McConnell: Trump was lying about me saying his Ukraine call was 'perfect'
The Senate Majority Leader admitted to reporters that Trump’s story of him complimenting the phone call with Ukraine was a fabrication.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that he never spoke to Donald Trump about his phone call with the Ukrainian president.
The phone call and Trump’s alleged decision to leverage foreign aid in exchange for the Ukrainian government going after Vice President Joe Biden is at the heart of the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
“The president has said that you told him that the phone call with the Ukrainian president was ‘perfect and innocent.’ Do you believe that the president has handled this Ukrainian situation perfectly?” A reporter asked McConnell during his weekly press conference.
“We’ve not had any conversations on that subject,” McConnell replied.
“So he was lying about that?” The reporter followed up.
“You’ll have to ask him, I don’t recall any conversations with the president about that phone call,” said McConnell.
The admission from McConnell is another blow against Trump’s credibility and it comes directly from his most powerful congressional ally.
Trump previously cited McConnell to bolster his assertion that no crime or unethical behavior occurred on the phone call.
“[McConnell] read my phone call with the president of Ukraine. Mitch McConnell, he said, ‘That was the most innocent phone call that I’ve read.’ I mean, give me a break. Anybody that reads it says the same thing,” Trump claimed three weeks ago while speaking to reporters.
Evidence surrounding the call, including the memo on the call’s contents released by the White House itself, have made clear that the call was far from “innocent.”
McConnell’s decision to upend Trump’s version of events comes as U.S. diplomat Bill Taylor testified that the Trump administration was seeking a public attack on Biden from Ukraine in exchange for aid.
In an ironic turn of events, Trump once said it was “a crime” to make a “fabricated phone call.” It appears Trump now finds himself guilty of his own legal violations.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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