John Kelly Wrongly Claimed Congresswoman Took Credit for Funding of Building; Calls Her An “Empty Barrel”

On Thursday, White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly inaccurately claimed that in 2015 Rep. Fredrica Wilson, also known as “D-Florida,” took credit for “$20 million” in federal funding to build a new FBI field office in Miami.

Kelly called Wilson an “empty barrel” claiming that during her speech she highlighted her efforts more than the FBI agent’s heroism.

“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,” said Kelly.

But Kelly’s remarks came back to bite him. Wilson did give herself credit in her speech at the dedication ceremony for leading legislation in naming the building after two FBI agents who died in a gunfight in 1986, however, she never took credit for funding the building in any way.
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What the representative did do was shed light on the bravery of law enforcement and asked that FBI agents in the audience to stand so that they can be recognized. In addition, she shared memories of the two officials.
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The Sun Sentinel posted the 2015 clip on Friday after Kelly’s “empty barrel” comments. As he was going to the White House briefing room to address Wilson for discussing #Trump’s call with Myeishia Johnson, the widow of fallen soldier Sgt. La David Johnson, Kelly said he was “stunned” that Wilson would condemn Trump’s call with Myeshia in the media.
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To support his criticisms he brought up Wilson’s FBI dedication ceremony speech from 2015.
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On Friday morning, Wilson responded to Kelly’s words on CNN’s “New Day” and stated that she “was not even in Congress in 2009 when the money for the building was secured.”
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“So that’s a lie. How dare he,” said Wilson.
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Wilson said Trump’s “he knew what he signed up for” response was insensitive to say to Myeshia. Cowanda Jones-Johnson, the woman who raised Johnson agreed. Cowanda defended Wilson and said Trump’s words were disrespectful.