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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/...oxs-falsehoods-about-that-country-puerto-rico

Hallie Jackson Calls Out WH Spox’s Falsehoods About ‘That Country’ Puerto Rico

NBC News’ Hallie Jackson fact-checked White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley in real time after Gidley repeated President Donald Trump’s falsehoods regarding Puerto Rico. Gidley also incorrectly called the U.S. territory “that country,” which he later said was “a slip of the tongue.”

In an interview Tuesday morning with Jackson, Gidley attempted to defend President Donald Trump’s tweeted attacks at Puerto Rico, where nearly 3,000 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria’s landfall in 2017, and where the Trump administration is widely blamed for bungling disaster response after the catastrophic storm.

On Monday, a disaster relief bill stalled in the Senate due to a disagreement over the amount in food stamp and other aid that ought to be allocated to the U.S. territory.

“They have received more money than any state or territory in history for rebuild,” Gidley asserted confidently, adding: “They have not come to $91 billion, with all we’ve done in that country, where they have had a systematic mismanagement of the goods and services we’ve sent to them.”

Jackson jumped in, correcting the White House spokesperson on three fronts. “These are things that are not true, just factually, from a factual basis,” she said.

First, the “$91 billion” Gidley and Trump cited doesn’t represent what’s been spent on recovery in Puerto Rico, but rather the Trump administration’s high-end estimate of what recovery on the island could cost in the long run, The Washington Post reported. The territory has only actually received about $11 billion in aide.

Second, even if Puerto Rico receives $91 billion in federal assistance over the lifetime of the Hurricane Maria recovery — which will take many more years — that still won’t come close to the estimated $120 billion federal bill for the recovery after Hurricane Katina.

Finally, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens who live in a U.S. territory. Gidley said later in the interview that it was “a mistake” to refer to the island as “that country.”

“Do you think that’s a concern that there is that kind of slip of the tongue inside the White House?” Jackson asked.

“No,” Gidley replied. “A slip of the tongue is not on purpose, Hallie, that would by definition be a slip of the tongue.”

Commenting on Gidley’s reference to Puerto Rico as “that country,” Politico’s Jake Sherman said “I’ve heard variations of this from many people inside the White House.” The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman agreed.
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/mcconnell-throws-cold-water-on-trumps-grand-ocare-replacement-plans

McConnell Throws Cold Water On Trump’s Grand O’Care Replacement Plans

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) put the kibosh on the Senate considering a comprehensive health care overhaul, after President Trump had promised an Obamacare replacement “far better” than the law Republicans failed to repeal in 2017.

McConnell told reporters Tuesday on Capitol Hill that he had spoken to Trump Monday about his plans, after he was asked if he and the President were in different places on replacing the Affordable Care Act.

“Not any longer,” McConnell said, answering that question.

McConnell said he was fine with lawmakers working on narrower health care issues — such as prescription drug prices— but, he stressed that “we will not be doing comprehensive [health care] in the Senate.”

He pointed to the Democrats’ control of the House, and said it was his understanding that Trump would develop a health care plan he could tout during the 2020 campaign, in case Republicans win back both chambers of Congress.

McConnell’s reluctance to let his caucus get involved again with repealing the Affordable Care Act comes after years that he campaigned aggressively against the law and even put it up for a repeal vote while President Obama was still in the White House.

After a 2018 election cycle where voters were motivated by Republicans failed attempts to dismantle Obamacare, Trump’s efforts last week to put it back on the political front burner took Congress by surprise.

Those efforts included the Justice Department changing its posture in a court case attacking the Affordable Care Act. After previously asking that just Obamacare’s protections for pre-existing conditions be knocked down in the case, the Trump administration is now asking for the entire law to be thrown out.

The anti-Obamacare legal arguments in the case are widely considered to be questionable, at best. Yet the case, currently at the appellate court stage, is still likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, McConnell did not seemed concerned whether that meant Congress would then need to start working on an Obamacare replacement.

“There’s no point in pushing the panic button, the court system takes a long time to resolve these issues,” McConnell said.
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckr...ormer-white-house-security-clearance-official

Oversight Okays Subpoena To Former White House Security Clearance Official

The House Oversight Committee voted on Tuesday to subpoena a Trump Administration official who allegedly retaliated against a whistleblower who raised concerns about the decision to overturn approximately 25 security clearance denials for officials and contractors.

The subpoena — among the first issued under the new Democratic majority in the House — will go to former White House personnel security office director Carl Kline, who left for the Defense Department in January 2019.

Cummings has sought Kline’s testimony since January, when whistleblower Tricia Newbold came forward to the committee with allegations that Kline had subverted standard procedures for issuing security clearances to dozens of officials. Newbold alleged that security clearances had been denied on grounds of foreign influence, financial problems, and behavioral issues, among other things.

Newbold testified on Saturday before the committee in a closed-door, on-record hearing. She alleged that Kline retaliated against her in part through an unpaid two-week suspension and by placing documents out of reach for Newbold, who has dwarfism.

The Tuesday hearing at which the subpoena to Kline was authorized veered toward farce at times.

At one point, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) slammed House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings (D-MD) for forcing them to come in on a Saturday and for sending a press release about the security clearance issue based on the testimony of one witness.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jordan said, to peals of laughter from the majority side of the aisle.

“Oh please,” Cummings said, interrupting Jordan. “Yeah, you’ve done it.”

Cummings also said that Newbold, who remains a White House employee, was afraid that Republicans would leak her identity to her bosses before she would be able to testify.

“She’s scared to death,” Cummings said. “And she was afraid, sadly, of our Republican colleagues.”

The subpoena comes after Kline supposedly ignored two letters from the House Oversight Committee requesting his testimony.

Cummings said at the hearing that after he released a letter to White House counsel Pat Cipollone yesterday outlining Newbold’s testimony and a memorandum to lawmakers, Kline agreed to testify before the committee, but not on specific issues and only on general policy.

“This is not sufficient,” Cummings said.

Presidential advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner’s receipt of a security clearance has raised questions, particularly since he reportedly received it after Trump overrode the recommendations of career staff.

During the Tuesday committee meeting, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) cited Kushner’s alleged use of encrypted messaging app Whatsapp to communicate with Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin-Salman.

“What’s next? Putting nuclear codes in Instagram DMs?” she asked rhetorically.
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/schlapp-claims-trumo-little-choice-but-to-close-border

White House Claims Trump Has ‘Little Choice’ But To Close The Border

White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp took to CNN to defend President Donald Trump’s threat to shut down the border, which critics say is as inhumane as it is economically unwise.

“We’re being left with no choice, little choice at this point in terms of what we’re going to do with our resources,” Schlapp told CNN’s Jim Sciutto. “What has had to happen is we had to move our border patrol agents — about 750 of them — from the ports of entry into the other areas of the border where we’re seeing a huge surge coming from illegal aliens, family units, who are crossing the border. So in essence, there is a crisis.”

Per Politico, many in Trump’s own administration don’t want the border shut down and are hoping for a last-minute legislative fix that would satiate the President.

Here is a good rundown of what’s actually happening at the border. Crossings are not at anywhere near an all-time high, but more families are coming over than have before, creating a new subset of needs.
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