Mornings on the Mall

Monday, October 21, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Legal analyst Joe diGenova, WMAL’s Redskins Analyst Trevor Matich, Kim Strassel and ESPN’s Carol Maloney joined WMAL on Monday!

5am – A/B/C HUNTER BIDEN NEWS:

• WAPO: Diplomat tells investigators he raised alarms in 2015 about Hunter Biden’s Ukraine work but was rebuffed.   A career State Department official overseeing Ukraine policy told congressional investigators this week that he had raised concerns in early 2015 about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company but was turned away by a Biden staffer, according to three people familiar with the testimony.  George Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state, testified Tuesday that he worried that Hunter Biden’s position at the firm Burisma Holdings would complicate efforts by U.S. diplomats to convey to Ukrainian officials the importance of avoiding conflicts of interest, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality rules surrounding the deposition. Kent said he had concerns that Ukrainian officials would view Hunter Biden as a conduit for currying influence with his father, said the people. But when Kent raised the issue with Biden’s office, he was told the then-vice president didn’t have the “bandwidth” to deal with the issue involving his son as his other son, Beau, was battling cancer, said the people familiar with his testimony.
• Top Diplomat Testified That Obama Admin, Not International Community, Orchestrated Ukraine Prosecutor’s Firing. (The Federalist/Sean Davis) – The Obama administration, not the international community, orchestrated the ouster of a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating a company connected to Joe Biden’s son, a top diplomat testified to Congress yesterday.A top U.S. diplomat and expert on Ukraine testified to Congress yesterday that the Obama administration — with former Vice President Joe Biden as its point man — orchestrated the firing of the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating a company connected to the Biden family, sources familiar with the testimony told The Federalist.The testimony of George Kent, a State Department official who works on the agency’s Ukraine portfolio, directly contradicts claims that the Obama administration was merely following the lead of the so-called international community in demanding the firing of Viktor Shokin, a controversial Ukrainian prosecutor who was reportedly investigating Burisma, a global energy company long suspected of corruption and money laundering. In 2014, Burisma paid Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, tens of thousands of dollars to sit on its board despite the younger Biden’s complete lack of expertise or professional experience running a multi-national oil and gas concern. Kent told lawmakers on Tuesday that the Obama administration spearheaded the efforts to have Shokin removed from his position as the top federal prosecutor in Ukraine. Kent said the international community — namely the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Western nations within the European Union — were deferential to U.S. directives on the matter. At a 2018 event organized by the Council on Foreign Relations, Joe Biden — who was tasked by then-President Barack Obama to lead the U.S. government’s efforts in Ukraine — bragged about threatening to withhold a billion-dollar loan guarantee if the Ukrainian government refused to fire Shokin.
• What Hunter Biden did on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. KIEV (Reuters) – During his time on the board of one of Ukraine’s largest natural gas companies, Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, was regarded as a helpful non-executive director with a powerful name, according to people familiar with Biden’s role at the company.  All told, the Ukraine company paid $3.4 million to Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC, a company headed by Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer, The National Review reported. Between April 2014 and November 2015, Biden and Archer each received monthly payments of $83,333 for “consulting services.”

5am – D         Trump reverses course and says his Florida resort won’t be used for G7 summit. Trump Announces He Won’t Host G7 Summit At Doral Resort. Responding to stinging criticism, President Trump has reversed his plan to hold next year’s G-7 Summit at his Doral golf resort in Florida. The President announced a rare backtrack Saturday night after facing accusations that he was using the presidency to enrich himself by hosting the international summit at the private resort owned by his family. Via Twitter, Trump said his administration “will begin the search for another site, including the possibility of Camp David, immediately.”

5am – E         State Department report on Clinton emails finds hundreds of violations, dozens of individuals at fault. (Fox News) – A State Department report into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for government business, obtained by Fox News on Friday, found dozens of individuals at fault and hundreds of security violations. The report summarized an administrative review of the handling of classified information relating to Clinton’s private email server used during her tenure as the nation’s highest-ranking diplomat between 2009 and 2013. The report, dated Sept. 13., was delivered to the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., who was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee until last year. The report reflected only approximately 30,000 emails that the State Department was able to physically review, and found 38 individuals were responsible for 91 violations. Another 497 violations were also found, although the report was not able to assign responsibility in those cases, in part because many of those involved had already left the department during the time it took to receive the emails and review them. The report described an investigation fraught with obstacles — including delays — employees who left the department and more than 30,000 deleted records.

