Rick Perry denies resignation reports while facing questions over Ukraine call

Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Monday denied rumors that he would resign amid allegations he played a role in the controversy surrounding President Trump and Ukrainian officials.
“No. I’m here, I’m serving," Perry said at a news conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, as Politico reported. “They’ve been writing the story for at least nine months now. One of these days they will probably get it right, but it’s not today, it’s not tomorrow, it’s not next month."
Politico had reported that Perry was expected to announce his resignation by the end of November.
A recent Axios report said Trump told House Republicans that he called Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July based on a recommendation by Perry. The issue centered on allegations that Trump pressured Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, over their business dealings in the country. Trump repeatedly has denied doing anything wrong.
The former Texas governor acknowledged pressing Trump to call Zelensky, has denied mentioning the Bidens to either leader.
“Absolutely, I asked the president multiple times, ‘Mr. President, we think it is in the United States’ and in Ukraine’s best interest that you and the president of Ukraine have conversations, that you discuss the options that are there,’” he said.
He also denied pressuring the Ukrainian government two appoint two American businessmen on the board of the state-owned gas company, Naftogaz. He did say he made some recommendations, but only at the behest of that country.

Don Lemon asks John Kasich if he's 'confused' about Ukraine call transcript in tense exchange

CNN anchor Don Lemon on Monday asked Ohio governor-turned-CNN commentator John Kasich if he was "confused" by the transcript of President Trump's call with the Ukrainian president and then went on to suggest that he's a Trump "apologist."
Lemon insisted that "anybody with half a brain" knows what Trump was saying to President Volodymyr Zelensky after reading the transcript and called it "obvious."
"Wait, wait, wait, you can't say stuff like that," Kasich reacted. "You can't say that."
"John, did you read the transcript?" Lemon asked.
"Yeah, I read the transcript," Kasich responded.
"Well, were you confused by what it meant?" Lemon shot back.
Kasich told Lemon that he "did not see a clear quid pro quo" but expressed his support for an investigation, but that apparently wasn't good enough for the CNN anchor.
"John, if you asked me to do something, if you said, 'Don, I need something from you' and I said to you, 'John, yes, but I need you to do me a favor though,' what does that mean?" Lemon pressed Kasich.
The former governor didn't directly answer him.
"Then you are doing exactly what the apologists are doing," Lemon said. "Then you are not helping people understand the real problem, then you are part of the problem."
Kasich, an outspoken Trump critic who never offered his endorsement during the 2016 election, warned Lemon if impeachment does not receive any support from Republican lawmakers, it will "not help this country."

Democrats may keep whistleblower identity from Republicans in Congress: report

House Democrats are reportedly considering steps to keep the whistleblower's identity from their Republican colleagues in order to prevent a loyalist to President Trump from leaking the whistleblower's identity to the public.
The Washington Post, citing three officials familiar with the discussions, reported that Democrats are considering the "extraordinary steps" that illustrate the toxic relationship between the country's two main political parties.
It was unclear how the whistleblower's identity would be kept from Republicans during the testimony. The whistleblower may testify from an undisclosed location and editing may be used to alter their face and voice.
"[Rep. Adam] Schiff does not want to burn his identity," a senior congressional official told the paper.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has vowed to expose anonymous whistleblowers against Trump if Democrats move forward with impeachment.
Protecting the whistleblower's identity has been a key issue in the impeachment investigation. Trump has been accused of withholding about $400 million in military aid from Ukraine in a pressure campaign to get Kiev to investigate the Bidens.
Trump has denied the allegations and released a reconstructed transcript of his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump and his lawyers claim the transcript offers vindication, but Democrats seized on the part where Trump tells Zelensky, “I would like you to do us a favor though.”
Trump has said he wants to meet the whistleblower. The whistleblower raised Republican suspicions when the person did not disclose contact with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s staff to the intelligence committee inspector general, sources told Fox News.
Sources told Fox News that ICIG Michael Atkinson revealed that the whistleblower voluntarily shared that he or she was a registered Democrat and had a prior working relationship with a prominent Democratic politician. 
Schiff’s office later acknowledged that the whistleblower had reached out to them before filing a complaint in mid-August, giving Democrats advance warning of the accusations that would lead them to launch an impeachment inquiry days later.
Schiff previously said that “we have not spoken directly to the whistleblower,” although his office later narrowed the claim, saying that Schiff himself "does not know the identity of the whistleblower, and has not met with or spoken with the whistleblower or their counsel" for any reason.
On Sept. 28, the law group representing the whistleblower—Compass Rose Legal Group—sent a letter to the acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire about the need to protect their client.
The letter said, in part, "The purpose of this letter is to formally notify you of serious concerns we have regarding our client’s personal safety. We appreciate your office’s support thus far to activate appropriate resources to ensure their safety."
The letter did not specify the "support" or "resources" that were offered.
The letter claimed that there's a $50,000 bounty for information about the client. The letter was signed by Andrew P. Bakaj, the lead attorney in the case.
An after-hours email from Fox News to Mark Zaid, another lawyer representing the whistleblower, was not immediately returned.
"As far as we are concerned, any meetings with the whistleblower and the intelligence oversight committees will have the same conditions from us for both Republicans and Democrats. We are not playing partisan games, and our primary concern is the protection of our client," Zaid told the paper earlier.
Fox News' Gregg Re and Catherine Herridge contributed to this report

