Day 973: Whistleblower complaint regarding Trump could expose bribery, even treason
Trump’s chat with Ukrainian leader under severe scrutiny.
It’s not hyperbolic to say that if the current rumblings and dot-connecting against Donald Trump turn out to be true, it could be one of the biggest scandals in the history of the American presidency.
A whistleblower in the intelligence community filed a report that Trump made an illicit “promise” to a foreign leader.
The whistleblower complaint that has triggered a tense showdown between the U.S. intelligence community and Congress involves President Trump’s communications with a foreign leader, according to two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Trump’s interaction with the foreign leader included a “promise” that was regarded as so troubling that it prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community, said the former officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Reports on Thursday indicated that the foreign leader was Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, leading to speculation about the nature of the “promise.”
Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Guiliani, first denied that he asked Ukraine to drum up an investigation into the Biden family before immediately doing a 180 and admitting he did ask.
Giuliani continued melting down on national TV with nonsensical arguments and defenses to the allegations.
Biden is a potential opponent for Trump in the 2020 election. If the “promise” made by Trump included American dollars or support in exchange for an investigation into a political foe, it’s not just bribery, it’s treason. It’s attempting to use foreign influence to undercut the democratic process for personal gain.
Even without dangling something, trying to push a foreign nation into opening a probe against a foe is likely, at the very least, an impeachable offense.
Meanwhile, revealing just how concerned they are about the contents in the report, the Justice Department is trying to bury it. However, Democrats are vowing to do what’s necessary to get it.
House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff vowed Thursday he is willing to sue the Trump administration over a dispute about the content of an as-yet-unknown complaint to the intelligence community’s official watchdog.
Schiff told reporters after a closed-door meeting with the inspector general, Michael Atkinson, that the Justice Department has opined that the material is shielded by privilege and can be withheld from lawmakers.
The Trump administration will do whatever they can to try and make this whole thing go away. But as the hours tick by, it continues to grow in magnitude and gain even more national attention. This will be a huge story over the coming days, weeks and months.
It may be inevitable that the full report will come out at some point. But with so much to lose, this will likely be a very nasty fight to determine if a sitting president committed bribery to take down a political foe.
973 days in, 489 to go
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