6am – A/B/C TULSI vs HILLARY:

• IN A PODCAST INTERVIEW: Hillary Clinton is now promoting the conspiracy theory that Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset, saying the Russians “got their eye on” and are “grooming” her.
• TRUMP: “So now Crooked Hillary is at it again! She is calling Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard ‘a Russian favorite,’ and Jill Stein ‘a Russian asset.'”: Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Crooked Hillary Clinton just called the respected environmentalist and Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, a “Russian Asset.” They need a Green Party more than ever after looking at the Democrats disastrous environmental program! 3:47 PM · Oct 19, 2019
• TULSI RESPONDS:  Tulsi Gabbard @TulsiGabbard: Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a … concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and … powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.
• Tulsi Gabbard was on Tucker: Hillary is doing this because she knows she can’t control me.
• Tulsi on Tucker calls on everyone to join her campaign if they are sick of Hillary’s warmongering.
• In a Twitter video, Tulsi Gabbard: Hillary & her gang of rich, powerful elite are going after me to send a msg to YOU: “Shut up, toe the line, or be destroyed.” But we, the people, will NOT be silenced. Join me in taking our Democratic Party back & leading a govt of, by & for the people!
• Van Jones: Hillary Clinton Is ‘Playing A Very Dangerous Game’ With Gabbard Criticism:  “She’s playing a very dangerous game,” Jones told CNN anchor Erin Burnett. “If you’re concerned about disinformation, what the Russians do is spread disinformation, get people divided against each other. That is what just happened, just throw out some information, disinformation, smear somebody. She is Hillary Clinton. She’s a legend. She’s going to be in the history books, she’s a former nominee of our party, and she just came out against a sitting U.S. congresswoman, a decorated war veteran, and somebody who’s running for the nomination of our party with just a complete smear and no facts.” Jones referenced the “back story” of Gabbard being picked by the Democratic Party establishment, then rejecting her DNC position after seeing the Clinton allies “doing stuff they shouldn’t have been doing in the primary.” Gabbard eventually endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016 and “it’s been payback hell ever since.”
• CNN’s Dan Merica cites anonymous “experts” to claim Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign is “trumpeted by bots and trolls on Twitter that do have ties to Russia” and justifies Hillary’s smear because “she’s a former secretary of state” who “thinks 2020 is so important”.
• Very serious MSNBC panel saying Rep. Tulsi Gabbard never denied being a Russian asset.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – TREVOR MATICH – WMAL’s Redskins Analyst – discussed the key moments from Redskins’ 9-0 loss to the 49ers at rain-soaked FedEx Field.

• Final: 49ers 9, Redskins 0:
  • In windy and rainy conditions at FedEx Field, the Redskins fell to 1-6 after being shut out for the first time since Week 17 of last season.
  • San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was only 3 for 10 for 10 yards at halftime. He finished 12 for 21 for 151 yards and one interception.
  • Case Keenum completed 9 of 13 passes for 77 yards for the Redskins, who managed only 154 yards of total offense.
  • Adrian Peterson had 20 carries for 81 yards, but also committed a costly fumble in the third quarter with the Redskins driving for a potential go-ahead score.
  • San Francisco improved to 6-0 for the first time since 1990.

6am – E         Social media responds to Mitt Romney’s apparent Pierre Delecto Twitter account. (Fox News) — Sen. Mitt Romney, one of President Trump’s top Republican critics, on Sunday appeared to confirm the existence of a shadow Twitter account with the handle @qaws9876 with the name Pierre Delecto. A writer for the Atlantic, who just wrote a profile on the Utah Republican and his tense relationship with the president, asked Romney about the mystery Twitter account. He said Romney responded in the affirmative: “C’est moi.”

McKay Coppins @mckaycoppins Just spoke to @MittRomney on the phone, and asked him about Pierre Delecto. His only response: “C’est moi.” Updated my story accordingly.

