Whistle-Blower worried about WH lawlessness, and IC IG agreed, now some of the GOP do
The problem with the impending circus is that there will be side-shows, and Giuliani could be one of them even as he takes fire for POTUS*. Apparently the whistle-blower observed the pattern of misconduct.
WASHINGTON — The intelligence officer who filed a whistle-blower complaint about President Trump’s interactions with the leader of Ukraine raised alarms not only about what the two men said in a phone call, but also about how the White House handled records of the conversation, according to two people briefed on the complaint.
The whistle-blower, moreover, identified multiple White House officials as witnesses to potential presidential misconduct who could corroborate the complaint, the people said — adding that the inspector general for the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson, interviewed witnesses.
Mr. Atkinson eventually concluded that there was reason to believe that the president may have illegally solicited a foreign campaign contribution — and that his potential misconduct created a national security risk, according to a newly disclosed Justice Department memo.
[…]
After hearing about the July call, the intelligence officer agreed that Mr. Trump might be “seeking to pressure that leader to take an action to help the president’s 2020 re-election campaign,” Mr. Engel wrote, and decided to tell Congress about it, using a process that protects intelligence whistle-blowers from reprisal.
That process requires complaints to go through the inspector general and intelligence director. It says if the inspector general deems a complaint to be credible and present an urgent concern, the intelligence director shall send it to Congress within seven days.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) September 25, 2019
— Ã’þûþôøüøр ×õûõýÑÂьúøù (@ZelenskyyUa) July 25, 2019
— Olga Lautman (@olgaNYC1211) September 26, 2019
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) September 24, 2019
— Paul Rabin (@PaulRabin1) September 26, 2019
— The Hill (@thehill) September 25, 2019
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 25, 2019
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) September 25, 2019
— POLITICO (@politico) September 25, 2019
Republicans are now trying to speed up the impeachment because it favors the GOP to get past it.
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) September 25, 2019
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) September 25, 2019
Only someone like Trump could have gotten the nation into this terrible spot, but he was enabled by an entire plot of incompetents (similar to a gaze of raccoons), notwithstanding a party of Republicans.
— ≡l≡v≡nth (@3L3V3NTH) September 26, 2019
But the real trick in Trump’s defense is framing the (Zelensky) call as the entire scandal. The scandal is much more than that. The call is a snapshot, a moment in time in a months-long campaign that put American policy toward Ukraine at the disposal of Trump’s personal interests and reelection campaign.
Last spring, Rudy Giuliani was openly pressuring Kiev to investigate Joe Biden. Giuliani told the New York Times, “We’re meddling in an investigation … because that information will be very, very helpful to my client.” The key word there was “we’re.” The first-person plural indicated Giuliani was not carrying out this mission alone. A series of reports have revealed how many other government officials were involved in the scheme.
[…]
The scheme to shake down Ukraine was a massive plot, spreading through the government and corrupting multiple officials. Trump had a lot of accomplices.
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) September 26, 2019
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It is unfortunate that we actually had to trust the evil of mediocrity embodied in the George W. Bush White House, because other evils had destabilized the country.
2008’s Hope and Change for some people was also the “anything but another Republican” which may only have only postponed some other contradictions and evils that brought us 45*. We were all so hopeful for a redemption from the chaos of the Bush years.
2016’s accidental presidency has drawn some serious contrasts as we cannot imagine 44 ever doing any of 45*’s nonsense, complete with carnival barking to a cult of personality disorder.
However the real problems will come soon from confirmation bias and structural problems at so many different levels in so many realms. 2020 GOTV will be only the beginning, regardless of the coming impeachment chaos.
Trust someone, because it will be complicated.
