Schiff, the president routinely invents dialogue. It’s a staple of his rhetoric when he mocks political rivals. He did it Thursday night at a rally, making up a conversation he pretended he had — with Schiff.
___
TRUMP: “We released the exact transcript.” — remarks Thursday.
THE FACTS: No, the White House memo describing Trump’s phone conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy isn’t exact.
It was presented by the White House as a rough transcript. The public does not know precisely what each leader said.
Officials who were tasked to listen in to the call say the rough transcript is largely accurate in representing the material aspects of the conversation as they heard it.
One such witness testified that some quotations in the account were not exact, though he did not consider the variance to be consequential.
___
TRUMP, explaining why he initially held up military aid to Ukraine: “Why is it that the United States pays? And it affects Europe far more than it affects the United States. So why isn’t it that France, Germany, and all of those countries in Europe that are so strongly affected, why aren’t they paying?” — remarks Tuesday with Greece’s prime minister.
THE FACTS: He’s incorrect that European countries weren’t putting up aid for Ukraine.
European Union institutions have provided far more development assistance than the $204 million from Washington. Specific EU members, Japan and Canada also contribute significantly.
Since 2014, the EU and European financial institutions have mobilized more than $16 billion to help Ukraine’s economy, counter corruption, build institutions and strengthen its sovereignty against further incursions by Russia after its annexation of Crimea.
The U.S. is a heavy source of military assistance. But NATO also contributes a variety of military-assistance programs and trust funds for Ukraine. In most such cases, the programs are modest and NATO countries other than the U.S. take the lead
___
ENERGY
TRUMP: “We are independent, and we do not need Middle East oil.” — address Wednesday.
THE FACTS: Trump’s declaration of energy independence is premature. The U.S. still needs plenty of oil from the Mideast.
The volume of U.S. oil imports from the Persian Gulf alone — 23 million barrels in October – would not be easy to make up elsewhere, at least not without major changes in U.S. demand or production.
Technological advances like fracking and horizontal drilling have allowed the U.S. to greatly increase production, but demand remains brisk and the country still imports millions of barrels of oil from Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iraq and other countries. Moreover, much of what the U.S. produces is hard for domestic refiners to convert to practical use. So the U.S. exports that production and imports oil that is more suitable for American refineries to handle.
On energy more broadly, the U.S. is indeed close to parity on how much energy it produces and how much it consumes. In some months, it produces more than it consumes. But it has not achieved self-sufficiency. In the first nine months of last year, it imported about as much energy as it exported.
___
MILITARY
TRUMP: “The American military has been completely rebuilt under my administration, at a cost of $2.5 trillion.” — address Wednesday.
THE FACTS: That’s an exaggeration.
It’s true that his administration has accelerated a sharp buildup in defense spending, including a respite from what the U.S. military considered to be crippling spending limits under budget sequestration.
But a number of new Pentagon weapons programs, such as the F-35 fighter jet, were started years before the Trump administration. And it will take years for freshly ordered tanks, planes and other weapons to be built, delivered and put to use.
The Air Force’s Minuteman 3 missiles, a key part of the U.S. nuclear force, for instance, have been operating since the early 1970s and the modernization was begun under the Obama administration. They are due to be replaced with a new version, but not until later this decade.
___
Associated Press writers Christopher Rugaber, Ellen Knickmeyer, Matthew Lee, Michael Biesecker, Lolita C. Baldor, Matthew Daly and Robert Burns contributed to this report.
___
EDITOR’S NOTE — A look at the veracity of claims by political figures.


pbs--2020-01-11--2 US troops killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan

Two U.S. service members were killed and two others injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan , the U.S. military said in a statement Saturday .
In keeping with defense department rules , the U.S. military did not identify the service members .
The Taliban immediately took responsibility for the attack .
A Taliban spokesman , Qari Yusouf Ahmadi , said it occurred in the southern Kandahar province .
More than 2,400 U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan .
Last year was one of the deadliest for the United States , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington engaged in peace talks with the Taliban .
The latest attack seemed certain to stall fresh efforts to restart the on-again , off-again peace talks between Washington and the Taliban .
U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been pressing the insurgents to declare a cease-fire or at least reduce violent attacks .
That would give a window in which the U.S. and the Taliban could forge an agreement to withdraw all of America ’ s troops .
That agreement would also set out a road map for direct Afghan-to-Afghan talks , mapping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Taliban leadership decided at the end of December to support a temporary cease-fire to allow for a peace deal to be signed , but they never said when it would go into effect .
The final approval required from their leader , Maulvi Hibatullah Akhundzada , was never announced .
Earlier Saturday , both NATO and Afghan officials had confirmed a roadside bomb hit a U.S. army vehicle , without mentioning casualties .