The Twitter account does not have a profile or banner picture and is locked. The account follows 702 users and has 1,173 followers. The Washington Examiner reported that the account does not follow Trump’s account. Many took to social media to make fun of the name, which reminded users of the Anthony Weiner saga with Carlos Danger. Seth Abramson, a writer for Newsweek, took to Twitter to joke, “Stop me if you heard this one: Pierre Delecto, Carlos Danger and John Barron walk into a bar…”

6am – F         Congratulations to our friend, Mary Katharine Ham, on her engagement!

• CNN contributor and former WMAL morning show host Mary Katharine Ham posted a video of her engagement this weekend in Topanga, California.  She mourned the tragedy of losing her husband Jake in 2015 and has been raising two little girls all by herself. We are so thankful that she has found someone special to love and to be there for her family.  God bless, MK, and this special man in her life.
• In this video, you see Mary Katharine Ham and her special guy walk up to a beautiful view in Topanga, California.  While MK is taking a photo of the view, her guy gets down on one knee and she turns around in surprise to see him proposing. Her response is classic MK:

SHUT YER MOUTH. 💍😍😂 pic.twitter.com/0FxXWgR59L

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) October 19, 2019

7am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia – discussed the latest impeachment efforts, Ukraine, IG report and efforts to go after Rudy Giuliani. 

7am – D/E     BERNIE’S RALLY:

• BERNIE’S BACK! Jane Sanders speaks at #BerniesBack Rally: “I’m here to tell you that Bernie’s back and he’s healthy and he’s more than ready to continue his lifelong strong to fight for the working people of America.”
• SCARY: Bernie Sanders Expresses Intention to ‘Create a New America.’ Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told attendees of his “Bernie’s Back Rally” in New York on Saturday that his movement aims to not only TRANSFORM the U.S. but “CREATE A NEW AMERICA” altogether.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders: “The question that we have got to answer together is are we prepared to stand up to them and TRANFORM this country?”
• AOC AT BERNIE’S RALLY:
  • AOC introduces BERNIE SANDERS to the stage: He’s Mi Tio!
  • Ocasio-Cortez: “We need an, uh, uh, a United States that really, truly, and authentically, is operated, owned, and decided by … all people in the United States of America”
    • NOTE: AOC is essentially suggesting that property should be public property. That is a core belief of communism
  • AOC says Bernie Sanders gave her “inherent value as a human being” and suggests the government should provide everyone “healthcare, housing, education, and a living wage”
    • NOTE: This is communism because what she’s saying is that the government must provide for all of everyone’s needs
  • AOC calls for “publicly owned” and run health care and education so that we have more freedom over our lives than the private sector provides.
  • AOC on her family moving from the Bronx to Westchester so she would receive a better education: “That’s when I got my first taste of a country who allows their kids’ destiny to be determined by the zip code that they are born in.”
  • BETSY DEVOS RESPONDS TO AOC: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos @BetsyDeVosED Picking the best school for you is called school choice. Glad your family had an option, @aoc. Now let’s help every child! #EducationFreedom

8am – A         CONGRESS NEWS:

