Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon, and National Security Advisor | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Sir.

    Q Thank you, sir. When the President came out in support of a two-state solution at the U.N. last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu responded that he's confident Israel would retain security control of the West Bank under any White House plan. Is that correct? Or are you open to a Palestinian state with no security presence from Israel inside their borders?

    AMBASSADOR BOLTON: We've been working, as you well know, on a peace plan involving Israel and the Palestinians. We'll be rolling it out in due course when we decide it's the most appropriate time to do it. And I'm sure that will answer your question then.

    And I see the lady with the hook over here. So -

    MS. SANDERS: We'll take one last question.

    AMBASSADOR BOLTON: So, yeah. I'm sorry, I actually did try and recognize this gentleman. I guess I didn't point accurately enough. So my apologies.

    Q Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. Former Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday, he has not met with the Iranians since the U.S. pulled out of the deal. But he has met with them on several occasions before. Do you think he violated the Logan Act by doing so? And was he subverting the policy of the United States?

    AMBASSADOR BOLTON: Well, I think Secretary Pompeo addressed that previously, and I'll stick with his remarks. Thank you very much.

    MS. SANDERS: Thank you, Ambassador Bolton. A couple of quick reminders:

    FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission will conduct a nationwide, integrated public alert and warning system test of the Emergency Alert System and the Wireless Emergency Alerts later today.

    This will take place in two parts: The WEA portion starting at 2:18 p.m. Eastern, followed by the EAS portion at 2:20 p.m. Eastern. This is the first nationwide WEA test and the fourth for the EAS. The overall test will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message, and determine whether technological improvements are needed.

    Looking ahead to Monday, President Trump will travel to Orlando, Florida to address the International Association of Chiefs of Police. As the largest gathering of police leaders, the President will speak about the work of the administration to protect American communities by restoring law and order, supporting local law enforcement, and securing the border.

    Lastly, on the night President Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Senator Schumer declared the Democrats would oppose this nomination with everything they had. Before a single document was produced, a single meeting with the senator, or a hearing was ever scheduled, Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats telegraphed a strategy to throw the kitchen sink at the Judge with no regard for the process, decency, or standards. They're not opposed to Judge Kavanaugh's judicial views; they're literally trying to undercut the voice of the American people when they elected Donald Trump.

    They have questioned his legitimacy, and casually tossed around vicious accusations of perjury - all false and baseless. But now they've sunk lower, as they sprang these 11th-hour accusations and a full-scale assault on Judge Kavanaugh's integrity.

    This is a coordinated smear campaign. No evidence, no independent corroboration, just smears. Here are just a few of the examples:

    Chuck Schumer said, and I quote, "There's no presumption of innocence or guilt." Chris Coons, who sits on the committee, said Kavanaugh, and I quote, "now bears the burden of disproving these allegations, rather than Dr. Ford and Ms. Ramirez." Mazie Hirono, who also sits on the Committee, said that Judge Kavanaugh does not deserve the presumption of innocence because of his judicial views.

    One thing is clear: Democrats want to block Kavanaugh and hold the seat open until the 2020 election. This is about politics and this is about power - pure and simple. And they've destroyed Judge Kavanaugh's reputation, undermined Dr. Ford's privacy, and tried to upend our traditions of innocence until proven guilty in the process. It's a complete and total disgrace.

    We will receive and submit the FBI's supplemental background investigation on his nomination to the Senate. As Leader McConnell said, Judge Kavanaugh deserves a prompt vote and we expect him to get one. And with that, I'll take your questions.

    John.

    Q Sarah, the three people who are most important in this whole process are Senators Murkowski, Collins, and Flake. This morning, two of those Senators - Flake and Collins - were extremely upset about how the President described Christine Blasey Ford at that rally in Mississippi. Knowing how sensitive this issue is and how important it would be if the FBI investigation shows no other compelling evidence to keep Judge Kavanaugh from the court that these people need to be comfortable with voting for him, why did the President say what he did last night in the way that said it?