In a short statement , a NATO spokesman said that officials were still “ assessing the situation and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ available.
” An Afghan official said the attack had taken place in the Dand district of Kandahar province .
The official was not authorized to speak with media and requested anonymity .
The Taliban now control or hold sway over roughly half of Afghanistan .
The militants continue to stage near-daily attacks targeting Afghan and U.S. forces , even as they hold peace talks with the U.S. Scores of Afghan civilians are also killed in the crossfire or by roadside bombs planted by militants .
In November , two U.S. service members were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Logar province .
The U.S. military at the time said preliminary reports did not indicate it was caused by enemy fire , although the Taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter — a claim the U.S military dismissed as false .
The U.S. currently has about 13,000 troops in Afghanistan .
About 5,000 of them are doing counterterrorism missions .
The remainder are part of a broader NATO mission to train , advise and assist the Afghan security forces .
U.S .
Ambassador John Bass left Kabul last week , ending his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diplomat .
Associated Press writer Kathy Gannon in Islamabad contributed to this report .

Two U.S. service members were killed and two others injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said in a statement Saturday.
In keeping with defense department rules, the U.S. military did not identify the service members.
The Taliban immediately took responsibility for the attack. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, said it occurred in the southern Kandahar province.
More than 2,400 U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan. Last year was one of the deadliest for the United States, with 23 American troops killed, even as Washington engaged in peace talks with the Taliban.
The latest attack seemed certain to stall fresh efforts to restart the on-again, off-again peace talks between Washington and the Taliban.
U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been pressing the insurgents to declare a cease-fire or at least reduce violent attacks. That would give a window in which the U.S. and the Taliban could forge an agreement to withdraw all of America’s troops. That agreement would also set out a road map for direct Afghan-to-Afghan talks, mapping out the country’s post-war future.
The Taliban leadership decided at the end of December to support a temporary cease-fire to allow for a peace deal to be signed, but they never said when it would go into effect. The final approval required from their leader, Maulvi Hibatullah Akhundzada, was never announced.
Earlier Saturday, both NATO and Afghan officials had confirmed a roadside bomb hit a U.S. army vehicle, without mentioning casualties. In a short statement, a NATO spokesman said that officials were still “assessing the situation and will provide more information as it became available.”
An Afghan official said the attack had taken place in the Dand district of Kandahar province. The official was not authorized to speak with media and requested anonymity.
The Taliban now control or hold sway over roughly half of Afghanistan. The militants continue to stage near-daily attacks targeting Afghan and U.S. forces, even as they hold peace talks with the U.S. Scores of Afghan civilians are also killed in the crossfire or by roadside bombs planted by militants.
In November, two U.S. service members were killed when their helicopter crashed in eastern Logar province. The U.S. military at the time said preliminary reports did not indicate it was caused by enemy fire, although the Taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter — a claim the U.S military dismissed as false.
The U.S. currently has about 13,000 troops in Afghanistan. About 5,000 of them are doing counterterrorism missions. The remainder are part of a broader NATO mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces.
U.S. Ambassador John Bass left Kabul last week, ending his two-year tenure as America’s top diplomat.
Associated Press writer Kathy Gannon in Islamabad contributed to this report.


pbs--2020-01-12--Uncertainty continues to loom over Senate impeachment trial

First thing they do is what we 've already seen this week .
There 's enormous pressure on Republicans in @ @ @ @ @ to stay with the president on everything .
When Senator Mike Lee of Utah , @ @ @ @ @ the kind of briefings that they were getting after the strike in Iraq , Lou @ @ @ @ @ president 's champions , called the senator a 'Benedict Arnold . '
So that 's @ @ @ @ @ enormous political pressure , whether you can put political pressure on senators like Susan Collins @ @ @ @ @ are up for reelection in swing states , that 's an interesting question .
And @ @ @ @ @ I mentioned , was they can try to invoke executive privilege and tell people like @ @ @ @ @ you ca n't testify .
And we do n't know whether Bolton in particular would @ @ @ @ @ It 's gon na be an interesting couple of weeks .

Jeff Greenfield:
First thing they do is what we've already seen this week. There's enormous pressure on Republicans in the House and Senate to to stay with the president on everything. When Senator Mike Lee of Utah, very conservative, objected to the kind of briefings that they were getting after the strike in Iraq, Lou Dobbs, one of the president's champions, called the senator a 'Benedict Arnold.' So that's the first thing. Put enormous political pressure, whether you can put political pressure on senators like Susan Collins and Cory Gardner, who are up for reelection in swing states, that's an interesting question.
And the second thing, as I mentioned, was they can try to invoke executive privilege and tell people like John Bolton and Mulvaney, you can't testify. And we don't know whether Bolton in particular would defy the White House. It's gonna be an interesting couple of weeks.