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US troops start pullout from along Turkey’s border in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces said American troops began pulling back Monday from positions along the border in northeast Syria ahead of an expected Turkish invasion that the Syrian Kurds say will overturn five years of achievements in the battle against the Islamic State group.

The Syrian Kurdish fighters also accused Washington of failing to abide by its commitments to its key allies in the fight against IS. It’s a major shift in U.S. policy.

There was no immediate confirmation from the White House of U.S. troops clearing positions in areas in northern Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, also said American troops have started withdrawing from positions, and a video posted by a Kurdish news agency showed a convoy of American armored vehicles apparently heading away from the border area of Tal Abyad.

Erdogan spoke hours after the White House said U.S. forces in northeastern Syria will move aside and clear the way for an expected Turkish assault — essentially abandoning Kurdish fighters who fought alongside American forces in the yearslong battle to defeat the Islamic State group.

Erdogan didn’t elaborate on the planned Turkish incursion but said Turkey was determined to halt what it perceives as threats from the Syrian Kurdish fighters.

Erdogan has threatened for months to launch the military operation across the border. He views the Syria Kurdish forces as a threat to his country as Ankara has struggled with a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.

In the U.S., Republicans and Democrats have warned that allowing the Turkish attack could lead to a massacre of the Kurds and send a troubling message to American allies across the globe.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, as the Kurdish-led force is known, said the American pullout began first from areas along the Syria-Turkey border.

“The American forces did not abide by their commitments and withdrew their forces along the border with Turkey,” the SDF said in its statement. “Turkey now is preparing to invade northern and eastern parts of Syria.”

“The Turkish military operation in northern and eastern Syria will have a huge negative effect on our war against” IS, it added.

In an agreement between Ankara and Washington, joint patrols had been patrolling a security zone that covers over 125 kilometers (78 miles) along the border between the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn. The SDF had removed fortification from the areas, considered by Turkey as a threat, and retreated heavy weapons. Meanwhile, U.S. and Turkish began joint aerial and ground patrols of the area.

But Turkey and the U.S. disagreed over the depth of the zone, with Ankara seeking to also have its troops monitor a stretch of territory between 30 and 40 kilometers deep (19 to 25 miles). Despite the agreement, Erdogan had continued to threaten an attack.

The Kurdish-led fighters have been the main U.S.-backed force in Syria in the fight against IS and in March, the group captured the last sliver of land held by the extremists, marking the end of the so-called caliphate that was declared by IS’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014.

“We will not hesitate for a moment in defending our people” against Turkish troops, the Syrian Kurdish force said, adding that it has lost 11,000 fighters in the war against IS in Syria.

A Turkish attack would lead to a resurgence of IS, it said. IS sleeper cells are already plotting to break free some 12,000 militants detained by Syrian Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria in a “threat to local & international security.”

The Kurdish fighters also control the al-Hol camp, home to more than 70,000 including at least 9,000 foreigners, mostly wives and children of IS fighters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted that since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, “we have supported the territorial integrity of this country, and we will continue to support it.”

He added that Ankara is determined to ensure the survival and security of Turkey “by clearing the region from terrorists. We will contribute to peace, peace and stability in Syria.”

The Syrian Kurdish Hawar news agency and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also say American troops were evacuating positions near the towns of Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad on Monday.

___

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed to this report from Ankara, Turkey.