• Rand Paul Confronted In California Restaurant: ‘We’re Not Putting Up With Your Republican Bulls**t!‘ (Daily Caller) — Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and a senior staffer were confronted by two people while eating lunch in a California restaurant Friday. While one seemed calm and interested in a discussion, the other quickly took things to another level. Paul’s deputy chief of staff, Sergio Gor, posted a short video of part of the interaction on Twitter. “While having lunch with @RandPaul in California, we got verbally assaulted by these aggressive libs complaining about incivility,” Gor wrote Friday evening. “Check out the vid! #unhinged.” The beginning of the video shows a man talking calmly and insisting he’s “not being rude” and that he has “a right to speak” to Paul because the senator is a public official. A woman can be seen recording with her phone, then making a gesture before shouting, “You just ran into two people from New York, kiddo, and we’re not putting up with your Republican bullshit!” Meanwhile, the man tries to continue the conversation: “All I am saying is that while you and I possibly, probably, don’t have much in common politically, alright? We are Americans.”  The short video does not show the beginning or the end of the conversation. Paul responded Friday night via Twitter, contrasting the “incivility” blamed on President Trump with what was witnessed at the restaurant.  Senator Rand Paul @RandPaul The left blames incivility on @realDonaldTrump. Watch this video and decide who the rude ones are…
• CUMMINGS SIGNING IMPEACHMENT SUBPOENAS ON HIS DEATH BED: The late Elijah Cummings, a key player in the Trump impeachment inquiry, was signing subpoenas from his hospital bed. (BusinessInsider) – Aides to the late Rep. Elijah Cummings said that the congressman was active until his death, helping lead a Democratic caucus conference call and signing subpoenas from his hospital bed, The New York Times’ Sheryl Gay Stolberg reported. As chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Cummings led the charge on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump that began three weeks ago. He died early Thursday morning at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore at 68 years old, his office said. Cummings, a civil rights icon, represented Maryland’s 7th congressional district, serving 12 consecutive terms beginning in 1996. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who launched the impeachment inquiry alongside the chairman, said she was devastated by his loss, calling him her friend and her “brother in Baltimore,” as he represented the district where she grew up. The Maryland Democrat was also a fierce opponent to President Donald Trump. After taking the reins of the House Oversight Committee he launched investigations into the president’s dealings in Russia, his hotel in DC, the emoluments clause, and security clearances in the White House.
• CUMMINGS WIDOW MAY RUN FOR HIS SEAT: Elijah Cummings’ widow expected to run for his House seat: report. (Fox 5 DC) — BALTIMORE – Maya Rockeymoore, widow of Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party, is expected to run for her late husband’s House seat, according to a report. Rockeymoore has not yet said whether she plans to run, The Washington Examiner reported. The Maryland Democratic Party released a statement that Rockeymoore would not be making announcements while she grieves.

8am – B/C     TULSI VS HILLARY:

• IN A PODCAST INTERVIEW: Hillary Clinton is now promoting the conspiracy theory that Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset, saying the Russians “got their eye on” and are “grooming” her.
• TULSI RESPONDS: Tulsi Gabbard @TulsiGabbard: Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a …  … concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and …  … powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – KIMBERLY STRASSEL – Wall Street Journal columnist and author of new book “Resistance (At All Costs): How Trump Haters Are Breaking America” – discussed her new book.

• ABOUT HER NEW BOOK:  “Resistance (At All Costs): How Trump Haters Are Breaking America”: Wall Street Journal columnist and bestselling author Kim Strassel argues how the all-out “Resistance” has become dangerously reckless in its obstruction of President Trump. Among the most consistent and aggressive criticisms of Donald Trump is that he is a threat to American democracy — a human wrecking ball demolishing our most basic values and institutions. Resistance (At All Costs) makes the opposite case — that it is Trump’s critics, in their zeal to oppose the president, who are undermining our foundations. From the FBI’s unprecedented counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, to bureaucratic sabotage, to media partisanship, to the drive-by character assassination of Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the president’s foes have thrown aside norms, due process and the rule of law. Resistance (At All Costs) shows that the reaction to Trump will prove far more consequential and damaging to our nation long-term than Trump’s time in office. https://www.amazon.com/Resistance-At-All-Costs-Breaking/dp/1538701774

8am – E         INTERVIEW – Carol Maloney – host of Carol Maloney Show on ESPN 630  (in studio)

• WORLD SERIES SET: NATS VS ASTROS: 2019 World Series Matchup Set: It’ll Be The Houston Astros Vs. Washington Nationals Starting Tuesday. First pitch for the World Series on Tuesday is at 8:08 PM ET, with broadcasting on Fox and ESPN 630. Houston had a tough series and beat the Yankees in six games, while Washington breezed past the St. Louis Cardinals, sweeping them. Both teams have outstanding starting pitching, making it likely that the Series will see some tight games. The Houston Astros are sending Gerrit Cole to the mound for the opener, with the equally formidable Washington Nationals matching up with Max Scherzer. Cole was scheduled to appear in a potential Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, but Altuve’s home run ended that need. The Nationals have been off for a week following their National League Championship Series sweep.
• WATCH PARTIES: Nationals to hold free World Series watch parties for Games 1 and 2 at Nats Park, rain or shine. The parties will be at Nationals Park on Oct.22 and Oct. 23, with gates opening at 7:00 p.m. Admission is free.