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What's going on with this DNI Whistleblower ?


triplehorn

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3 minutes ago, Chooky said:

Fine.  I'll curb my inner Archie Bunker and try a fucking White Claw.  But if I end up dressing like Brendan Schaub and ending every sentence with "bro" I'm going to fucking sue you people.

i had one out of a friend's fridge. i can see the appeal, it was pretty good. i think you'll end up liking it bro

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45 minutes ago, Chooky said:

Probably, but who knows.  I've been wrong about Pelosi multiple times since 2016.  Trump and the Ukrainian president will speak again in a couple of weeks in general assembly.  Maybe she knows something or is anticipating something else.  Maybe all of our leaders are now just status quo greedheads and maybe go fuck ourselves.  

There have been a couple of times where I preferred a cathartic thrashing and Pelosi was more successful with a calculated and measured approach.  Is it a window of opportunity or a gaping anus?  Are those the same things now?  I have no idea.  I'm fatigued from being this hateful all the time.  I envy the ignorant and uninformed.  I too want to be easily amused at Truck Nutz and saying "beer thirty."  

There is one reason only that I can see that justifies Pelosi's stance of not being a screeching eagle heralding the advent justice and hellfire: she's deliberately attempting to maintain a more reserved wait and see stance in the event that she takes on a higher responsibility than Speaker of the House.

Those paying attention this week should realize Pence has been named as well and is woven into this Whistleblower tapestry.  

If this Whistleblower report IS the counterintelligence investigation that has been running in parallel to the Mueller investigation all along, which essentially came to a halt when Trump ousted Dan Coats followed by Coats interrupting a meeting to inform Deputy DNI Sue Gordon to resign asap, then there's a chance Trump and Pence both are done.  Obviously it depends on what they've got, which we know is a shitload of criminality, corruption, and an potentially an imminent national security threat.  If the whistleblower is Coats, look out.

To maintain basic civil order in such an event, seriously, it behooves Pelosi to not be the tip of the spear in the run-up.

 

Edited by triplehorn
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Just now, The Royal We said:

Pretty much my feeling too.  Wouldn't that scenario require Senate Republicans to do the right thing and choose country over party?  Not f'n likely.

there is no bottom. 

But as a reminder, there's a pretty fucking giant protest on climate change in my downtown today.  Fuck the GOP Senate.  We The People will have to find a way to shut it down.

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WSJ has a piece up that characterizes the exchange. Probably an admin source for the article. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-defends-conversation-with-ukraine-leader-11568993176?mod=hp_lead_pos1

Trump Repeatedly Pressed Ukraine President to Investigate Biden’s Son

U.S. president didn’t mention foreign aid on July call with Volodymyr Zelensky

 

President Trump in a July phone call repeatedly pressured the president of Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ’s son, urging Volodymyr Zelensky about eight times to work with Rudy Giuliani, his personal lawyer, on a probe, according to people familiar with the matter.

“He told him that he should work with [Mr. Giuliani] on Biden, and that people in Washington wanted to know” whether allegations were true or not, one of the people said. Mr. Trump didn’t mention a provision of foreign aid to Ukraine on the call, said this person, who didn’t believe Mr. Trump offered the Ukrainian president any quid-pro-quo for his cooperation on any investigation.

Mr. Giuliani in June and August met with top Ukrainian officials about the prospect of an investigation, he said in an interview. The Trump lawyer has suggested Mr. Biden as vice president worked to shield from investigation a Ukrainian gas company with ties to his son, Hunter Biden. A Ukrainian official earlier this year said he had no evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Biden or his son.

After the July call between the two presidents, the Ukrainian government said Mr. Trump had congratulated the new president on his election and expressed hope that his government would push ahead with investigations and corruption probes that had stymied relations between the two countries.

The White House declined to comment. The Biden campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment. Last week, a Biden campaign spokesman said of Mr. Giuliani’s efforts to pressure Ukraine: “This is beneath us as Americans.”

Mr. Trump on Friday defended his July call with Mr. Zelensky as “totally appropriate” but declined to say whether he had asked the Ukrainian leader to investigate Mr. Biden, a former U.S. vice president. “It doesn’t matter what I discussed,” he said.

At the same time, he reiterated his call for an investigation into Mr. Biden’s effort as vice president to oust Ukraine’s prosecutor general. “Somebody ought to look into that," he told reporters.

