Tag: Trump corruption in plain sight

Instead of ‘No Collusion!’ Trump Now Seems to Be Saying, So What

New York Times logoWASHINGTON — The last time he was accused of collaborating with a foreign power to influence an election, he denied it and traveled the country practically chanting, “No collusion!” This time, he is saying, in effect, so what if I did?

Even for a leader who has audaciously disregarded many of the boundaries that restrained his predecessors, President Trump’s appeal to a foreign power for dirt on former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is an astonishing breach of the norms governing the American presidency.

That his phone call with Ukraine’s leader took place literally the day after the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III testified to Congress about Russian interference in the 2016 election demonstrated that Mr. Trump took no lessons from that episode about the perils and propriety of mixing his own political interests with international relations.

View the complete September 23 article by Peter Baker on The New York Times website here.

Inspector General Rebuts Trump Excuses For Silencing Intel Whistleblower

A top official in the intelligence community has disputed the factual basis for the Trump administration’s suppression of a whistleblower complaint believed to regard the potential misconduct of the president himself, a new letter released Thursday revealed.

The letter was made public by House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA). He is locked into a fierce and potentially explosive dispute with an array of forces within the administration to obtain the complaint, which was made through proper channels by an intelligence official last month to the community’s inspector general. Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson determined that the complaint was “credible” and “urgent,” and subsequent reporting from the Washington Post found that it concerns a “promise” made by Trump in communication with a foreign leader.

But acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, who is supposed to take such urgent complaints from the IG to Congress, has refused to turn over the documents after consulting with the Justice Department about the matter. DNI General Counsel, in consultation with the DOJ, told Schiff and the committee that the law doesn’t require “disclosure of the complaint to the intelligence committees” because it did not concern “allegations of conduct by a member of the intelligence community or involve intelligence activity under the DNI’s supervision.”

View the complete September 19 article by Cody Fenwick from AlterNet on the National Memo website here.

Why Ukraine being the focus of Trump’s whistleblower complaint is particularly ominous

Washington Post logoAs of Wednesday night, everyone was speculating about which foreign country President Trump might have made a “promise” to — a commitment that prompted a U.S. intelligence community whistleblower to lodge a mysterious complaint.

The answer to that question is an ominous one for Trump and his supporters when it comes to what lies ahead. And that goes particularly for his 2020 reelection bid, even as we still know very little about the actual complaint.

The Washington Post broke the story late Wednesday that the whistleblower’s complaint dealt with the president and a “promise” he made to a foreign leader. And as The Post’s Ellen Nakashima, Shane Harris, Greg Miller and Carol D. Leonnig again scooped Thursday night, the complaint is focused on Ukraine:

View the complete September 20 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.

Democrats to seek ways to compel release of Trump whistleblower complaint

The Hill logoHouse Democrats are sounding the alarm after an intelligence community watchdog testified behind closed doors Thursday about the handling of a whistleblower complaint that is said to relate to a conversation President Trump had with a foreign leader.

Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said the committee would consider a series of remedies to compel acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Joseph Maguire to share the complaint with Congress, which comes after Intelligence Community (IC) Inspector General Michael Atkinson said he found this whistleblower had brought forward a credible and “urgent concern.”

Schiff says the law requires Maguire to share the complaint with Congress no later than seven days after the director receives the allegations from the inspector general (IG).

View the complete September 19 article by Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.

Top Democrat threatens legal action if intelligence chief doesn’t share whistleblower complaint

Washington Post logoHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) warned of possible legal action Thursday if intelligence officials did not share a potentially explosive whistleblower complaint prompted by President Trump’s interactions with a foreign leader.

Schiff called acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire’s refusal to share the complaint with Congress “unprecedented” and said he understood the Justice Department was involved in that decision.

“We cannot get an answer to the question about whether the White House is also involved in preventing this information from coming to Congress,” Schiff said, adding: “We’re determined to do everything we can to determine what this urgent concern is to make sure that the national security is protected.”

View the complete September 19 article by John Wagner and Karoun Demirjian on The Washington Post website here.