Donald Trump’s effort to hang the Ukraine caper on a retiring Energy Sec Rick Perry ain’t going down like that….
President Trump told House Republicans that he made his now infamous phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the urging of Energy Secretary Rick Perry — a call Trump claimed he didn’t even want to make.
Behind the scenes: Trump made these comments during a conference call with House members on Friday, according to 3 sources on the call.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry denies ever mentioning the Bidens during discussions with Ukrainian officials or with President Trump, according to reports.
Perry’s name has come up in connection with the Trump-Ukraine phone call saga, after news outlet Axios reported that Trump told House Republicans he made the July phone call to the Ukrainian president based on Perry’s recommendation.
The controversy surrounding the call centers on allegations that Trump requested Ukraine officials investigate business dealings in the country by former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as part of a “quid pro quo” arrangement for Ukraine to secure U.S military funding.
Democrats have alleged that such an arrangement could be grounds for Trump’s impeachment. But some Republicans say Capitol Hill testimony last week by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Kurt Volker nullied any “quid pro quo” claim….
image…theatlantic.com
Bloomberg
@business
Years of loyalty to Donald Trump are no guarantee he’ll return the favor.
Just ask Rick Perry
Profit, not politics: Trump allies sought Ukraine gas deal
As Rudy Giuliani was pushing Ukrainian officials last spring to investigate one of Donald Trump’s main political rivals, a group of individuals with ties to the president and his personal lawyer were also active in the former Soviet republic.
Their aims were profit, not politics. This circle of businessmen and Republican donors touted connections to Giuliani and Trump while trying to install new management at the top of Ukraine’s massive state gas company. Their plan was to then steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies, according to two people with knowledge of their plans.
Their plan hit a snag after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lost his reelection bid to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose conversation with Trump about former Vice President Joe Biden is now at the center of the House impeachment inquiry of Trump.
But the effort to install a friendlier management team at the helm of the gas company, Naftogaz, would soon be taken up with Ukraine’s new president by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, whose slate of candidates included a fellow Texan who is one of Perry’s past political donors…
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