    MS. SANDERS: The President was stating the facts - and, frankly, facts that were included in special prosecutor Rachel Mitchell's report. He was stating facts that were given during Dr. Ford's testimony. And the Senate has to make a decision based those on facts and whether or not they see Judge Kavanaugh to be qualified to hold the position on the Supreme Court. Every single word Judge Kavanaugh has said has been picked apart. Every single word, second by second, of his testimony has been picked apart.

    Yet if anybody says anything about the accusations that have been thrown against them, that's totally off limits and outrageous. This entire process has been a disgrace, and the only reason that it's been that way is because Senate Democrats didn't do this the way that it should've been done and they circumvented the entire system. And, frankly, they've undermined our entire judicial branch by the way that they've acted and the inappropriateness with which they've conducted themselves.

    Q Well, pointing out inconsistencies -

    MS. SANDERS: Sorry, go ahead.

    Q Pointing out inconsistencies in testimonies is one thing. But the tone with which the President did it last night clearly had an effect on two key swing votes for his nomination. Is the President concerned that he may have put those votes in danger by doing what he did last night?

    MS. SANDERS: I don't think so. The President is very confident in his nominee, as he's stated time and time again. And we expect the Senate to vote, and we hope they do that soon.

    Zeke.

    Q Two quick questions and then I'll come back to Kavanaugh. First, does the White House have any response to the reported mailings of Ricin to Pentagon officials? And also the President - has the President been briefed on this investigation? Any updates?

    MS. SANDERS: The President has certainly been made aware. But as we stated yesterday, I would refer you to the U.S. Secret Service to respond to those.

    Q Do you have any update on the President's meeting with the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that was supposed to be held last week? Does the President still have confidence with him?

    MS. SANDERS: Again, we don't have any updates on that front. If there's a meeting, we'll let you know. But at this point, they continue to work together and both show up every day and do their jobs.

    Q And just one more back on Kavanaugh. You said a couple minutes ago - you criticized Democrats for undermining Dr. Ford's privacy, and when the President referred her last night, aren't you there trying to have it both ways - by sort of attacking Democrats for doing something that wasn't in your interest, and then the President was out onstage last night, essentially mocking her testimony?

    MS. SANDERS: Not at all. We're pointing out the hypocrisy. Again, none of these this would be taking place if Democrats had done this in a normal order, and not exploited Dr. Ford and attacked Judge Kavanaugh in such a public manner. All of this could have been handled completely differently. And the Senate Democrats hold all of the responsibility for that process.

    Josh.

    Q The New York Times reported yesterday that the President had engaged in outright tax fraud throughout the '90s with suspect tax schemes, and - you know, basically getting more money from his parents than he said, using thousands of documents. You rebutted the story. Can you explain what is inaccurate about that story - if there's anything that is actually inaccurate about it?

    MS. SANDERS: It's a totally false attack, based on an old recycled news story. I'm not going to sit and go through every single line of a very boring, 14,000-word story.

    Q Can you give us anything -

    MS. SANDERS: The only thing - I will say, one thing the article did get right, was that it showed that the President's father actually had a great deal of confidence in him. In fact, the President brought his father into a lot of deals and they made a lot of money together, so much so that his father went on to say that everything he touched turned to gold.

    The President's lawyer addressed some of the specific claims and walked through how the allegations of fraud and tax evasion are 100-percent false and highly defamatory. There was no fraud or tax evasion by anyone.

    He went on much further and I would encourage you to read every word of his statement, which completely undercuts the accusations made by the New York Times.

    Q Are the President's taxes still under audit?

    MS. SANDERS: I know that a number of his taxes are still under audit.

    Q Are the ones from the '90s and the early-2000s - are those as?

    MS. SANDERS: I'd have to check and get back to you.

    Q Would the White House be willing to provide any of his tax returns?

    MS. SANDERS: I'm not aware of any plans to do so.

    Cecilia.

    Q Thank you, Sarah. It was just a couple of days ago that the President called Christine Blasey Ford "a very credible witness." A "very credible," "very compelling" - but now he's basically making her out to be a liar, so which is it?

