Nov. 20, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to reports that Ukraine has expanded the criminal investigation of Burisma and that the investigation has been underway for almost two years:

“Ukraine’s confirmation that the Burisma investigation has been expanded has made three things abundantly clear. First, President Zelensky and others have unequivocally said they felt no pressure by the U.S. to investigate the corrupt natural gas firm Burisma or anyone associated with that firm. Second, Ukraine officials have made it clear they had no knowledge military assistance to Ukraine was under scrutiny until an Aug. 29 Politico report broke the news. Third, today’s report that Ukraine prosecutors are expanding their  investigation into Burisma, and that the investigation has been ongoing for almost two years, alleging millions of Ukrainian funds had been stolen by the company is proof that unless President Trump has a time machine, he did not initiate the probe.

“The Pelosi-Schiff impeachment sham rests on a charge of coercion or bribery for something we now know was already taking place, and which those who were purportedly coerced felt no pressure because they were aware that the Burisma investigation had been underway for more than a year. Pelosi and Schiff may go down in history as Congress’ equivalent of Abbott and Costello, with the exception that their confusion and misunderstanding doesn’t lead to hilarity, but rather calamity.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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Nov. 20, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Congress to push the continuing resolution and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reauthorization off until March 15, past the New Year:

“It is absurd that Congress would pass a continuing resolution into the heart of the Christmas season, setting up a vote on an omnibus bill right before the holiday. Congress should do the right thing and give federal workers peace of mind through the holidays, by extending government funding through March 15.

“A longer time window will also give Congress an opportunity to review the findings of the Justice Department on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses that occurred in the 2016 elections, when the Trump campaign, the opposition party, was placed under surveillance by the Obama administration in an election year, and give time to put in place real reforms so that political spying never happens again. We have to make sure we get this right, and rushing to reauthorize FISA would be foolish when we’re still waiting on these findings.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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Nov. 20, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland’s testimony that “never received a clear answer” as to why the military aid to Ukraine was suspended:

“The Sondland testimony is nothing more than kicking over the same rocks that already been turned over in his prior testimony. The simple fact remains that Sondland mistakenly ‘presumed’ by his own testimony that the release of military aid to Ukraine was conditioned to a public statement by Ukraine on investigating corruption. He says, ‘No one told me directly that the aid was tied to anything.’ Sondland then acted as patient zero spreading this notion throughout the foreign service and to Ukraine even though he admits in his own testimony no one told him that any quid pro quo related to the aid existed.

“To sum up, Sondland’s presumption about military aid is the root of the entirety of the Democratic case, but nobody told him to condition the aid as he per his testimony ‘never received a clear answer’ as to why the military aid to Ukraine was suspended. The actual quid pro quo for a meeting which Sondland references had already been dismissed as the meeting which the Ukrainian government wanted on Sept. 1 (which Trump was going to attend until a hurricane hit the U.S.) was already happening without any public statement having ever been issued, as other diplomats have testified.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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Nov. 19, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement noting that Congress explicitly tied military assistance to Ukraine to Defense Department certifications that Ukraine is showing “improvement in transparency, accountability… for purposes of decreasing corruption”:

“The President is fully within his Article II foreign affairs to reconsider the U.S. relationship with Ukraine, including whether providing military assistance there is consistent with U.S. interests. Under law, the Ukrainian military assistance is explicitly linked to certifications that Ukraine is showing ‘improvement in transparency, accountability… for purposes of decreasing corruption.’ Given Congress’ specific requirements related to corruption, it is clear that even if President Trump had tied military assistance to action by Ukraine on corruption, and wished to roll back prior certifications made, it would have been more than consistent with the law. The fact that he did not exposes the Pelosi-Schiff impeachment as nothing more than a sham.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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Nov. 18, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Congress and the Trump administration to reject any government rate setting proposal on surprise medical billing:

“The problem of surprise medical billing has become a hot topic in Washington, D.C. but government rate setting is an unacceptable solution. When there’s a dispute between doctors and insurance companies, patients should not have to resolve it, which is why Congress and the Trump administration should consider an approach that institutes an independent, neutral, third party system for billing dispute resolution that will put patient needs first. That way, families can focus on their care rather than completing bureaucratic tasks just to access benefits, or worse being stuck with a surprise billing that cannot be paid. When New York and Texas agree on something, then perhaps it might just be a common sense, bipartisan solution that can be used to address surprise medical billing.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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Nov. 18, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement supporting the confirmation of Dan Brouillette as Secretary of the Department of Energy:

“The past three years under President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry moved the U.S. closer to energy independence than it has ever been, and those policies of expanding U.S. capacity, particularly in the realm of natural gas, will continue under the tenure of Dan Brouillette as Energy Secretary. As Perry’s deputy, Brouillette has authorized more than 38 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas exports, which one day will open the U.S. to supply more than three-quarters of European natural gas demand, or about 13 percent of global demand. Not only is U.S. energy independence supporting the American people, but it also protects U.S. allies who cannot be held hostage for want of natural gas. We’re now among the world’s top producers of oil and natural gas, and nobody is more qualified than Dan Brouillette to continue implementing the Trump energy dominance plan.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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Nov. 15, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch’s complaint that she was “intimidated” by a tweet from President Donald Trump:

“Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testified that she was ‘intimidated’ by a tweet by President Donald Trump. Now let me get this straight: A U.S. Ambassador assigned to one of the most dangerous, corrupt locations in the world, where the U.S. and Russia fight a proxy civil war, cowers in the fear of 142 characters presidential missive. This very fact is why Yovanovitch should not be ambassador to Ukraine or anywhere else as she apparently does not have the temperament for the job.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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Nov. 13, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent admission that Ukraine had a corruption problem and that Burisma Holdings, the natural gas firm, President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky discussed investigating on July 25, needed to be investigated:

“Ambassador George Kent supported the investigation of corruption of the Ukraine natural gas firm Burisma as early as July 23, 2015, due to what he described as ‘self-dealing and self-enrichment’ by the Ukrainian oligarch who ran the company testifying,  ‘I think that since the U.S. taxpayer dollars were wasted, I would love to see the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office find who … the corrupt prosecutor was, that took the bribe, and how much it was paid…’

“President Donald Trump in his conversation on July 25 with the current President of Ukraine agrees that Burisma’s corruption should be investigated.  Yet this is the purported reason why House Democrats wish to impeach him?  What a farce.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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