The White House is telling Republicans in Congress to dismiss the whistleblower report alleging President Trump abused his power as a secondhand conspiracy theory built on biased media reports.
The fresh talking points, forwarded to Republicans on Capitol Hill on Thursday and obtained by the Washington Examiner, sought to give Trump’s allies ammunition to debunk whistleblower allegations that Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden. The former vice president is a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic nomination.
A summary of a transcript of a telephone call between Trump and Zelensky shows that the president asked his counterpart in Kyiv to initiate an investigation into the former vice president and the activities of his son, Hunter Biden, in relation to his business interests in Ukraine. The transcript also revealed that Trump asked Zelensky to consult with Rudy Giuliani, his personal lawyer, and Attorney General William Barr. Barr has denied that he became involved.
But Trump has defended his conduct as routine, and the one-page messaging document from the White House urges Republicans to undermine the latest information of the whistleblower report as illegitimate and another attempt by congressional Democrats damage Trump. Democrats in the House of Representatives are using Trump’s telephone call with Zelensky as the predicate for an impeachment inquiry.
Here are the talking points, as obtained by the Washington Examiner:
TOPLINE TALKERS
- This complaint is not evidence of anything.
- It is simply one person’s opinions and arguments putting a biased spin on a combination of second-hand accounts about meetings or decisions that the complainant admits he has no direct knowledge about and cobbled-together press stories that anyone could find on the Internet.
- These allegations are nothing more than conspiracy theories built on rumors, gossip, and news stories, tied together with conjecture.
- After reviewing this complaint, the Inspector General focused on the only concrete claim that forms the core of the complaint: President Trump’s telephone call with President Zelensky has the heart of the issue.
- But the transcript of that call has been released so every American can see the facts and can see that there is no evidence to support accusations of wrongdoing.
- In fact, the complaint has already been reviewed by the Department of Justice based on the Inspector General’s analysis, and DOJ found no reason to take action or pursue the matter further.
- That’s because the President didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, he reinforced the very same themes he has repeatedly talked about publicly: sharing the burden of foreign assistance and getting to the bottom of the origins of the Russian collusion hoax.
- What the complaint cannot be used for is justifying never-ending fishing expeditions in an attempt to prevent the President from doing his job.
- Democrats and the media are using a complaint that adds nothing to the transcript that was already released to score political points against the President.