    MS. SANDERS: Certainly the testimony by Dr. Ford was compelling, but you can't make this decision based on emotion. It has to be based on fact. They have to determine what the facts are of this case. That's one of the reasons that they asked and begged for the FBI and delayed a hearing vote, is so that they could get more facts on this case.

    We expect the FBI to turn those facts over to the Senate and they can make a determination based on that. That's all we're asking for.

    Q You said that he was stating the facts at that campaign rally, but this was so much more than stating the facts. This was a full-scale campaign rally assault on a woman who says she is victim of sexual assault. But what do you get out of that? Is that to help Kavanaugh's nomination? Is this to rally the base? Is this going to help with the midterms? Like what's the point in doing that?

    MS. SANDERS: Again, I dispute that it wasn't anything other than the President stating facts - in fact, facts that were laid out in the prosecutor's memo that she put forward to the Senate.

    Each of the things that he called out were things that were laid out in that memo.

    Saagar.

    Q Thanks, Sarah. There's conflicting feelings on Capitol Hill right now over whether the FBI investigation into Judge Kavanaugh should be made public or not. Does the White House commit to transparency on this effort and let the American people see the full reign of this investigation, regardless of the findings?

    MS. SANDERS: Look, we've been very open and transparent through the process. The President is the one that ordered the FBI investigation to take place and has allowed the Senate to actually control and dictate the terms and scope of the investigation. We're continuing to do that and allowing the FBI to actually do what it is they do best, and that's their jobs to do this investigation.

    Q Another question for you, if I may, on declassification, since we haven't spoken in a while. The President has said that -

    MS. SANDERS: I missed you guys too. (Laughter.)

    Q The President said that he would refer the declassification process to the DOJ inspector general, but he wants to see that happen quickly. What does "quickly" mean? Are we going to see these documents before the midterm elections?

    MS. SANDERS: I'm not going to walk through a timeline, but we're continuing to work through that process. And when we have an update on it, we'll certainly let you know.

    Alex.

    Q Sarah, why did you say earlier this year that Michael Cohen was acting on his own in an arbitration proceeding to prevent Stormy Daniels from doing a television interview when the President actually directed that move?

    MS. SANDERS: As you know, I'm not going to get into a back-and-forth. That's an issue for the President's outside counsel. I'd direct you there to answer it.

    John.

    Q Thank you, Sarah. Two brief questions: First, the impact and meaning of the President's comments in Mississippi notwithstanding, it is a fact that Senators Collins, Murkowski, Flake, and Manchin are the undecided votes critical to the nomination. Are there any plans for the President to call any of them between now and next week and make one final pitch? Perhaps explain his remarks a little bit more.

    MS. SANDERS: I'm not aware of a specific scheduled call. But we've certainly been in close contact with a number of members, and we'll continue to do so up until the vote.

    Q The other thing I was going to ask was, two of the President's early supporters in the House - Collins of New York and Duncan Hunter of California - are running under indictment. There are rules of the National Republican Congressional Committee barring support for members who are under indictment. Does the President still support both of them for reelection?

    MS. SANDERS: I can't get into a lot of details, one, for Hatch Act violation, but also, with an ongoing investigation, I'm not going to be able to comment on that from up here.

    Blake.

    Q Yes, Sarah. Thank you. As this briefing was beginning, Bloomberg put out an article about the FBI background investigation. And Bloomberg is reporting right now that the FBI hasn't interviewed Judge Kavanaugh or Dr. Ford because the White House hasn't given investigators clear authority to do so. Is that indeed the case?

    MS. SANDERS: As we've said several times, the President has indicated that whoever the FBI deems necessary to interview, he's fine with that. But he's also asked that the Senate be the ones that determine the scope of what they need in order to make a decision on whether they vote Kavanaugh up or down.

    I can also tell you that both Kavanaugh - Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford were questioned in the most public way possible by the members of the Senate who are ultimately the ones who have to make the determination on whether or not they vote for Judge Kavanaugh. If they had additional questions for either one of them, they had a time and an opportunity certainly to ask those.