Tag: Secretary Perry

Scoop: Trump pins Ukraine call on Energy Secretary Rick Perry U.S. President Donald Trump stands next to Energy Secretary Rick Perry

Axios logoPresident Trump told House Republicans that he made his now infamous phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the urging of Energy Secretary Rick Perry — a call Trump claimed he didn’t even want to make.

Behind the scenes: Trump made these comments during a conference call with House members on Friday, according to 3 sources on the call.

    • Per the sources, Trump rattled off the same things he has been saying publicly — that his call with Zelensky was “perfect”and he did nothing wrong.
    • But he then threw Perry into the mix and said something to the effect of: “Not a lot of people know this but, I didn’t even want to make the call. The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to. Something about an LNG [liquefied natural gas] plant,” one source said, recalling the president’s comments. 2 other sources confirmed the first source’s recollection.

Why it matters: The president’s remarks suggest he may be seeking to distance himself from responsibility or recast the pretext for the call. White House officials did not respond to requests for comment.

    • Another source on the call said Trump added that “more of this will be coming out in the next few days” — referring to Perry.

View the complete October 5 article by Alayna Treene and Jonathan Swan on the Axios website here.

Rick Perry Defends Private Travel Costs at House Energy Hearing

The following article by Elvina Nawaguna was posted on the RollCall.com website October 13, 2017:

Some sites are too remote to be accessed by commercial airlines, secretary says

Energy Secretary Rick Perry testifies during a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce’s Energy Subcommittee on Thursday. (Bill Clark/Roll Call)

Energy Secretary Rick Perry told lawmakers Thursday that his use of private aircraft for work travel is sometimes justified because his department’s national laboratories and some sites he has to visit are too remote to be accessed by commercial airlines.

Perry and four other administration officials are under scrutiny for exorbitant private travel at taxpayer expense.

Both Democrats and Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce’s Energy Subcommittee, where Perry was testifying Thursday about the department’s priorities, demanded that he address the allegations surrounding his travel expenses. Continue reading “Rick Perry Defends Private Travel Costs at House Energy Hearing”