Think Gen. Kelly Isn't Just Another Politician Who Ignores Facts

False Attack Because He Didn't Know the Facts (Or Didn't Care)

In the midst of the lionization of Gen. John Kelly, Chief of Staff in the White House comes a true story which shows just what kind of man he is. From the AP is a report that completely contradicts Kelly's depiction of an event a Democratic Congresswoman who had the temerity to criticize Trump on his call to a Gold Star family.

John Kelly said she stunned the audience at the somber ceremony by recounting how she had been the driving force behind raising money for the building, the FBI's South Florida headquarters. But a video of her remarks at the dedication shows she never took credit for getting the government to come up with the money for the project. Indeed, the building was approved several years before she entered Congress.

Now people make mistakes. A decent person would apologize and move on. But that cannot be done by anyone associated with Trump. The Trumpie corrupts everyone around him. And in this case there is no spin, just the facts and the video to back them up.

KELLY: "And a congresswoman stood up, and in a long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise, stood up there in all of that and talked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building, and how she took care of her constituents because she got the money, and she just called up President Obama, and on that phone call, he gave the money, the $20 million, to build the building, and she sat down. And we were stunned, stunned that she'd done it. Even for someone that is that empty a barrel, we were stunned."

THE FACTS: Kelly's recollection is incorrect. In her nine-minute speech at the April 10, 2015, dedication ceremony, a video of which was found by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Wilson never mentions the building's financing.

She did, though, spend up to three minutes talking about an effort she did lead — to have the building named after the special agents, Ben Grogan and Jerry Dove, who were killed in a 1986 gun battle in Miami. She recounted how she was asked by the FBI four weeks earlier to expedite a bill through Congress to name the building after Grogan and Dove. She said the process normally takes eight months to a year.

"I went into attack mode," she told the audience. She said she approached then-Speaker John Boehner, telling him "the FBI needs your help and our country needs your help." She said Boehner got the bill to the House floor for a vote in two days. She said she then rushed the bill to Florida Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, who got the bill passed by that chamber two days later. President Barack Obama signed the bill three days before the dedication ceremony. The audience responded with loud applause.

"It's a miracle but it speaks to the respect that our Congress has for the Federal Bureau of Investigation," she said.

She then asked all first responders to stand so they could receive applause.