pbs--2020-01-12--As trial nears, Trump keeps discredited Ukraine theory alive

The theory took root in vague form well before Donald Trump laid claim to the White House in 2016 .
The candidate ’ s close confidant tweeted about it .
His campaign chairman apparently spoke about it with people close to him .
What if , the idea went , it was actually Ukraine — and not Russia — that was interfering in the 2016 election ?
Never mind that the notion has since been amplified by the president of Russia , the country that U.S. intelligence agencies unequivocally blame for interfering in that year ’ s presidential race .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ director and other American officials have said there ’ s no information pointing to Ukraine interference .
Or that 25 Russians stand charged in U.S. courts with hacking into Democratic emails and waging a covert social media campaign to sway American public opinion .
Now , Trump ’ s request for Ukraine to investigate the matter and a political rival , former Vice President Joe Biden , is at the heart of a congressional inquiry that produced Trump ’ s impeachment by the House of Representatives .
A Senate trial is next .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ GOP allies in interviews and tweets , has been embraced by a president reluctant to acknowledge the reality of Russian election interference , and anxious to show he had reason to be suspicious of Ukraine as the U.S. withheld crucial military aid last year .
The effect : blurring the facts of the impeachment case for many Americans even before it reaches a trial that could begin with days .
Experts fear the strategy leaves the U.S. vulnerable to more misinformation campaigns in the 2020 election and signals to the Kremlin and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cling to falsehoods .
A review by The Associated Press shows that the Ukraine conspiracy theory traces back to Trump ’ s 2016 campaign , was spread online and later advanced by Russian President Vladimir Putin weeks after his own country was blamed for election interference .
Finally , some of America ’ s own elected leaders made it their truth .
“ The ultimate victim is democracy , is the stability of our nation , ” said Nina Jankowicz , a disinformation expert at the nonpartisan Wilson Center , a Washington , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collected evidence in 2016 that Russia had hacked and stolen years of internal emails from the Democratic National Committee , Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort , who had cultivated extensive business contacts in Ukraine and worked for pro-Russia politicians there , was privately pointing to another culprit .
Manafort , now serving more than seven years in prison for tax fraud and other crimes , suggested then that the attack was probably executed by Ukrainians , according to FBI notes from an April 2018 interview with Rick Gates , Manafort ’ s former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Konstantin Kilimnik , a Manafort business associate who U.S. authorities have assessed has ties to Russian intelligence — an accusation Kilimnik has denied .
Trump aide Michael Flynn , who later became Trump ’ s first national security adviser , was also adamant within the campaign that Russia couldn ’ t have carried out the attack and that U.S. intelligence wouldn ’ t be able to figure out who had done it , Gates recalled .
That skepticism was adopted by Trump himself , who memorably said during a presidential debate that “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could also be lots of other people .
It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds , OK ?
” All the while , U.S. officials were agreeing with a private cybersecurity firm ’ s findings that Russia was responsible , collecting evidence over the next several months that tied individual Russian military intelligence officers to the hack .
Adding to the FBI ’ s concern was the revelation that a Trump campaign official had been told Russia had damaging information about Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into whether Russia and the Trump campaign were working together to sway the election in Trump ’ s favor , a probe eventually taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller .
As the Democrats ’ stolen emails were published online and the U.S. prepared to publicly blame the Kremlin for the hack , assertions surfaced online that Ukraine had meddled — directly or indirectly — in America ’ s presidential campaign .
In September 2016 Roger Stone , a Trump confidant later convicted of lying about his efforts to get inside information about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only interference in the U.S. election is from Hillary ’ s friends in Ukraine.
” His tweet highlighted a Financial Times article that said some Kyiv leaders were determined “ to intervene , however indirectly ” in the U.S. election .
The story detailed efforts by Serhiy Leshchenko , a former Ukrainian parliament member who opposed Trump ’ s bid , to expose off-the-books payments Ukraine ’ s pro-Russia political party made to Manafort .
Leshchenko maintains his efforts don ’ t amount to interference or compare to Russia ’ s attack on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican legislators , including a few contacted by AP , pointed to the article as proof Ukraine interfered .
“ I think both Russia and Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election , ” Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said last month on NBC ’ s “ Meet the Press .
He cited the Financial Times as evidence .
As Trump prepared to take office , news reports fueled doubts online over the conclusion that Russia had hacked the DNC and Clinton campaign .
“ So how and why are they so sure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an examination of the computer servers ?
What is going on ?
” Trump tweeted on Jan. 5 , 2017 , the day after a BuzzFeed News article reported that the FBI did not physically examine the Democrats ’ servers to determine Russia infiltrated the system .
A Politico report days later documented a Democratic consultant ’ s opposition research in 2016 on Manafort ’ s work in Ukraine — which included consulting on behalf of former leader Viktor Yanukovych , who fled to Russia after his 2014 ouster — and described efforts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over Trump .
