Exclusive: Pentagon Document Contradicts Trumps Gold Star Claims

[spanone]

In the hours after President Donald Trump said on an Oct. 17 radio broadcast that he had contacted nearly every family that had lost a military servicemember this year, the White House was hustling to learn from the Pentagon the identities and contact information for those families, according to an internal Defense Department email.

The email exchange, which has not been previously reported, shows that senior White House aides were aware on the day the president made the statement that it was not accurate — but that they should try to make it accurate as soon as possible, given the gathering controversy.

Not only had the president not contacted virtually all the families of military personnel killed this year, the White House did not even have an up-to-date list of those who had been killed.

The exchange between the White House and the Defense secretary’s office occurred about 5 p.m. on Oct. 17. The White House asked the Pentagon for information about surviving family members of all servicemembers killed after Trump’s inauguration so that the president could be sure to contact all of them.

https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/after-trump-claim-white-house-still-lacked-casualty-list

[guillaumeb]

1. But it COULD have been true.

Recommended.

[TheDebbieDee]

4. Oh, but it was true... In Trump's tattered mind!

[guillaumeb]

5. A truly tiny tattered mind indeed.

Dusty with disuse as well.

[TheDebbieDee]

2. What?!?!?! Quelle surprise!

[GusBob]

3. Lol the WH needs a full-time fact checker to thwart Tumps lies

a full time job for sure, given all his lies

[Gothmog]

6. Trump lied about calling the Gold Star families

[Jim__]

7. I really hope the idiot doesn't start contacting those families now.

The families have already suffered enough. A call from Trump isn't going to help them. I hope he realizes that and has the decency to let this go.

[Phentex]

8. exactly...

but somehow he has a way of not letting things go.

[genxlib]

10. It is worse than that.

See #9 below

[genxlib]

9. This story got much worse after this.

"Four families of fallen service members received next-day UPS letters from President Trump after a turbulent week in which Trump falsely claimed he had called “virtually all” of the families."

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/donald-trump-is-rush-shipping-condolences-to-military-families/543606/

Maybe I am going soft in the head but this is by far the worst thing about this whole sordid affair. The fact that he did not care enough to contact them originally is underscored, highlighted and circled by the fact that he is rushing to do it now.

Somehow, using UPS overnight really drives it home for me. If only they had a "Last Month" delivery option.

I think this particular story has been under-reported because it really underlines the entire premise that started this whole discussion.

Either way you look at it, either he lied about contacting them or worse, wasn't aware that they existed. This is the evidence that he does not give a shit.

[skip fox]

11. Exactly.

And that's just the 4 (all from August, I think) we know about.

I love the "Last Month delivery system" you propose!

Here's a Shark Tank proposal: a special service of UPS that delivers a package quickly but which has markings on it to the effect that it was misplaced, wrongly routed, accidentally warehoused and delayed for X number of weeks. (You pay more for more weeks.) Think of all the procrastinators and shitheads like Trump and how they would pay hundreds for such service (and all it costs is using the correct stamps)!!!!

Mark Cuban, where are you?

(But then Cuban has ethics and is against scams.)

[genxlib]

12. I am in a deadline driven business

And I would pay good money for that service.

The stupid thing is that he probably could have sent an old fashioned letter and it would have been a great deal less obvious when it was sent. He could even have blamed those evil Unionized letter carriers for losing them.

[malaise]

13. You nailed it

He does not give a shit