No, Republicans weren't banned from the SCIF. No, Trump's lawyer wasn't banned from Judiciary. No, Democrats didn't take "33 days" to transmit the articles.
My fact check of false claims Trump's lawyers made yesterday on the Senate floor: cnn.com/2020/01/22/pol…
My fact check of false claims Trump's lawyers made yesterday on the Senate floor: cnn.com/2020/01/22/pol…
In addition to these three false claims, a Trump lawyer also suggested -- in language too confusing for me to call the claim false, so I went with misleading -- that Mueller's report concluded that there was "no obstruction." It explicitly did not come to that conclusion.
Trump lawyer also said "there was no quid pro quo for anything," since "security assistance funds aren't even mentioned on the call." Zelensky mentioned Javelins -- which weren't part of this batch of funds but are still key for Ukraine. Trump responded by asking for the "favor."
With no known recording, we're left with the rough transcript. Even Vindman, who testified some words were missing, says it's "very accurate" and "substantively correct." There are caveats, but I don't think it's flat false to say he released the call.