The article said there was not a top-down effort by Ukraine to push voters toward Clinton , but some Republicans now point to the reporting to support their allegations of meddling .
Citing the reports , anti-establishment conservative and liberal bloggers made misleading connections between Ukraine and CrowdStrike , the cybersecurity firm that traced the hack back to Russia .
This online speculation helped shape the Ukraine conspiracy theory , explained Thomas Rid , a Johns Hopkins University professor who has tracked disinformation campaigns and election interference .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find rabbit holes , and go down these rabbit holes , stay there , and find a community of like-minded amateur sleuths , ” Rid said .
It is the nebulous nature of the Ukrainian theory , which leaves room for both direct and indirect interference , that has given the idea a shape-shifting , evolving form that has contributed to its staying power .
One online commentator misleadingly claimed CrowdStrike ’ s co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch works for a think tank funded by a Ukrainian oligarch .
Alperovitch is a fellow at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. and receives funding from a variety of sources .
Donations from Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk ’ s foundation made up less than less than 1.6 percent of the group ’ s funding in 2018 .
“ A great deal of misinformation relies upon serendipity or mere contacts , ” said John Herbst , a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and director of the Atlantic Council ’ s Eurasia Center .
“ Then they draw egregious or conspiratorial conclusions based on those contacts.
” Putin himself weighed in days after Trump moved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Ukraine ’ s entire government had favored Clinton during the election and now needed to “ improve relations ” with the new Trump administration .
“ As we all know , during the presidential campaign in the United States , the Ukrainian government adopted a unilateral position in favor of one candidate , ” Putin said in at a news conference that February with Hungary ’ s prime minister .
Russian media used the comments to suggest it was Ukraine that had actually interfered .
It was convenient for the Kremlin to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Just weeks earlier , U.S. intelligence agencies had released a detailed report accusing Russia of interfering in the election on Trump ’ s behalf .
And Ukraine was the perfect scapegoat , experts said .
The Kremlin has been locked in a 5-year war with Ukraine that has killed more than 14,000 people .
“ It ’ s in Russia ’ s interest to amplify this issue because it wants Ukraine to be undermined , ” said Jankowicz , the disinformation expert .
By April 2017 , the Ukraine conspiracy theory was being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the desk of the Oval Office , just shy of his first 100 days on the job , when he falsely suggested in an Associated Press interview that CrowdStrike had even stronger ties to Ukraine .
“ I heard it ’ s owned by a very rich Ukrainian , that ’ s what I heard , ” Trump said .
“ Why didn ’ t they allow the FBI in to investigate the server ?
I mean , there is so many things that nobody writes about .
It ’ s incredible.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ publicly held California company founded by two U.S. citizens — George Kurtz and Alperovitch , who was born in Russia but spent his adult life in America .
The company has identified cyberattacks for major U.S. clients , including the U.S. government and the National Republican Congressional Committee .
And the FBI didn ’ t need to physically take the DNC servers to confirm CrowdStrike ’ s findings that Russia was behind the attack , said Eugene H. Spafford , a computer science professor at the Center for Education and Research in Information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has assisted the bureau in cases .
Instead , CrowdStrike took digital images of the DNC system , capturing files , photos , emails , and browsing history to determine who had breached the system .
Copies of those images were then handed over to the FBI , the company says .
The process is similar to how investigators at a crime scene take photos that are later analyzed for clues .
A physical review of the DNC ’ s data , a cloud system comprised of at least 140 servers , would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for days or weeks amid a presidential election , Spafford noted .
But Trump took his suspicions about the servers directly to Volodymyr Zelenskiy , the newly elected Ukraine president in the now-infamous July 25 phone call that resulted in articles of impeachment against Trump .
“ I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine , they say CrowdStrike … I guess you have one of your wealthy people… ” Trump asked of Zelenskiy on the call , according to notes released by the White House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they say Ukraine has it.
” Dozens of news outlets debunked Trump ’ s comments and continue to do so .
Finding itself at the center of the phone call , CrowdStrike then released a blog post rebuffing the president ’ s claims .
The president ’ s own national security advisers rebutted the theory to no avail , former White House aide Fiona Hill told impeachment investigators in November .
“ We spent a lot of time … trying to refute this one in the first year of the administration , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the notion alive .
He insisted to Fox News viewers in November that he only withheld aid from Ukraine to investigate corruption in the country , hinting once again that the DNC ’ s servers are hidden there .
“ You know , the FBI has never gotten that server , ” Trump said “ That ’ s a big part of this whole thing .
Why did they give it to a Ukrainian company ?
” Parts of the Ukraine election interference theory have since been echoed by a growing number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some of whom concede that Russia interfered but posit that Ukraine did too .