Ever since impeachment inquiry was announced, it's been getting crazier out there

“Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?” – Arthur Fleck, portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, in “Joker”
There haven’t been any missing 18-and-a-half minutes from White House audio recordings. Yet.
However, we have “notes” or a “transcript” of a call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky. There’s a suggestion that the information isn’t complete due to ellipses in the log of the call.
No one is lurking around after hours in a trench coat in a parking garage in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, VA.
But there is the cryptic character, known simply as “the whistleblower.” This is the figure who purportedly ratted out the President’s remarks to Zelensky to intelligence community Inspector General Mike Atkinson. Atkinson deemed the whistleblower complaint “urgent” and “credible.”
That was the prime mover in this entire episode. The whistleblower is “patient zero” in this impeachment contagion, setting all events in motion. Now there appears to be a second whistleblower.
Lawmakers want to talk with the whistleblower. Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) had contact with the whistleblower in July. President Trump believes he has a right to face “his accuser.” Some Republicans question whether Schiff and Atkinson handled the whistleblower complaint properly. Schiff’s credibility came into question after he denied having spoken with the whistleblower. And, we’ve learned that the whistleblower may have Democratic ties. All of this presented Mr. Trump and his defenders on Capitol Hill fodder to question the reliability of both the whistleblower and Schiff. Moreover, there’s internecine Republican fighting about the appropriate strategy to stand up for the President. Some rank-and-file GOPers have quietly attacked House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced the House was initiating a formal impeachment probe in late September. And ever since, Washington devolved into a cycle of news reserved for the start of the Iraq war, 9/11, the impeachment of President Clinton and the start of the Gulf War. Squadrons of television cameras are parked outside the House Intelligence Committees – and will be for the near future as the House begins preparing its case to potentially impeach the President. It made no difference that Congress was supposed to be on a recess last week – and is on recess this week.
“I don’t think we’re going to get any break,” said Schiff as he walked slowly through the tunnel leading from the Capitol to the Cannon House Office Building late Friday after a seven-and-a-half hour session with Atkinson. “Which means you’re not going to get any break, either.”
In other words, it’s getting crazier out there.
It was significant that Pelosi held a rare press conference in the middle of the recess alongside Schiff on Capitol Hill last week. Pelosi’s appearance with Schiff says a lot about where the House inquest is headed. There’s been some tension between the Speaker and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) over impeachment. But Schiff’s presence is crucial. The Intelligence Committee is now taking control of this. Granted, the Judiciary panel will in fact ultimately craft prospective articles of impeachment. But those writs will stem from what Pelosi and Schiff do.
Tracking Pelosi and who is in her inner orbit involves a bit of Kremlinology. Western journalists covering the Soviet Union always watched who was seated next to the General Secretary at the May Day Parade in Moscow. Whoever was close to Leonid Brezhnev, Konstantin Chernenko or Mikhail Gorbachev would tell you a lot about their status inside the Kremlin. Their absence revealed a lot, too.
The same is true with Pelosi. Schiff was present with Pelosi. Nadler was not.
Republicans are now carping that the House impeachment investigation isn’t legitimate because the full House never conducted a vote to initiate such an inquiry. The entire House voted to take on impeachment in the cases of President Richard Nixon in 1974 and President Clinton in 1998. But the Constitution is pretty vague when it comes to what the House has to do with impeachment. All Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution says is that the House “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment."
Republicans would love for the House to conduct a formal roll call vote about impeachment (note, this is separate from actually voting to impeach the President). The GOP would then have lots of vulnerable House Democrats on the record, documented in a vote. The GOP would then weaponize that vote against those Democrats who represent competitive districts.
The entire impeachment question may hinge on a single word: “though.” When asked if he had a relationship with Monica Lewinsky, during his 1998 videotaped grand jury deposition in 1998, President Clinton replied “it depends upon what the meaning of the word ‘is” is.” President Trump told Zelensky “I would like you to do us a favor, though.”
“Though” could imply the conditional demand for a exchange. In other words, I’ll do X if you do Y.
The word “though” tripped up McCarthy last week during his appearance on CBS’s 60 Minutes. McCarthy suggested that reporter Scott Pelley added the word “though” when asked about the call notes. That was not the case.
Congress continues its two-plus week recess. Impeachment will truly intensify once lawmakers return to Washington early next week. But two constants remain: Democrats are steeled in their resolve to impeach Mr. Trump. And, there is little diminution in support for the President among Congressional Republicans.
Some Congressional Republicans fear retribution from the President. That’s why they exhibit fealty to Mr. Trump. Some political analysts will point to a dozen Republican senators and a few in the House who have voted against the President to terminate his national emergency declaration for the border wall. But it’s wrong to perceive those Republican defections as a softening of GOP support for the President. Republicans know there aren’t enough votes to override President Trump’s vetoes of these measures. So, they’re willing to vote their conscience.
This is why President Trump enjoys a GOP firewall when it comes to a Senate impeachment trial. It takes 67 votes to convict during a Senate trial. It’s hard to believe that 20 Republicans would join all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats to convict. In fact, it’s far from assured that all 47 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus would vote to convict.
The dam will only break among Congressional Republicans if they start to see their positions weaken because of their defense of President Trump.
On August 7, 1974, Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott (R-PA), House Minority Leader John Rhodes (R-AZ) and Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) paid President Nixon a visit. The story goes that they told Nixon his presidency was doomed and he would face conviction in the Senate. They contend they said no such thing. But history seems to have exaggerated what the trio told Nixon. Perhaps he already knew. Nixon quit two days later.
Support for President Trump remains high now among Congressional Republicans. One could even see a scenario where a team of Republicans could visit the White House to encourage Mr. Trump to fight impeachment.
Impeachment is just beginning. There’s a long way to go.
No. It’s not you. Things are getting crazier out there.

