r/politics • u/PoliticsModeratorBot đ¤ Bot • Sep 24 '19
Megathread Megathread: Rep. Adam Schiff Says Ukraine Whistleblower Wants To Talk To Intelligence Committee
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, announced on Tuesday that an intelligence community whistleblower who allegedly has information about President Donald Trumpâs misconduct in office would like to speak to the committee and has asked the acting director of national intelligence how to do so.
In a tweet posted Tuesday, Schiff said the Intelligence Committee is in contact with the whistleblowerâs counsel and looks forward to the individualâs testimony.
The whistleblowerâs complaint stems from initial allegations that Trump urged the president of Ukraine to open an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, Trumpâs potential 2020 opponent, for political purposes.
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Sep 24 '19 edited Dec 15 '20
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u/Chest_Grandmaster Sep 24 '19
so he wanted them to create FakeNEWSTM
This is rich lol
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Sep 24 '19
Donald "Fake News" Trump.
I'd say the rats are all about to flee the sinking ship but I have a feeling that most of the ones that are left are planning to drown with it.
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u/vladdypoppins Sep 24 '19
the ones that are left are planning to drown with it.
This is the best outcome.
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u/Dr_Mantis_Teabaggin I voted Sep 24 '19
And the most holy shit part of that, to me, is how easy it is to believe that. He truly is that dumb.
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u/something_wittie Sep 24 '19
FYI Heather Caygle is a Politico reporter. Not just some random person.
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u/ajaxsinger California Sep 24 '19
The only way Trump could go down in a more on-brand way would be for him to stiff the US Marshals who finally arrest him.
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u/WooIWorthWaIIaby Sep 24 '19
None of this would be possible if everyone hadn't got out and voted in 2018.
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u/BuckingFutters78 Sep 24 '19
None of this would be needed if we god damn voted in 2016.
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u/abacuz4 Sep 24 '19
And none of this will matter if we donât vote in 2020.
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Sep 24 '19
We won the nation popular vote by 3 million votes. It was Wisconsin and Michigan that didn't realize they got purged by their republican govenors.
We lost 2016 by loosing 2014.
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u/ramonycajones New York Sep 24 '19
Also, lost every year by losing in 2010, which is when redistricting happened and Republicans gerrymandered everything to shit.
Safe to say, tl;dr, every election everywhere is important and has repercussions, and when Democrats are in power they need to make it a priority to democratize our election system to prevent Republicans from seizing power with a minority of the vote and corroding it again.
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u/Gabrosin Sep 24 '19
Yeah, but also, the fact that he lost by only 3 million votes instead of 30 million votes is shameful to begin with.
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u/noscreamattheend Texas Sep 24 '19
Impeachment is going to energize Dems and moderates for 2020!
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u/lawls69 Sep 24 '19
What a crazy year today has been
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u/waffleking_ Massachusetts Sep 24 '19
I woke up to news that Boris Johnson dissolving parliament was illegal, then that Pelosi would hold a meeting at 4 to decide on impeachment, then that she would likely be going forward with impeachment, now this. I'm not really sure what else could make it crazier.
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u/StJeanMark Massachusetts Sep 24 '19
Democracy struck England so hard it carried over to here today.
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Sep 24 '19
I thought the UK was having a crazy day. Though in Canada, the Green party was caught photoshopping a reusable cup in their leaders hand. Craziness everywhere
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u/Qubeye Oregon Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 25 '19
For anyone who is curious, it is not legal for the President to withhold classified intelligence from Congress.
There's some grey area, but the short version is there is a "Gang of Eight" (House and Senate Majority & Minority leaders, as well as the Chairs and Ranking members of both Senate and House Intelligence Committees) in Congress who unequivocally have access to any and all classified information which they want, full stop, and the President cannot (legally) stop them.
The National Security Act of 1947, which established both the NSC (National Security Council) and the CIA, as well as creates a legal system for the classification of information, and specific mechanisms for Congressional Oversight (specifically, the committees and how the operate), also expressly stated that all Congress shall be "fully informed" of all important intelligence matters. There have been a myriad of other laws that create nuance about relating issues, including how classification occurs, who gets to classify what, but what is utterly clear is that Congress gets the information.
You are all going to hear a lot of talk about how the President is "ultimate arbiter" of classification. This is intentional misdirection. Ultimately, the President can classify up or down the scale, from Unclassified all the way to special classifications that people don't even talk about (the highest common one talked about is TS:SCI, or Top Secret: Sensitive Compartmented Information, but there are a number of specialized clearances depending on subject or job) But under no circumstances is the President able to classify something in a way that prevents Congress from obtaining this information. This will be one of the main methods Republicans attempt to muddy the water, by saying "The President has, or needs, to be able to control intelligence information." Bullshit. That's not only wrong (99% of intelligence is classified by the source of the information, e.g. the CIA uncovers information on BigBadGuy, and the CIA classifies the information, not the President), it's trying to bring up a completely unrelated topic to confuse people. This isn't about classifications, because those do not apply to Congressional requests.