Days before the president was impeached , Sen. Ted Cruz told NBC ’ s “ Meet the Press ” that there ’ s “ considerable evidence ” that Ukraine had interfered .
His office later said in a statement : “ Russia ’ s campaign to interfere in our election was real and systematic .
It is also true that Ukrainian officials did not want…then-candidate Trump to win .
The two are not mutually exclusive.
” And as his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pressing GOP senators to rally behind the discredited theory — asking his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to brief them on his trip to eastern Europe , where he searched for witnesses and documents to back up the claims .
Videos documenting his trip have aired on the pro-Trump television network , One America News , and have been viewed thousands of times online .
Hill , a Russia expert , told Congress in November that political leaders who spread such falsehoods about Ukraine are only polarizing the U.S. further and turning it into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such foreign powers as Russia .
She warned : “ These fictions are harmful even if they are deployed for purely domestic political purposes.
” Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington and Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv contributed to this report .

The theory took root in vague form well before Donald Trump laid claim to the White House in 2016. The candidate’s close confidant tweeted about it. His campaign chairman apparently spoke about it with people close to him.
What if, the idea went, it was actually Ukraine — and not Russia — that was interfering in the 2016 election?
Never mind that the notion has since been amplified by the president of Russia, the country that U.S. intelligence agencies unequivocally blame for interfering in that year’s presidential race. Or that Trump’s hand-picked FBI director and other American officials have said there’s no information pointing to Ukraine interference. Or that 25 Russians stand charged in U.S. courts with hacking into Democratic emails and waging a covert social media campaign to sway American public opinion.
The Ukraine theory lives on.
Now, Trump’s request for Ukraine to investigate the matter and a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, is at the heart of a congressional inquiry that produced Trump’s impeachment by the House of Representatives. A Senate trial is next.
The discredited theory, spread online by GOP allies in interviews and tweets, has been embraced by a president reluctant to acknowledge the reality of Russian election interference, and anxious to show he had reason to be suspicious of Ukraine as the U.S. withheld crucial military aid last year.
The effect: blurring the facts of the impeachment case for many Americans even before it reaches a trial that could begin with days.
Experts fear the strategy leaves the U.S. vulnerable to more misinformation campaigns in the 2020 election and signals to the Kremlin and other foreign actors that Americans are willing to cling to falsehoods.
A review by The Associated Press shows that the Ukraine conspiracy theory traces back to Trump’s 2016 campaign, was spread online and later advanced by Russian President Vladimir Putin weeks after his own country was blamed for election interference. Finally, some of America’s own elected leaders made it their truth.
“The ultimate victim is democracy, is the stability of our nation,” said Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation expert at the nonpartisan Wilson Center, a Washington, D.C. think tank.
THE SEEDS OF A CONSPIRACY THEORY
As U.S. authorities collected evidence in 2016 that Russia had hacked and stolen years of internal emails from the Democratic National Committee, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who had cultivated extensive business contacts in Ukraine and worked for pro-Russia politicians there, was privately pointing to another culprit.
Manafort, now serving more than seven years in prison for tax fraud and other crimes, suggested then that the attack was probably executed by Ukrainians, according to FBI notes from an April 2018 interview with Rick Gates, Manafort’s former deputy. The idea parroted that of Konstantin Kilimnik, a Manafort business associate who U.S. authorities have assessed has ties to Russian intelligence — an accusation Kilimnik has denied.
Trump aide Michael Flynn, who later became Trump’s first national security adviser, was also adamant within the campaign that Russia couldn’t have carried out the attack and that U.S. intelligence wouldn’t be able to figure out who had done it, Gates recalled.
That skepticism was adopted by Trump himself, who memorably said during a presidential debate that “it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK?”
All the while, U.S. officials were agreeing with a private cybersecurity firm’s findings that Russia was responsible, collecting evidence over the next several months that tied individual Russian military intelligence officers to the hack.
Adding to the FBI’s concern was the revelation that a Trump campaign official had been told Russia had damaging information about Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. That July, the bureau opened an investigation into whether Russia and the Trump campaign were working together to sway the election in Trump’s favor, a probe eventually taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller.
TWEETS, ARTICLES FUEL THEORY
As the Democrats’ stolen emails were published online and the U.S. prepared to publicly blame the Kremlin for the hack, assertions surfaced online that Ukraine had meddled — directly or indirectly — in America’s presidential campaign.
In September 2016 Roger Stone, a Trump confidant later convicted of lying about his efforts to get inside information about the emails, tweeted: “The only interference in the U.S. election is from Hillary’s friends in Ukraine.”
His tweet highlighted a Financial Times article that said some Kyiv leaders were determined “to intervene, however indirectly” in the U.S. election. The story detailed efforts by Serhiy Leshchenko, a former Ukrainian parliament member who opposed Trump’s bid, to expose off-the-books payments Ukraine’s pro-Russia political party made to Manafort.