 

Rest behind the tags

In recent months, Mr. Giuliani has mounted an extensive effort to pressure Ukraine to do so. He told The Wall Street Journal he met with an official from the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office in June in Paris, and met with Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Mr. Zelensky in Madrid in August. Mr. Giuliani told the Journal earlier this month that Mr. Yermak assured him the Ukrainian government would “get to the bottom” of the Biden matter.

The August meeting came weeks before the Trump administration began reviewing the status of $250 million in foreign aid to Ukraine, which the administration released earlier this month. Mr. Giuliani said he wasn’t aware of the issue with the funds to Ukraine at the time of the meeting.

He said his meeting with Mr. Yermak was set up by the State Department, and said he briefed the department on their conversation later. The State Department had no immediate comment.

The interactions between the president, Mr. Giuliani and Ukraine have come under scrutiny in recent days in the wake of a whistleblower complaint that a person familiar with the matter said involves the president’s communications with a foreign leader. The complaint, which the Washington Post reported centers on Ukraine, has prompted a new standoff between Congress and the executive branch.

Separately, lawmakers have been investigating whether the president or his lawyer sought to pressure the Ukrainian government to pursue probes in an effort to benefit Mr. Trump’s re-election bid.

Mr. Trump is to meet with Mr. Zelensky in person for the first time next week, during the annual United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York.

 

Michael Atkinson, the Trump-appointed inspector general of the intelligence community, met Thursday morning with the House Intelligence Committee in a closed session to discuss the whistleblower complaint. Mr. Atkinson declined to tell lawmakers the substance of the complaint or whether it involves the president, but he did say it involves more than one episode and is based on a series of events, according to several people who attended or were briefed on the meeting.

Joseph Maguire, a retired Navy vice admiral serving as the acting director of national intelligence, is to appear before both the Senate and House intelligence committees next week about the complaint, though it remains unclear if he will be willing to divulge details about its underlying substance.

Stymied Democrats in Congress continued to mull potential avenues to obtain the complaint. Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he was considering a lawsuit to obtain the complaint or withholding funding from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Mr. Schiff has accused Mr. Maguire of violating the law by not sending the complaint to Congress, as required under the federal whistleblower statute.

“It’s been very hard for the director of national intelligence to explain why he is the first ever in that position to withhold an urgent whistleblower complaint from Congress,” Mr. Schiff told reporters.

Mr. Maguire’s office consulted the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which determined that the allegation didn’t meet the statutory definition of an “urgent concern” requiring reporting to the intelligence committees, the Justice Department said.

That guidance is binding on the executive branch, legal experts said, and it remains unclear how or whether Mr. Maguire could transmit the complaint to lawmakers now.

Even before the debate over the whistleblower complaint, Democratic lawmakers had begun investigating interactions with Ukraine by the president and his lawyer. Earlier this month, the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees sent letters to the White House and State Department seeking records of interactions involving the president and Mr. Giuliani and the Ukrainian government.

Lawmakers are investigating whether there was any connection between the review of foreign aid to Ukraine and the efforts to pressure Kiev to look into Mr. Biden.

In the interview this month, Mr. Giuliani said he had sought in the spring to meet with Mr. Zelensky—at the time Ukraine’s president-elect—and planned a trip to Kiev to pressure the Ukrainian government to pursue two investigations: one into whether Ukraine, under its previous leader, had sought in 2016 to hurt the Trump campaign and bolster his opponent; and another into diplomatic efforts in the country by Mr. Biden, who is currently leading the Democratic presidential field.

 

Mr. Giuliani ultimately canceled that trip after his plan was made public. Mr. Trump was aware of the planned meeting, he said.

Mr. Giuliani’s criticism of Mr. Biden centers on the then-vice president’s efforts to seek the ouster of former Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin, who had investigated a private Ukrainian gas company, Burisma Group, of which Hunter Biden was a board member.

Mr. Giuliani has accused Mr. Biden of acting to protect his son, a lawyer who has been involved in several investment and consulting firms, even though Mr. Shokin had already completed his investigation of Burisma Group before he left office.

Mr. Biden has said he sought Mr. Shokin’s ouster because he wasn’t doing enough to investigate corruption. Other countries had also criticized Ukraine for not appropriately addressing the country’s corruption problems.

