Trump made the comments on a conference call with House members on Friday, according to 3 sources on the call.
*Per the sources, Trump rattled off the same things he has been saying publicly — that his call with Zelensky was “perfect” and he did nothing wrong.
*But he then threw Perry into the mix and said something to the effect of: “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 [liquefied natural gas] plant,” one source said, recalling the president’s comments. Two other sources confirmed the first source’s recollection.
Apparently, Trump is trying his best to distance himself from the whole Ukraine mess, even as the noose of impeachment begins to tighten.
Another source who was supposedly in on the conference call says that Trump added that “more of this will be coming out in the next few days” — referring to Perry, per Axios.
The Guardian is reporting that Perry had urged Trump to speak with Ukraine about natural gas but not about the Bidens or any conspiracy theory about Ukrainian election tampering, which were the topics Trump raised on the July call.
All this brings into question just how much is true about the media-stir caused two days ago when it was announced that Perry was resigning as Secretary of Energy by the end of this year. At the time, two people familiar with Perry’s plans say the Ukraine scandal was unrelated to Perry’s departure.
One thing is certain – The public will have to look at the president’s allegations against Perry closely and with an open mind. Keep in mind that Trump has painted himself into a corner and he has shown he is more than willing to spread the blame, especially to his closest advisors and cabinet members, if necessary.
“Lesson to all of you Trump aides,” tweeted Neera Tanden, president of the liberal Center for American Progress, “he’s taking you all down with him so you might as well get off the boat while you can.”