Leshchenko maintains his efforts don’t amount to interference or compare to Russia’s attack on the U.S. elections.
Still, some Republican legislators, including a few contacted by AP, pointed to the article as proof Ukraine interfered.
“I think both Russia and Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election,” Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said last month on NBC’s “Meet the Press. He cited the Financial Times as evidence.
As Trump prepared to take office, news reports fueled doubts online over the conclusion that Russia had hacked the DNC and Clinton campaign.
“So how and why are they so sure about hacking if they never even requested an examination of the computer servers? What is going on?” Trump tweeted on Jan. 5, 2017, the day after a BuzzFeed News article reported that the FBI did not physically examine the Democrats’ servers to determine Russia infiltrated the system.
A Politico report days later documented a Democratic consultant’s opposition research in 2016 on Manafort’s work in Ukraine — which included consulting on behalf of former leader Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after his 2014 ouster — and described efforts by some Ukraine leaders to support Clinton over Trump.
The article said there was not a top-down effort by Ukraine to push voters toward Clinton, but some Republicans now point to the reporting to support their allegations of meddling.
Citing the reports, anti-establishment conservative and liberal bloggers made misleading connections between Ukraine and CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm that traced the hack back to Russia.
This online speculation helped shape the Ukraine conspiracy theory, explained Thomas Rid, a Johns Hopkins University professor who has tracked disinformation campaigns and election interference.
“The landscape has made it so easy to find rabbit holes, and go down these rabbit holes, stay there, and find a community of like-minded amateur sleuths,” Rid said.
It is the nebulous nature of the Ukrainian theory, which leaves room for both direct and indirect interference, that has given the idea a shape-shifting, evolving form that has contributed to its staying power.
One online commentator misleadingly claimed CrowdStrike’s co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch works for a think tank funded by a Ukrainian oligarch. Alperovitch is a fellow at the Atlantic Council, which is based in the U.S. and receives funding from a variety of sources. Donations from Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk’s foundation made up less than less than 1.6 percent of the group’s funding in 2018.
“A great deal of misinformation relies upon serendipity or mere contacts,” said John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. “Then they draw egregious or conspiratorial conclusions based on those contacts.”
Putin himself weighed in days after Trump moved into the White House, publicly claiming that Ukraine’s entire government had favored Clinton during the election and now needed to “improve relations” with the new Trump administration.
“As we all know, during the presidential campaign in the United States, the Ukrainian government adopted a unilateral position in favor of one candidate,” Putin said in at a news conference that February with Hungary’s prime minister.
Russian media used the comments to suggest it was Ukraine that had actually interfered.
It was convenient for the Kremlin to point the finger at another offender: Just weeks earlier, U.S. intelligence agencies had released a detailed report accusing Russia of interfering in the election on Trump’s behalf. And Ukraine was the perfect scapegoat, experts said. The Kremlin has been locked in a 5-year war with Ukraine that has killed more than 14,000 people.
“It’s in Russia’s interest to amplify this issue because it wants Ukraine to be undermined,” said Jankowicz, the disinformation expert.
By April 2017, the Ukraine conspiracy theory was being promoted by Trump himself.
TRUMP TESTS NEW UKRAINE CONSPIRACY THEORY
Trump sat at the desk of the Oval Office, just shy of his first 100 days on the job, when he falsely suggested in an Associated Press interview that CrowdStrike had even stronger ties to Ukraine.
“I heard it’s owned by a very rich Ukrainian, that’s what I heard,” Trump said. “Why didn’t they allow the FBI in to investigate the server? I mean, there is so many things that nobody writes about. It’s incredible.”
In fact, CrowdStrike is a publicly held California company founded by two U.S. citizens — George Kurtz and Alperovitch, who was born in Russia but spent his adult life in America. The company has identified cyberattacks for major U.S. clients, including the U.S. government and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
And the FBI didn’t need to physically take the DNC servers to confirm CrowdStrike’s findings that Russia was behind the attack, said Eugene H. Spafford, a computer science professor at the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security at Purdue University who has assisted the bureau in cases.
Instead, CrowdStrike took digital images of the DNC system, capturing files, photos, emails, and browsing history to determine who had breached the system. Copies of those images were then handed over to the FBI, the company says.
The process is similar to how investigators at a crime scene take photos that are later analyzed for clues.
A physical review of the DNC’s data, a cloud system comprised of at least 140 servers, would have disabled the Democrats’ computer systems for days or weeks amid a presidential election, Spafford noted.
But Trump took his suspicions about the servers directly to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the newly elected Ukraine president in the now-infamous July 25 phone call that resulted in articles of impeachment against Trump.