Yuriy Lutsenko, Ukraine’s prosecutor general at the time, told Bloomberg News in May he had no evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Biden or his son.

In an interview Thursday evening, Mr. Giuliani said he wasn’t aware whether the whistleblower complaint related to Ukraine. But in a Twitter post later that evening, he defended the possibility that Mr. Trump had urged Mr. Zelensky to investigate his potential campaign opponent.

“A President telling a Pres-elect of a well known corrupt country he better investigate corruption that affects US is doing his job,” Mr. Giuliani wrote.

Mr. Giuliani said earlier this month that Mr. Trump likely would raise the Biden matter with Mr. Zelensky when they meet, saying the matter was “on his mind.” A senior administration official said Friday that the two would discuss how to expand energy cooperation and trade ties.

Write to Alan Cullison at alan.cullison@wsj.com, Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com and Dustin Volz at dustin.volz@wsj.com

 

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Remember when Don Jr. was pushing the Hunter Biden shit on Twitter about a month ago?  These dumbfucks constantly step in their own bear traps.  It doesn't matter, though, because there are no longer consequences for being dirt stupid anymore.

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2 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

Look man.  You do a great job of playing the optimistic angel on this board's shoulder, but the quicker you realize that a) the Democrats are pussies, b) nothing will ever happen to any of the bad guys, c) the Democrats are still pussies, and d) most people in this country suck... the better you'll be.  I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but none of this fan fiction will ever happen.

I specified that there is only one instance that I can of that would be evidence of strength and cunning.  Oh, I can think of other explanations.  But sure, Jan.

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6 minutes ago, Pig Bellmont said:

I mean bribery is right there. 8 times in one phone call even. 

I think the only way to be charged with bribery in Washington these days is if the exchange is done with an envelope and a canvas bag with a dollar sign on it and both parties are in a parking garage wearing trench coats and sunglasses.  Even then, the only thing anyone would say is "hey!  sweet trench coats!  Double-breasted Burberry?  Niiiiiice."

Edited by Chooky
white claw
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If the Dems, especially Pelosi, can't wake up and smell the manure from this White House then I'm going to see if I can donate to Nancy's opponent.

This is fucking blatant as the day is long. Trump has already said on multiple occasions that he has no issue with receiving help from foreign governments for campaign benefits against his opponents, this is known. That he would even go to the Ukrainians with his should not be surprising or outside of the realm of possibility given what we know about Trump and how he moves. 

While the Democrats are busy in "wait and see" mode and hoping against hope that the Republicans in Congress will somehow grow a conscious the Trump regime (Trump Administration) and the Trump Crime Family (Trump Organization) is busy consolidating its autocratic power.

 

We are teetering on the edge to authoritarianism, and I don't think I'm being hyperbolic here. Good thing Trump is an idiot who will tell on himself in plain sight and doesn't have control of both house. But this kind of behavior from a President opens the door for a more cunning and disciplined person with those kind of authoritarian inclinations. 

 

 

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1 minute ago, Chuckie Finster said:

Random fact that I just learned: the current President of Ukraine is a 41 year old actor who spent the four years prior to being elected starring in a television series... as the President of Ukraine.

Yes.  It's quite appropriate in this day and age, don't you think?

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*(I'm waiting for the Team GOP talking points that this was all just a big misunderstanding, and there's no finer patriot than Trump and he would never ask a foreign party to intervene in an election)
 


The current GOP is likely to argue that foreign governments have a vested interest in US elections and should be able to lobby, vote, influence, etc.
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4 minutes ago, triplehorn said:

What would make Trump and Pence a clear and present danger, an imminent threat to US national security, that would elicit revulsion from our world allies down to the sputtering synapses of our collective conscience ? 

It's going to take that.

Maybe if they nuked Colorado and there was video of them masturbating to the news coverage with Vladimir Putin. And I mean maybe. I still think there would be multiple angles where half the country could be convinced that it was the right thing to do.

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7 minutes ago, Chooky said:

Maybe if they nuked Colorado and there was video of them masturbating to the news coverage with Vladimir Putin. And I mean maybe. I still think there would be multiple angles where half the country could be convinced that it was the right thing to do.

Well, our far right neighbors a bit east of Austin have no problem co-masturbating into a jar, so I'm thinking it's not a real high bar to clear.

