Thread by @MatthewBoedy

Another day, another factually inaccurate oped in @Newsweek from @charliekirk11, president of Turning Point USA. The errors I lay out in this thread I have reported to Newsweek as part of a needed correction. 1/ newsweek.com/pelosis-no-evi…

1. The "fake Russian dossier" is not fake. It is real. It is also not Russian, but created by a former British spy. 2/ nytimes.com/2017/10/25/us/…

2. Kirk writes: “a newly amended whistleblower statute that no longer requires firsthand knowledge of an event (a statute that was conveniently amended...)" That has been debunked. 3/
factcheck.org/2019/10/no-hea…

3. Kirk writes: “Complaint drafted by a team of lawyers:” Here Kirk links to a Breitbart article claim that has been debunked. ABC News quotes whistle blower attorneys: “The Whistleblower drafted the Complaint entirely on their own."
4/ abcnews.go.com/Politics/whist…

4. Kirk calls it a “transcript” of the call. This is at best misleading. The document itself says it is a “memorandum” that is “not a verbatim transcript.” The link Kirk provides from CBS calls it a “summary.” Other media call it a “rough transcript.” 5/

5. Kirk writes: “A release of the transcript of the phone call in question shows that what the alleged whistleblower contended happened did not in fact happen. There was no quid pro quo, there was no withholding of aid.” First, the whistle blower is not “alleged.” 6/

That Latin phrase is never used. The complaint’s signature claim is the president was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.” The complaint never made claim about withholding aid. Facts are given about aid. 7/

So then the complaint never argues or claims that withholding of aid is part of a quid pro quo. The call summary says the Ukraine president mentioned aid and then Trump asked for that “favor.” If anything, from the complaint, a meeting with Trump was part of a deal. /end