Welcome to Monday, October 21st, sticks and stones...

So was it quid pro quo or no?

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney took to the airwaves Sunday to deny saying the Trump administration linked military aid to Ukraine dependent on Kiev investigating former Vice President Joe Biden.

During a Thursday press conference, Mulvaney said President Donald Trump asked Ukraine to investigate "corruption" and "that’s why we held up the money.”

Here's a snippet from the exchange:

ABC NEWS' JONATHAN KARL: Let's be clear. What you just described is a quid pro quo. Funding will not flow unless the investigation into the Democratic server happened as well.

MULVANEY: We do that all the time with foreign policy. ... I have news for everybody. Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy. Elections have consequences.

On "Fox News Sunday", Mulvaney told Chris Wallace he never said the Trump administration expected a quid pro quo.

"That’s not what I said. That’s what people said that I said," he told a skeptical Wallace early in the interview.

Wallace challenged Mulvaney, saying "anyone listening to what you said in that briefing could only come to one conclusion."

"You were asked specifically by Jonathan Karl: 'Was investigating Democrats one of the conditions for holding up the aide? Was that part of the quid pro quo?' And you said, 'It happens all the time,'" Wallace said

Mulvaney conceded: "Can I see how people took that the wrong way? Absolutely. But I never said there was a quid pro quo because there isn’t."

Do you agree that "there is going to be political influence in foreign policy"?

On the Radar

McConnell's Impeachment Timetable

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has briefed Republican senators on how the chamber would conduct an impeachment trial of Trump if the House votes to impeach the president.

We list all the relevant details in this article, but here's a preview:

• Once the trial begins, the Senate will be in session six days a week, Monday through Saturday, with impeachment proceedings beginning around 12:30pm. The trial wouldn’t have a set end date, it would continue indefinitely until the Senate votes to convict and remove the president, acquit the president, or dismiss the trial. (For reference, President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial took five weeks.)
• As jurors in the impeachment trial, all senators would be required to attend the proceedings and remain silent while they are underway.
• The only people in the Senate chamber allowed to speak during the proceedings would be the presiding judge, the House impeachment managers in their role as prosecutors, and the president’s defense counsel in their role.

Should President Trump be impeached and removed?

Violating Temporary Ceasefire

Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria on Friday accused Turkish-backed forces in the border town of Ras al-Ain of violating the hours-old ceasefire that was brokered by the U.S. between the warring groups on Thursday. Reports indicate that the sounds of fighting in the area subsided by mid-morning.

"Just spoke to President @RTErdogan of Turkey. He told me there was minor sniper and mortar fire that was quickly eliminated. He very much wants the ceasefire, or pause, to work. Likewise, the Kurds want it, and the ultimate solution, to happen," Trump tweeted.

Do you support the ceasefire in Northeast Syria?

Under the Radar

U.S. as Net Energy Exporter

The U.S. is closing in on becoming a net exporter of energy for the first time since the Eisenhower administration, thanks to increased domestic production that has reduced Americans’ reliance on foreign energy.

In terms of overall energy imports and exports, the U.S. imported 24.8 quadrillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy, and exported about 21.2 quadrillion BTUs, which is the closest the U.S. has been to being a net exporter of energy since the late 1950s as this chart from USAFacts shows. For the first six months of 2019, net energy imports stood at 0.1 BTU.

Take a look at more USAFacts' charts here, then tell your reps:

Do you support U.S. strides toward being a net energy exporter?

What You're Saying

Here's how you're answering Should the SALT Deduction Be Restored & Paid for By Raising the Top Income Tax Bracket?