He is gone. It’s only a matter of time now and negotiation. @realDonaldTrump is done.— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) September 24, 2019
A few other tweets from this afternoon:
The Senate has *unanimously* agreed to Schumer's resolution calling for the whistleblower complaint to be turned over the intelligence committees immediately.— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) September 24, 2019
I was VP Biden’s nat’l security adviser during this period & staffed his meetings, calls & visits with Ukrainian officials. Every engagement was in support of US policy—backed by Ukrainian reformers & the EU—to combat corruption. Excellent timeline here👇 https://t.co/zkhvjmM5F4— Colin Kahl (@ColinKahl) September 24, 2019
Some info about how calls to heads of state usually work:
As senior director of the WH Situation Room, I managed POTUS head-of-state calls. So, what light can I shed on the Trump-promised phone transcript? /1— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
First off: unless this administration has changed procedures in place for many years, there are no WH tapes of this phone call. As I used to say, the WH became averse to taping Presidential phone calls in about 1974. /2— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
Could there be recordings made by the foreign head-of-state's government or a foreign intelligence service? Sure, particularly when the call is made over a non-secure phone. /3— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
Could there be recordings made by the US Intelligence Community? No. Law, regulation, and practice forbids such collection of USG officials. Besides, there's no foreign intelligence value in doing so, as the US official is aware of the call's contents. /4— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
Yes, there should be transcripts of the call. It is a long-standing practice, intended to not only memorialize the call but to protect the President against the foreign leader/gov't making egregious claims about the call. /5— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
The White House Situation Room and the responsible NSC directorate develop the transcript. WHSR, which monitors the call, develops a verbatim working transcript which is reviewed and finalized by the NSC directorate and captured in a memorandum of conversation (MEMCON). /6— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
This MEMCON can vary greatly from a lightly edited full transcript to a vaguely worded summary of the call. Sharing of the MEMCON outside of the WH and across gov't has varied from Admin to Admin and the sensitivity of the call, but has always been very limited. /7— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
Who in the USG listens to the call as it happens? This varies from call to call. I managed the very rare call in which only myself and WHSR heard the actual call. In most cases, the call was listened to live by several people. /8— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
Call participants often included the Nat'l Sec Advisor or his/her deputies, the WH Chief of Staff, an appropriate NSC Sr Director and members of his/her staff. Extremely rare for a non-WH person to be present for the call and we never looped in anyone outside the 18 acres. /9— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
As to the foreign side of the call, we assumed similar participation. /10— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
Could the President make calls on his own directly to a foreign head of state? Sure, but these are very busy people who aren't always available for impromptu calls. The procedures were developed over time for both the convenience and the protection of the President. /11 & Final— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) September 24, 2019
A couple of comments about Pfeiffer's tweets. First, it's hard to believe the Trump White House ever executes this level of organization and discipline. Second, the transcript of the call, which Donald has said he'll release tomorrow, will almost certainly be edited within an inch of its life. To put it another way, if there was anything incriminating on it, I can't imagine Donald would allow it to be released unedited.
A quick take on timing. You've got John Podhoretz and others now saying "Why today? Why couldn't they wait one more day for the transcript?" The answer, I think, is because Dems know the "let's just see the transcript, wait one more day" was an obvious trap. Good for them. /1 https://t.co/fBVijKn4O0— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 24, 2019
If Pelosi said "Okay, one more day, for the transcript," the White House would go into full Barr trickster mode:— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 24, 2019
-Here's a partial.
-Here's some more, later.
-Oh. Redacted. Well, too bad.
-More? No. Sue us.
-Here's some less redacted.
They'd do this all the way to 2020.
/2
What Pelosi just said, of course, is that the transcript doesn't matter. Trump admitted it. The call itself is what matters. As is the pattern - as she notes - of Trump's constant abuse of power under his insane theory that Art II means God-like powers. /3— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 24, 2019
So, good for Pelosi and the Dems for not waiting to get buried under more dilatory obfuscation from Barr and the WH. "One more day" wasn't going to make the difference, and JPod and everyone else knows this. Let's get on with it. /4x— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 24, 2019
Who's the happiest Republican in all the land tonight? Mike Pence. Donald either will or won't be removed from office, there's a lot that has to play out before this is over. Still, Pence's dream (and goal) is a lot closer to happening now. My guess is that over at the Naval Observatory, the VP is practically slobbering with joy; Lawrence O'Donnell's tweet from last November is aging nicely:
It’s finally dawning on him who has the biggest incentive to see him impeached. https://t.co/0uvuNZ0ue3— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) November 16, 2018
Finally, at least for now, there's always, always a tweet:
looks like we’re about to find out! pic.twitter.com/xDCiDQj6xV— Rob Hoffman (@Rob_Hoffman) September 24, 2019
Update on Wednesday afternoon. Did Donald throw Mike Pence under the bus?
Trump says Congress should ask for VP Pence's conversations with Zelensky.— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) September 25, 2019
why is Trump throwing Pence under the bus? Trying to keep him quiet?— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 25, 2019
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