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From the CNN article today. Wut?

 

The whistleblower didn't have direct knowledge of the communications, an official briefed on the matter told CNN. Instead, the whistleblower's concerns came in part from learning information that was not obtained during the course of their work, and those details have played a role in the administration's determination that the complaint didn't fit the reporting requirements under the intelligence whistleblower law, the official said.
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43 minutes ago, triplehorn said:

There is one reason only that I can see that justifies Pelosi's stance of not being a screeching eagle heralding the advent justice and hellfire: she's deliberately attempting to maintain a more reserved wait and see stance in the event that she takes on a higher responsibility than Speaker of the House.

Those paying attention this week should realize Pence has been named as well and is woven into this Whistleblower tapestry.  

If this Whistleblower report IS the counterintelligence investigation that has been running in parallel to the Mueller investigation all along, which essentially came to a halt when Trump ousted Dan Coats followed by Coats interrupting a meeting to inform Deputy DNI Sue Gordon to resign asap, then there's a chance Trump and Pence both are done.  Obviously it depends on what they've got, which we know is a shitload of criminality, corruption, and an potentially an imminent national security threat.  If the whistleblower is Coats, look out.

To maintain basic civil order in such an event, seriously, it behooves Pelosi to not be the tip of the spear in the run-up.

 

Moscow Mitch would sooner suck Barack Obama's dick in front of the Lincoln Memorial that be part of any solution that sees Nancy Pelosi elevated to POTUS. 

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46 minutes ago, triplehorn said:

There is one reason only that I can see that justifies Pelosi's stance of not being a screeching eagle heralding the advent justice and hellfire: she's deliberately attempting to maintain a more reserved wait and see stance in the event that she takes on a higher responsibility than Speaker of the House.

Those paying attention this week should realize Pence has been named as well and is woven into this Whistleblower tapestry.  

If this Whistleblower report IS the counterintelligence investigation that has been running in parallel to the Mueller investigation all along, which essentially came to a halt when Trump ousted Dan Coats followed by Coats interrupting a meeting to inform Deputy DNI Sue Gordon to resign asap, then there's a chance Trump and Pence both are done.  Obviously it depends on what they've got, which we know is a shitload of criminality, corruption, and an potentially an imminent national security threat.  If the whistleblower is Coats, look out.

To maintain basic civil order in such an event, seriously, it behooves Pelosi to not be the tip of the spear in the run-up.

 

we'll see what happens.

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12 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

From the CNN article today. Wut?

 

The whistleblower didn't have direct knowledge of the communications, an official briefed on the matter told CNN. Instead, the whistleblower's concerns came in part from learning information that was not obtained during the course of their work, and those details have played a role in the administration's determination that the complaint didn't fit the reporting requirements under the intelligence whistleblower law, the official said.

Interesting wrinkle

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11 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

From the CNN article today. Wut?

 

The whistleblower didn't have direct knowledge of the communications, an official briefed on the matter told CNN. Instead, the whistleblower's concerns came in part from learning information that was not obtained during the course of their work, and those details have played a role in the administration's determination that the complaint didn't fit the reporting requirements under the intelligence whistleblower law, the official said.

*cough* bullshit *cough*

I mean, what the fuck does it even mean to come across something not in the course of intelligence work? The job is literally getting information.

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43 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

Random fact that I just learned: the current President of Ukraine is a 41 year old actor who spent the four years prior to being elected starring in a television series... as the President of Ukraine.

So the Ukraine is in much better shape leader wise that us.  Like every other world leader, I'm sure he knows he can manipulate our Simpleton in Chief with a little flattery.

 

So tired of winning this hard

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2 minutes ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

I don't see anything about releasing money in that quoted tweet. All I see is that he asked Zelensky 8 times to work with Rudy Giuliani. 

Right, it isn't in that tweet. It has been covered in other articles. Which version is true is obviously important. 

Edited by Dahobbs
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1 minute ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

If they can tie the money to Trump's request, it is very very big.  If they can't, it is not.

It should be big either way.  Bigger if there's money tied to the request.  But regardless, trump asked a foreign government for dirt on a political rival.  Under any sort of norms, that should be impeachable conduct alone.  

Of course, regardless of how bad it is, it just won't matter.