Trump calls for Pelosi, Schiff impeachment over whistleblower actions

President Trump on Sunday tweeted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., should be impeached over their handling of the whistleblower investigation.
Trump said Pelosi was aware of "Shifty Adam Schiff" and his "massive frauds perpetrated upon Congress and the American people.” Trump pointed to Schiff's “parody” speech in Congress. Pelosi defended the speech and called it “fair.”
Trump was also apparently alluding to reports that Schiff's false earlier claim that the unnamed whistleblower did not speak to his committee.
Schiff read a dramatization of Trump's July 25 call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire's hearing last week. Schiff, the chairman of the House Intellegence Committee, improvised parts of the transcript for effect and framed it as satire.
Trump has been under an impeachment investigation over his interaction Zelensky after it was revealed that he requested that Kiev investigate the Bidens.
Trump said his call with Zelensky was "perfect." Zelensky said he felt no pressure.
But Democrats—led by Schiff—claim Trump withheld essential military funding from Kiev as part of quid pro quo to get dirt on a political opponent.
Trump is attempting to frame the probe as another “witch hunt” and has pointed to the Mueller investigation as an example of an earlier Democratic fishing expedition.
“Nancy Pelosi knew of all the many Shifty Adam Schiff lies and massive frauds perpetrated upon Congress and the American people, in the form of a fraudulent speech knowingly delivered as ruthless con, and the illegal meetings with highly partisan “whistleblower” & lawyer," he tweeted. "This makes Nervous Nancy every bit as guilty as Liddle’ Adam Schiff for High Crimes and Misdemeanors, even Treason. I guess that means that they, along with all of those that evilly “colluded” with them, must all be immediately impeached!”
Trump has recently also called for the impeachment of Sen. Mitt Romney.
Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution allows both the House and Senate to set its own rules. No lawmaker may be “impeached.”
It states that either body may expel a member, provided there is a 2/3 vote. The House has only expelled five members in history. The Senate has expelled 15. The President has no role in the matter as the legislative branch is in control of its own members.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report

Turkey announces incursion of northeast Syria, US-backed Kurds have vowed ‘all-out’ war

The White House announced late Sunday that Turkey will soon move forward with its planned military operation in northeast Syria in an area where U.S. troops have been deployed and operating with Kurdish-led forces.
The U.S. will not be involved in the operation, the White House said. President Trump spoke with Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan by telephone. U.S. troops will be moved from the area.
"The United States will not hold them for what could be many years and great cost to the United States taxpayer," the statement read. "Turkey will now be responsible for all ISIS fighters in the area captured over the past two years in the wake of the territorial “Caliphate” by the United States."
Hours after the announcement, Kurdish-led forces in Syria reported that American troops have begun withdrawing from areas along Turkey's border.
The White House announcement comes less than a week after Gen. Mark Milley became the U.S. military’s top officer—chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—replacing Gen. Joe Dunford and more than two months after Defense Secretary Mark Esper was sworn in after Jim Mattis resigned in December over the president’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria.
Erdogan said his country has given enough warning and have “acted with enough patience.” Erdogan has expressed frustration with Washington’s support for Kurdish groups in Syria.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said it is committed to the agreement between Turkey and the U.S. to preserve stability in the region.
"However, we will not hesitate to turn any unprovoked attack by Turkey into an all-out war on the entire border to DEFEND ourselves and our people," SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali tweeted a day earlier.
Many took to social media to criticize the White House's decision and said the U.S. is essentially abandoning the Kurds. The Syrian Democratic Forces say over 11,000 of their fighters were killed and 21,000 were wounded fighting ISIS.
Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., an Iraq war veteran, said on Twitter, "Allowing Turkey to move into northern Syria is one of the most destabilizing moves we can do in the Middle East. The Kurds will never trust America again. They will look for new alliances or independence to protect themselves."
Turkey views the People's Protection Units, or YPG, as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged an insurgency against Turkey for 35 years.
Ankara and Washington consider the PKK a terror group but they diverge on the issue of the YPG, which forms the core of U.S.-backed Syrian forces against ISIS and is loosely linked with the SDF.
The Associated Press contributed to this report