The White House Keeps Attacking Congresswoman Who Has Been Right All Along
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) took a victory lap in her feud with President …
The White House Keeps Attacking Congresswoman Who Has Been Right All Along
Calling Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) a liar keeps backfiring.
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) took a victory lap in her feud with President Donald Trump after the White House was caught falsely maligning her for the second time this week.
Twice
this week the White House accused Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) of
lying and each time the facts have vindicated her version of events.
Most
recently, evidence emerged disproving an accusation by White House
Chief of Staff John Kelly that Wilson had gloated over securing funds
for an FBI building in her district.
Earlier this week, Wilson escalated a political firestorm over President Donald Trump’s response to the deaths of four American military service members in Niger.
After bragging
of his willingness to call the families of fallen troops, Trump spoke
with the loved ones of the most recent casualties, including Myeshia
Johnson, the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, and a constituent of
Wilson’s.
Wilson,
who was with Johnson when Trump called and heard the conversation on
speakerphone, said Tuesday that Trump had told Johnson that her husband “must’ve known what he signed up for.” The comments during a condolence call, Wilson said, showed that Trump has “no feelings for anyone.”
Trump responded the following morning by alleging that Wilson “totally fabricated” the conversation and claiming he had “proof” that her version of events was not true.
Then, on Thursday, La David Johnson’s aunt Cowanda Jones-Johnson, who said she was also present during the call, corroborated Wilson’s version of events.
“Yes, the statement is true,” Jones-Johnson said. “I was in the car and I heard the full conversation.”
Caught
in a lie, the White House, which had never offered evidence to
contradict Wilson’s description, quickly shifted its public relations
strategy. In remarks to the White House press corps on Thursday, White
House Chief of Staff John Kelly suggested that Trump spoke appropriately.
Kelly, whose own son died serving in Afghanistan, recalled his son’s commanding officer saying something similar.
“He
knew what he was getting himself into,” Kelly said, quoting his son’s
commanding officer. “It was exactly where he wanted to be. That was the
message.”
But in keeping with Trump’s relentless combat with critics, Kelly could not resist taking another false potshot at Wilson.
As
part of a larger attempt to paint Wilson as a political showboat, Kelly
alleged that Wilson had taken credit for securing the federal funding
for the construction of a new FBI building in Miramar, Florida. Kelly
was present at the 2015 ceremony dedicating the building in his capacity
as head of the U.S. military’s Southern Command.
“A
congresswoman stood up, and in a long tradition of empty barrels making
the most noise, stood up there in all of that and talked about how she
was instrumental in getting the funding for that building, and how she
took care of her constituents because she got the money, and she just
called up President Obama, and on that phone call, he gave the money,
the $20 million, to build the building, and she sat down,” Kelly said.
Here too, Kelly was either gravely mistaken or deliberately lying.
The
legislation allotting the federal funds for the creation of the
building passed Congress in 2010, shortly before Wilson began her first
term in office, McClatchy reported on Friday.
Instead,
Wilson drew praise at the ceremony from Republican Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.) and then-FBI director James Comey for pushing
through legislation naming the buildings after two deceased FBI agents.
Wilson
during her ceremony speech took credit for ensuring that the buildings
were named after the agents, but not for securing the funding, according
to a video of the event obtained by the Sun-Sentinel.
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