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I strongly suspect that the WSJ source is an admin official, FWIW.

Whether there was an explicit quid pro quo or not, there was definitely an implicit one given the status of US aid.  Which I guess probably goes for every request that we make of another country since the majority of the world suckles at our tit one way or the other.  But the fact that the admin had a hold on the Ukrainian aid elevate the nature of the implication.

 FlimsyPerfectDassierat-size_restricted.g

Edited by Anastasis
derp
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Just now, David Dennison said:

It's still a pretty big deal that he's asking a foreign power to dig up dirt on a political opponent. From the Oval Office, no less.

Polite company handle these sorts of things through screens of lawyers. Trump happens to have terrible lawyers. 

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1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

It's going to be hilarious watching Trump spin this with the "All I wanted is for Ukraine to investigate and root out political corruption influencing US elections" angle. 

Hilarious how?  In the "we all know what he's going to say/do, and it will totally work" kinda way?  Cuz that's the only way.

1 hour ago, Pig Bellmont said:

Doesn't.  Fucking.  Matter.  There is nothing he can do that will cause him be removed from office or resign.  Nothing.  He could fucking declare war on everything west of the Rockies, nuke it to an ashen glow, and the MAGATs would cheer, the Dems would fret, and the GOP would hardly pause to breathe while gargling his cock.

58 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

Look man.  You do a great job of playing the optimistic angel on this board's shoulder, but the quicker you realize that a) the Democrats are pussies, b) nothing will ever happen to any of the bad guys, c) the Democrats are still pussies, and d) most people in this country suck... the better you'll be.  I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but none of this fan fiction will ever happen.

6D40AF1E54B73A9FD01A15C82B77623265ADAE44

 

THERE. IS.  NO.  HAPPY.  ENDING.

This is exactly how a fucking Republic dies.  If there was a goddamned script in a vault, it would read pretty much exactly like this.

Oh wait....there IS such a script...

71CYWG5WSKL._SX288_BO1,204,203,200_.gif

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38 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Lol. This fucking guy.  

When you fear shit is about to blow, it's better to give the appearance of doing something proactively than to appear blatantly defensive and reactionary when it does.  I know you know that.  CYA Mitch.

 

36 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

From the CNN article today. Wut?

 

The whistleblower didn't have direct knowledge of the communications, an official briefed on the matter told CNN. Instead, the whistleblower's concerns came in part from learning information that was not obtained during the course of their work, and those details have played a role in the administration's determination that the complaint didn't fit the reporting requirements under the intelligence whistleblower law, the official said.

Sounds like Coats.  He's the aggregator, not the ears.  Whistleblower status ensures it can't get buried.  Makes it harder to get out, as we're seeing from what Barr is doing running cover for Trump, but it won't get buried. 

 

Edited by triplehorn
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So we have Trump pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden and meet with Rudy.  There is a conflict about whether the $$$$ for investigation demand was made.  They meet with Rudy twice.  Rudy delivers the investigate or no money demand in person more than likely?  Then when the story gets a little public traction, the Trump administration decides to release the funds previously approved by Congress months ago?

 

Edited by deech
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1 hour ago, Slade said:

If the Dems, especially Pelosi, can't wake up and smell the manure from this White House then I'm going to see if I can donate to Nancy's opponent.

This is fucking blatant as the day is long. Trump has already said on multiple occasions that he has no issue with receiving help from foreign governments for campaign benefits against his opponents, this is known. That he would even go to the Ukrainians with his should not be surprising or outside of the realm of possibility given what we know about Trump and how he moves. 

While the Democrats are busy in "wait and see" mode and hoping against hope that the Republicans in Congress will somehow grow a conscious the Trump regime (Trump Administration) and the Trump Crime Family (Trump Organization) is busy consolidating its autocratic power.

 

We are teetering on the edge to authoritarianism, and I don't think I'm being hyperbolic here. Good thing Trump is an idiot who will tell on himself in plain sight and doesn't have control of both house. But this kind of behavior from a President opens the door for a more cunning and disciplined person with those kind of authoritarian inclinations. 

 

 

Democrats are waiting for Trump to begin impeachment hearings on himself.  Maybe then, they'll know whether he's impeachable or not.  Probably not but a strong maybe.  Or maybe he'll shoot a few of them and test his theory. 

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