“I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say CrowdStrike … I guess you have one of your wealthy people…” Trump asked of Zelenskiy on the call, according to notes released by the White House in September. “The server, they say Ukraine has it.”
Dozens of news outlets debunked Trump’s comments and continue to do so. Finding itself at the center of the phone call, CrowdStrike then released a blog post rebuffing the president’s claims. The president’s own national security advisers rebutted the theory to no avail, former White House aide Fiona Hill told impeachment investigators in November.
“We spent a lot of time … trying to refute this one in the first year of the administration,” Hill said.
THE THEORY ENDURES
Still, Trump keeps the notion alive.
He insisted to Fox News viewers in November that he only withheld aid from Ukraine to investigate corruption in the country, hinting once again that the DNC’s servers are hidden there.
“You know, the FBI has never gotten that server,” Trump said “That’s a big part of this whole thing. Why did they give it to a Ukrainian company?”
Parts of the Ukraine election interference theory have since been echoed by a growing number of the president’s Republican allies — some of whom concede that Russia interfered but posit that Ukraine did too.
Days before the president was impeached, Sen. Ted Cruz told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that there’s “considerable evidence” that Ukraine had interfered.
His office later said in a statement: “Russia’s campaign to interfere in our election was real and systematic. It is also true that Ukrainian officials did not want…then-candidate Trump to win. The two are not mutually exclusive.”
And as his Senate impeachment trial looms, Trump is pressing GOP senators to rally behind the discredited theory — asking his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to brief them on his trip to eastern Europe, where he searched for witnesses and documents to back up the claims. Videos documenting his trip have aired on the pro-Trump television network, One America News, and have been viewed thousands of times online.
Hill, a Russia expert, told Congress in November that political leaders who spread such falsehoods about Ukraine are only polarizing the U.S. further and turning it into an easy target for misinformation campaigns by such foreign powers as Russia.
She warned: “These fictions are harmful even if they are deployed for purely domestic political purposes.”
_____
Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington and Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv contributed to this report.


pbs--2020-01-12--Trump wants Pelosi, Schiff as impeachment witnesses

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that senators will “ pay a price ” if they block new witnesses in Donald Trump ’ s impeachment trial , but the president quickly retorted that she and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff should also testify .
The House plans to vote this week to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate for the historic trial on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over Trump ’ s actions toward Ukraine .
It will be only the third impeachment trial in American history .
“ It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told ABC ’ s “ ’ This Week.
” “ We ’ ve done our job .
We have defended the Constitution of the United States .
We would hope the Senate would do that as well.
” She warned : “ Now the ball is in their court to either do that or pay a price.
” Trump tweeted right before and after Pelosi ’ s appearance , in both instances using derisive nicknames .
He said both she and Schiff should appear in the Senate for testimony .
“ He must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she !
” Trump tweeted .
The president also rebutted Pelosi ’ s suggestion that no matter what the Senate does , the House vote last month means Trump will be “ impeached forever ” and “ for life.
” “ Why should I have the stigma of Impeachment attached to my name when I did NOTHING wrong ?
” Trump tweeted , calling the House action a “ totally partisan Hoax . '
” It is unlikely that the Republican-controlled Senate would call either Democrat to testify in the president ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soon as this week .
The Democratic-run House is set to vote this week to send the articles of impeachment after Pelosi ended a more than three-week delay .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky. , seeking a speedy trial to acquit the president , is reluctant to seek more witnesses .
McConnell has proposed a process similar to the last presidential impeachment trial of Bill Clinton in 1999 that would start the proceedings and then vote later on hearing new testimony .
One leading Republican , Sen. Lindsey Graham of South @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trial would end ” in a matter of days.
” In a Fox News Channel interview on Saturday , Graham dismissed Pelosi ’ s tactics , saying the delay would have no effect on calling new witnesses or the expected outcome — acquittal by the GOP-controlled Senate .
“ The Senate should not reward this behavior by the House , ” said Graham , chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee .
“ The Senate should end this trial as quickly as possible .
That ’ s what I intend to do .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pray every Republican will reject what Nancy Pelosi did , and we ’ ll pick up a few Democrats.
” Top Democrats defended Pelosi ’ s decision to delay sending the articles of impeachment against the president , saying it produced new potential evidence and turned public attention on the upcoming trial .
“ One of the things that holding on to the articles has succeeded doing is fleshing out McConnell and the president ’ s desire to make this a cover up , ” Schiff said on CBS ’ “ Face the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making this trial a trial without witnesses… .
That ’ s not a fair trial .
That ’ s a sham , ” he said .
Trump was impeached on charges that he abused his power by pressuring the president of Ukraine to investigate Democrats , specifically Trump political rival Joe Biden .
Trump was also charged with obstruction of Congress for trying to block the House investigation .
