President Trump told Republicans that Energy Secretary Rick Perry encouraged him to have the phone call with Ukraine's president that flung his presidency into chaos.
During a conference call with GOP lawmakers in the House on Friday, Trump claimed he did not even want to have the July 25 conversation in which he urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rivals. A clash over a U.S. intelligence official's whistleblower complaint that raised concerns about this phone call paved the way for House Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry.
"Not a lot of people know this, but I didn't even want to make the call. The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to. Something about an LNG [liquified natural gas] plant," Trump said, according to the recollection of one source who spoke to Axios and was affirmed by two others.
Shaylyn Hynes, a spokeswoman to Perry, confirmed that Perry urged Trump to speak with Zelensky.
“Secretary Perry absolutely supported and encouraged the president to speak to the new president of Ukraine to discuss matters related to their energy security and economic development," Hynes said. "He continues to believe that there is significant need for improved regional energy security — which is exactly why he is heading to Lithuania tonight to meet with nearly 2 dozen European energy leaders (including Ukraine) on these issues."
In his phone call with House Republicans, Trump also said, "More of this will be coming out in the next few days."Read the rest of the story HERE.
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