Whether it ends in conviction in the House of Representatives or not, impeachment is now on. The release of the whistlebower’s complaint and the intelligence chief’s appearing at a Congressional hearing about it have now created a snowball effect.
The whistleblower’s complaint has been jarring to Democrats and to some Republicans, but partisan lines are not greatly blurred on this issue yet (just look at Twitter or turn on MSNBC and CNN, then Fox). The Los Angeles Times:
WASHINGTON — The whistleblower whose allegations of improper conduct by President Trump toward Ukraine kicked off the House’s impeachment effort feared that the White House was trying to “lock down” records of the president’s actions to shield them from scrutiny.
In the days after Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, White House officials took unusual steps to secure the transcript of the call, the whistleblower said in the written complaint, a redacted version of which was released Thursday by the House Intelligence Committee. In the call, Trump asked Zelensky to do him a “favor” and help investigate his political opponents, especially former Vice President Joe Biden.White House officials said the effort to keep the Ukraine call under wraps was “not the first time” extra steps had been taken “for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive — rather than national security sensitive — information,” the whistleblower wrote.
“White House officials told me that they were ‘directed’ by White House lawyers to remove the electronic transcript from the computer system in which such transcripts are typically stored,” the complaint said. “The transcript was loaded into a separate electronic system that is otherwise used to store and handle classified information of an especially sensitive nature.”
According to the whistleblower, one official described this as “an abuse” because the call “did not contain anything remotely sensitive from a national security perspective.”
That was one piece of a wide-ranging complaint that expressed fears Trump was hijacking U.S. foreign policy for personal gain.
The redacted version of the complaint was released shortly before the House Intelligence Committee was scheduled to begin a public hearing with Joseph Maguire, the director of national intelligence.
Trump, who is in New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, did not immediately comment on the release of the complaint. But in a closed-door reception for members of the U.S. mission to the U.N., he lashed out at Biden and the media.
GO HERE to read the entire complaint for yourself.
Well, at least now we know where to look. https://t.co/0mZZ9IRpha
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) September 26, 2019
DNI just said that the most urgent threat America faces is not a military strike from a foreign nation but an attempt to undermine the integrity of our election system. Let that sink in.
— John Avlon (@JohnAvlon) September 26, 2019
A president who got 2.9 million fewer votes is being protected by a Senate majority where Republicans got 12 million fewer votes than Democrats in 2018
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) September 26, 2019
*RELATED FACTS*
1. This is the first time in history a DNI has refused to turn over an intelligence community whistleblower complaint to Congress pursuant to statute.
2. Here, the DNI went *first* to the two subjects of the complaint, the White House and DOJ.
Connect the dots.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) September 26, 2019
Now go ahead GOP & Fox, start attacking the whistleblower. It's the next page in your very short playbook.
Alternatively, you could defend the constitution.
— David Jolly (@DavidJollyFL) September 26, 2019
This is the moment in which Republicans will have to decide if @realDonaldTrump IS the party. He is asking Republicans to put party over country and defend the indefensible. https://t.co/96ueixkrhr
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) September 26, 2019
When it comes to destroying the Republican Party, you are doing a fine job all on your own https://t.co/ySakcK2tCr
— Doug Mataconis (@dmataconis) September 26, 2019
This is our Watergate. Let’s hope it ends similarly.
— Rogue WH Snr Advisor (@RogueSNRadvisor) September 26, 2019
There is nothing "conservative" about the Republican Party we're seeing in these hearings. It's a party that exists to promote and protect Donald Trump.
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) September 26, 2019
I’ve read the #WhistleblowerComplaint. It’s absolutely clear, the President broke the law. Then his staff tried to cover it up.
The President is running the White House like the mafia. Impeach.
— Congressman Tim Ryan (@RepTimRyan) September 26, 2019
This is a Republican member, speaking directly to Trump. https://t.co/DH6rGzotYn
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) September 26, 2019
Multiple crimes was committed by the President of the United States. Democrats want to get to the bottom of it and Republicans want to cover it up.
It really is that simple.
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) September 26, 2019
This is as bad, if not worse, than Watergate. Instead of hiring burglars to investigate political rival Trump asked a foreign government to do it for him & then tried to cover it up
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) September 26, 2019
To follow web and blog reaction to this story go HERE or just scan down the entire page on memeorandum.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.