While McConnell joined some Republicans in a resolution for votes to dismiss the charges against Trump , at least one Republican up for reelection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said last week she was in talks with colleagues to hear more testimony .
Schiff has rebuffed previous calls to testify , saying he was not a fact witness to the events .
Pelosi said senators need to consider new witnesses , including former national security adviser John Bolton , who has said he would be willing to testify if he receives a subpoena .
Trump is blocking White House officials from appearing and reiterated last week he does not want his former top security adviser to testify before the Senate .
House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subpoena for Bolton last year , did not rule out doing so now .
“ Ït ’ s certainly something that we are considering , ” Schiff said .
Pelosi also left open the door to filing more articles of impeachment against Trump .
“ It ’ s Sunday morning — let ’ s be optimistic about the future… a future that will not have Donald Trump in the White House , one way or another , 10 months from now we will have an election , if we don ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Right before Pelosi was set to appear for the Sunday interview , Trump tweeted against Pelosi , calling her a derisive nickname , “ Crazy Nancy.
” Asked about Trump ’ s tweet , Pelosi said , “ Every knock from him is a boost .
”

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that senators will “pay a price” if they block new witnesses in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, but the president quickly retorted that she and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff should also testify.
The House plans to vote this week to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate for the historic trial on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over Trump’s actions toward Ukraine. It will be only the third impeachment trial in American history.
“It’s about a fair trial,” Pelosi told ABC’s “’This Week.” “We’ve done our job. We have defended the Constitution of the United States. We would hope the Senate would do that as well.”
She warned: “Now the ball is in their court to either do that or pay a price.”
Trump tweeted right before and after Pelosi’s appearance, in both instances using derisive nicknames. He said both she and Schiff should appear in the Senate for testimony.
“He must be a Witness, and so should she!” Trump tweeted.
The president also rebutted Pelosi’s suggestion that no matter what the Senate does, the House vote last month means Trump will be “impeached forever” and “for life.”
“Why should I have the stigma of Impeachment attached to my name when I did NOTHING wrong?” Trump tweeted, calling the House action a “totally partisan Hoax.'”
It is unlikely that the Republican-controlled Senate would call either Democrat to testify in the president’s impeachment trial, which could start as soon as this week. The Democratic-run House is set to vote this week to send the articles of impeachment after Pelosi ended a more than three-week delay.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., seeking a speedy trial to acquit the president, is reluctant to seek more witnesses.
McConnell has proposed a process similar to the last presidential impeachment trial of Bill Clinton in 1999 that would start the proceedings and then vote later on hearing new testimony.
One leading Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, has already predicted that the trial would end ”in a matter of days.”
In a Fox News Channel interview on Saturday, Graham dismissed Pelosi’s tactics, saying the delay would have no effect on calling new witnesses or the expected outcome — acquittal by the GOP-controlled Senate.
“The Senate should not reward this behavior by the House,” said Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The Senate should end this trial as quickly as possible. That’s what I intend to do. He will be acquitted. I hope and pray every Republican will reject what Nancy Pelosi did, and we’ll pick up a few Democrats.”
Top Democrats defended Pelosi’s decision to delay sending the articles of impeachment against the president, saying it produced new potential evidence and turned public attention on the upcoming trial.
“One of the things that holding on to the articles has succeeded doing is fleshing out McConnell and the president’s desire to make this a cover up,” Schiff said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“If McConnell succeeds in making this trial a trial without witnesses…. That’s not a fair trial. That’s a sham,” he said.
Trump was impeached on charges that he abused his power by pressuring the president of Ukraine to investigate Democrats, specifically Trump political rival Joe Biden. Trump was also charged with obstruction of Congress for trying to block the House investigation.
While McConnell joined some Republicans in a resolution for votes to dismiss the charges against Trump, at least one Republican up for reelection, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said last week she was in talks with colleagues to hear more testimony.
Schiff has rebuffed previous calls to testify, saying he was not a fact witness to the events.
Pelosi said senators need to consider new witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton, who has said he would be willing to testify if he receives a subpoena.
Trump is blocking White House officials from appearing and reiterated last week he does not want his former top security adviser to testify before the Senate.
House Democrats, who did not issue a subpoena for Bolton last year, did not rule out doing so now.
“Ït’s certainly something that we are considering,” Schiff said.
Pelosi also left open the door to filing more articles of impeachment against Trump.
“It’s Sunday morning — let’s be optimistic about the future… a future that will not have Donald Trump in the White House, one way or another, 10 months from now we will have an election, if we don’t have him removed sooner,” she said.
Right before Pelosi was set to appear for the Sunday interview, Trump tweeted against Pelosi, calling her a derisive nickname, “Crazy Nancy.”
Asked about Trump’s tweet, Pelosi said, “Every knock from him is a boost.”