The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Pelosi attacks Barr over Ukraine call

by Cate Martel - 09/27/19 12:58 PM ET

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–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

THIS A.M.

Nancy Pelosi has a few THOUGHTS:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning for her first sit-down interview since announcing an impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

On the impeachment inquiry: “This is no cause for any joy. This is a very sad time for our country,” Pelosi said. “An impeachment of a president is as serious as our congressional responsibilities can be apart from declaring war or something. And so, we have to be very prayerful and we always have to put country before party.”

On Attorney General William Barr: “He’s gone rogue,” Pelosi said. “I think where they’re going is a cover-up of a cover-up.” http://bit.ly/2ng0Q0M

AND PELOSI TOLD REPORTERS SHE HAS NO TIMETABLE:

Pelosi would not commit to a timetable for impeachment proceedings. “No, I mean it’s up to the committee. They will do the work that they’ve set out to do, following the facts,” Pelosi said. “Now I think we’re getting involved in the cover-up of the cover-up, and that may be something that will take some time to investigate.” http://bit.ly/2nd4oB0

Watch Pelosi’s reasoning: http://bit.ly/2ni8HLf

Happy Friday! I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@digital-release.thehill.com — and follow along on Twitter @CateMartel and Facebook.

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IN THE HOUSE

Democrats found the fresh meat they’ve been looking for:

Via The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Scott Wong, “For months, President Trump’s critics have been scouring his record in search of the smoking gun that might compel voters to back impeachment. With this week’s release of a damning whistleblower report revealing Trump’s questionable dealings with Ukraine’s president, some lawmakers think they’ve found it.” http://bit.ly/2nIqviX

For context on how quickly this transpired: “Just a week ago, the liberal effort to convince Democratic leaders to impeach Trump appeared to be a long shot. The White House was stonewalling the Democrats’ investigations; the calendar was quickly shrinking and the 2020 elections were inching closer; and only 130 lawmakers had endorsed an inquiry — well below the 218 needed to pass articles of impeachment on the House floor.”

HELPFUL CHART:

Via The New York Times, here’s a timeline of President Trump‘s efforts to push Ukraine toward a Joe Biden inquiry. The timeline: https://nyti.ms/2m7HZ8d

THE FIVE MOST SERIOUS CHARGES IN THE WHISTLEBLOWER’S COMPLAINT:

The White House sought to hide details of Trump’s phone call
Trump allies used leverage to get Ukraine to ‘play ball’
The White House has hidden the details of other phone calls
Officials were ‘deeply concerned’ by Rudy Giuliani’s activities
Ukrainian officials knew U.S. aid could be in jeopardy

Context and details for each: http://bit.ly/2m7N0O5

IN THE WHITE HOUSE

I said, ‘leave!’:

In tweets this morning, President Trump called for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to resign “immediately” for reading a version of Trump’s call with Ukraine that Trump described as “fraudulent.” http://bit.ly/2lBvT6Q

Trump tweeted: “Rep. Adam Schiff fraudulently read to Congress, with millions of people watching, a version of my conversation with the President of Ukraine that doesn’t exist. He was supposedly reading the exact transcribed version of the call, but he completely changed the words to make it … sound horrible, and me sound guilty. HE WAS DESPERATE AND HE GOT CAUGHT. Adam Schiff therefore lied to Congress and attempted to defraud the American Public. He has been doing this for two years. I am calling for him to immediately resign from Congress based on this fraud!” See Trump’s full tweets: http://bit.ly/2naMzmg

IN THE SENATE

Feinstein calls for the word-for-word transcript:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said she wants to see the “word-for-word” transcript of Trump‘s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. http://bit.ly/2nNen08

Feinstein’s reasoning: Feinstein said the whistleblower complaint “suggests that an ‘official word-for-word transcript of the call’ was produced.” “If so, it should be provided to Congress for review. Congress has a constitutional oversight duty. It’s important that we understand who took actions to hide details of the call with Zelensky and how high those actions reached,” Feinstein said.

Hold your horses:

Via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton and Juliegrace Brufke, Senate Republicans generally defended Trump on Wednesday, but are now pulling back a bit on their defense since the whistleblower complaint against Trump was released.

How this could play out: http://bit.ly/2neHute

IN OTHER NEWS

Remember the government funding fight? Yeah, that’s still going on:

(What a week it’s been…)

Congress passed a continuing resolution yesterday to punt the government spending battle until November. http://bit.ly/2mjbHHa

Happening today: Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) is huddling with Trump at the White House today to work on a spending deal.

Where negotiations stand: http://bit.ly/2mjbHHa

This morning — another karate chop:

The House passed a joint resolution this morning to block Trump‘s emergency declaration for funding the border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. http://bit.ly/2mmbuD7

The vote: “The 236-174 vote drew support from 11 Republicans, but not enough to overturn an expected veto from the president.”

Keep in mind — it already passed in the Senate: “The new measure was approved by the Senate earlier this week in a 54-41 vote, with 11 Republicans joining Democrats in voting to block Trump.”

NOTABLE TWEETS

Well played:

I take your ‘first name’, and raise you my full name. https://t.co/b3K3invfiQ

— Harry Potter (@HPneuro) September 26, 2019

By the way, this Harry Potter is a neuroscience Ph.D. at the University of Manchester.

Oh mannn:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — pic.twitter.com/FrvcDaOzuR

— Jennifer Shutt (@JenniferShutt) September 26, 2019

Only in D.C.:

DC-based adult rec sports league using current news to their advertising advantage pic.twitter.com/Ftnvh8tfJV

— Natalie Fertig (@natsfert) September 27, 2019

ON TAP

The House met this morning. The Senate is out. President Trump is in Washington, D.C. Vice President Pence is in Indiana and is returning to D.C. this evening.

10–11 a.m. EDT: The House voted. The House’s full schedule today: http://bit.ly/2mjpVYK

Noon: Trump participates in a High Holy Days call with Jewish faith leaders.

3 p.m. EDT: Pence tours NeuroDiagnostic Institute and Advanced Treatment Center in Indiana and holds a roundtable discussion.

3:30 p.m. EDT: Trump receives an intelligence briefing.

6:30 p.m. EDT: Trump speaks at the Hispanic Heritage Month reception in the East Room of the White House.

6:35 p.m. EDT: Pence and Karen Pence get back to Washington, D.C.

WHAT TO WATCH

9:30 a.m. EDT: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) held a news conference on the “Democrats’ For the People Act.” Livestream: https://cs.pn/2nQcqAf

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF…

Today is National Chocolate Milk Day.

A happy story for a Friday — Omg, these photos!:

Via CNN’s Leah Asmelash, “Nine babies were just born to firefighters in this California department. The photos are insanely cute.” Photos: https://cnn.it/2nEgfIH

I could not disagree more:

Via The New York Times’s Emily S. Rueb and Niraj Chokshi, the creator of the labradoodle dog said creating the mixed breed is one of his biggest regrets in life. https://nyti.ms/2nfCoNm

And because it’s a Friday afternoon, here’s a bored dog looking for easy entertainment: http://bit.ly/2lDQNSP