[ad_1]
On CNN���s “State of the Union” this morning, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the President, would not say whether it was appropriate for President Trump to ask a foreign power to look into his political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Conway tried to invoke suspicions about the Bidens and said the former vice president should face scrutiny as he runs for president. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Joe or Hunter Biden. She also said Joe Biden is not a top political rival of Trump, bringing up an instance of Biden misspeaking on the campaign trail in Iowa.
When pressed further on the issue by host Dana Bash, Conway contended that asking a foreign leader to investigate a political rival is “not impeachable” and repeatedly denied that there was a quid pro quo related to Ukrainian military aid.
When asked about the US holding up military aid from Ukraine, Conway continually answered that Ukrainians now have aid from the US. However, when asked if there was a time when aid was held up because Trump wanted Ukraine to look into the Bidens, Conway answered “I don’t know, but I know they’ve got their aid.” Later in the exchange, Bash asked Conway point blank about a quid pro quo related to the military aid, to which Conway answered she didn’t know “whether aid was being held up or for how long.”
Conway denied that Trump’s assertion that “Never Trumpers” were “human scum” applied to Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, although the President has called Vindman a “Never Trumper.” Conway said she would “never disparage the patriotism or the public service” of Vindman, but then called his interpretation of the July 25 phone call into question.
Bash also asked Conway about newly released memos from the Mueller investigation obtained by CNN detailing former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort’s efforts to push a conspiracy blaming Ukraine for 2016 election hacking, despite the US intelligence community’s assessment that Russians were to blame.
Conway said she trusts US intelligence officials, but when asked by Bash if this means she thinks the Russians were responsible, Conway answered “who cares.”
As for the President’s beliefs on the matter, Conway repeated Trump’s rhetoric calling into question whether Russia, Ukraine, or a “guy in New Jersey” were responsible for “interference overall.” She later said the President “has great faith in the U.S. intelligence community” and did not go any further on whether Trump believes Russia was responsible for 2016 election interference.
Watch the moment:
[ad_2]
Source link