Team Trump Accuses Team Pelosi Of 'Flat Out Lie' On Canceled Afghan Trip - White House

A rhetorical feud between President Donald Trump and House of Representatives hit a new level, with the White House accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's staff of telling a flat out lie over a canceled trip to Afghanistan, according to a statement distributed to reporters by senior administration officials on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2019) A rhetorical feud between President Donald Trump and House of Representatives hit a new level, with the White House accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's staff of telling a flat out lie over a canceled trip to Afghanistan, according to a statement distributed to reporters by senior administration officials on Friday.

"When the Speaker of the House and about 20 others from Capitol Hill decide to book their own commercial flights to Afghanistan, the world is going to find out," the statement read. "The idea we would leak anything that would put the safety and security of any American at risk is a flat out lie," the statement read.

The White House retort came in response to a claim by Pelosi's spokesman Drew Hammill earlier on Friday, claiming the White House had leaked the commercial travel itinerary of a congressional trip to Afghanistan.

Travel of US officials to Afghanistan, whether on military planes or commercial airlines, is typically a closely guarded secret, given the likelihood of a terrorist strike if Islamists know when and where to find the officials.

The delegation canceled their junket when travel plans became public.

Trump abruptly blocked use of a US military jet for the delegation on Thursday, as lawmakers boarded buses to the airport, prompting hasty efforts to reschedule the trip on commercial airlines.

A day earlier, Pelosi had suggested in a letter that Trump delay his annual State of the Union speech to Congress because of a partial shutdown of the US government, now in its 28th day.

The government shutdown itself reflects a standoff between Trump and Pelosi and other congressional Democrats, with Trump demanding money for a wall on the US border with Mexico and Pelosi and the Democrats rejecting a physical border barrier and refusing to negotiate any funding for the project.