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Pelosi Pulls a Schiff, Twists Quote from Trump-Ukraine Transcript While Addressing the House

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It was a fitting coda to the House’s time with the impeachment inquiry and vote. It began with a kerfuffle over dubious liberties taken with quotes. It ended with one, too.

This time, the quotes came from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The speaker was seeing the articles of impeachment off to the Senate like a proud parent sending children off to college after raising them for 18 years, except she’d only raised the articles for roughly four months and was sending them off to die in the upper chamber.

Regardless, it was time to hammer home her point one last time from the floor of the House.

She did it, in part, by altering a key word in a quote from the rough transcript of President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that changed the meaning entirely.

“‘Do me a favor,'” Pelosi said, passing that line off as part of the president’s call.

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“‘Do me a favor?'” she repeated, this time in a more sarcastic tone. “Do you paint houses, too? What is this, ‘Do me a favor?'”

Pelosi’s line was a reference to the Oscar-nominated movie “The Irishman,” where “paint houses” is used as a euphemism for killing-for-hire. (It’s based on a book called “I Heard You Paint Houses.”)

Zelensky was a well-known comedian and television star (who played an average joe who manages to become president of Ukraine, either presaging or setting the stage for his actual career trajectory). That’s not exactly the background for an organized-crime hit man.

Beyond Pelosi’s ludicrous words about house-painting was a deeper problem: She didn’t say what Trump said.

Here was the original line from the rough transcript of Trump’s call with Zelensky: “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.”

The excerpt was from the portion of the call where Trump asked Zelensky to look into the Ukrainian connections of Crowdstrike, the cybersecurity firm that the Democratic National Committee used to investigate its email hack during the 2016 election.

The context here is significantly different from “do me a favor.” “Me,” obviously, has one context: The favor is for Trump. By saying “us,” the probable context is that favor is for the United States, something which is reinforced by the part about “our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.”

This isn’t to pass judgment on the soundness of the Crowdstrike/Ukraine theory — it’s not the strongest piece of work I’ve ever seen — but rather to discuss the motives behind Trump’s words. It’s clear from the call that Trump is telling Zelensky this is a priority for the United States government, not him. Pelosi, meanwhile, is saying the exact opposite — which may be her interpretation of the facts, but it’s definitely not what’s in the transcript.

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But when the transcript doesn’t match up, why not just take out your editor’s pen and change one key word?

The incident brought back echoes of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s “parody” of Trump’s call with Zelensky from the earliest days of the inquiry back in September.

This is what tbe California Democrat said was the “essence” of Trump’s call: “We’ve been very good to your country, very good. No other country has done as much as we have. But you know what? I don’t see much reciprocity here. I hear what you want.

Do you think President Trump will be convicted in his impeachment trial?

“I have a favor I want from you though,” he continued. “And I’m going to say this only seven times so you better listen good. I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand. Lots of it. On this and on that.

“I’m going to put you in touch with people, not just any people, I am going to put you in touch with the attorney general of the United States, my Attorney General Bill Barr. He’s got the whole weight of the American law enforcement behind him. And I’m going to put you in touch with Rudy. You’re going to love him. Trust me. You know what I’m asking. And so I’m only going to say this a few more times. In a few more ways. And by the way, don’t call me again. I’ll call you when you’ve done what I asked.”

After the remarks garnered outrage, Schiff maintained they were a “parody.” They certainly evince a willingness to go over the top, but Schiff made it clear this was the “essence” of what Trump said.

One Twitter user noted the parallels between Schiff’s September remarks and what Pelosi had to say on Wednesday:

And, for all intents and purposes, she did. There’s little outrage over this. Don’t bother looking for it.

As it began, so it ended. Now it goes to the upper house, where the process won’t be nearly as kind to the Democrats.

See you in the Senate, folks.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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