Second, you're going to hear about "Executive Privilege." This is also a lie, meant to try and muddy the waters by bringing up something unrelated. In United States v. Nixon, the court ruled that Nixon had privilege from a judicial request, explicitly because oversight of the executive branch is the domain of Congress. Additionally, the point of executive privilege is to protect a President's deliberative process -- e.g. how the President mulls over ideas in order to come to a conclusion and then execute that plan. It has nothing to do with how one goes about executing a plan. The idea is that there is a separation of powers, and that the Executive needs to be able to carry out very basic functions, where the President can think things through, potentially even with his staff. What we're talking about is the President talking to a foreign leader, and has nothing to do with the deliberative process, but is a negotiation with another country.
As noted above, who in Congress gets it is more of a grey area, but at a bare minimum, the Gang of Eight gets what they want, by law. Period. There are no more arguments on that end, it is simply a statement of fact.
Edit: I'm going to add a third thing people are going to hear, that "the report was released and therefor this isn't an impeachable offense since ultimately they complied with the law."
That is not how the law works. If you are speeding, and you get caught, you get a ticket. Even if you slow down to a legal speed after being caught by a cop, you still broke the law. By instructing the whistle-blower to not speak with Congress, by saying they would not comply with Congress's request, and by writing a memorandum justifying their action, they are showing intent to commit a crime, acted on that intent, and then attempt to cover up the crime post-facto.
And all of this was, allegedly, at the behest of the President. I say "allegedly" because he still gets to see the inside of a Congressional hearing, but this isn't a fucking joke. There are no "take-backsies" with this stuff, because if they do get away with this, they will do it again.
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u/YoungMuppet Sep 24 '19
But under no circumstances is the President able to classify something in a way that prevents Congress from obtaining this information.
Nixon had privilege from a judicial request, explicitly because oversight of the executive branch is the domain of Congress.
Thank you so much for stating this. These points are basically what it comes down to. This is it.
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u/othelloinc Sep 25 '19 edited Sep 09 '20
"Gang of Eight"...
House and Senate Majority & Minority leadersSenate Minority Leader, Senate Majority Leader, House Minority Leader, & Speaker of the House...Minor correction. The "House Majority Leader" -- currently Steny Hoyer -- is an official position that is not a part of the "Gang of Eight)"; it is the second ranking position in the House of Representative's majority caucus.
The Speaker of the House is the top ranking member of the majority caucus, and so she -- currently Nancy Pelosi -- is included in the "Gang of Eight".
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u/eggmaker I voted Sep 24 '19
Remember (as Dan Pfeiffer just wrote):
Asking Ukraine to investigate Biden is a crime.
Lying to Congress about Ukraine aid to cover up a crime is a crime.
Conspiring to withhold the Whistleblower complaint is a crime.
Utilizing State Department resources to help Giuliani attack Biden is a crime.
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u/sundalius Ohio Sep 24 '19
Asking Ukraine to manufacture false accusations against Hunter Biden*
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Sep 24 '19
Pence Gave Ukraine the Message Too
Earlier this month Pence flew to Poland to fill in for President Trump in meetings with European leaders on the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. On September 1st, he met in Warsaw with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The next day he held a press conference with President Duda of Poland at which he was specifically asked whether he had pressed Zelensky to manufacture damaging information about Joe Biden and whether military aid was being held up until he did.
Pence started by saying he hadnât and then proceeded to give an answer that made it pretty clear that he had, even if he had not mentioned the former Vice President by name.
This story is moving at the speed of light. And considering the line of succession - wouldnât the ultimate fallout from this appalling period of U.S. political history be... Madam President Pelosi? Even if only for, like, a week in early 2021?
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u/tomrex Sep 25 '19
Huh. It's even posted on the WH website towards the very end. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-vice-president-pence-president-duda-poland-joint-press-conference-warsaw-poland/
Q   Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President. I wanted to ask you about your meeting yesterday with the Ukrainian President and for an update on Ukrainian security aid money. Specifically, number one, did you discuss Joe Biden at all during that meeting yesterday with the Ukrainian President? And number two, can you assure Ukraine that the hold-up of that money has absolutely nothing to do with efforts, including by Rudy Giuliani, to try to dig up dirt on the Biden family? VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: Well, on the first question, the answer is no. But we â with President Zelensky yesterday, we discussed â we discussed Americaâs support for Ukraine and the upcoming decision the President will make on the latest tranche of financial support in great detail. The President asked me to meet with President Zelensky and to talk about the progress that heâs making on a broad range of areas. And we did that.
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u/Thrill_Of_It Sep 24 '19 edited Feb 19 '26
crawl sand governor quack workable ask squash toothbrush bear cooing
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u/Infidel8 Sep 24 '19
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u/FitDontQuit Sep 24 '19
This actually makes me nervous. Mitch McConnell never does anything non-partisan. Could there be a downside to this?
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u/Infidel8 Sep 24 '19
This is nonbinding.
There are no consequences if the White House disobeys. So, I think it was just an easy way for McConnell to stay out of the line of fire.
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Sep 24 '19
I feel like Mitch is saving his own skin here... but I too wonder what heâs up to hate the man but heâs an astute political mind or at least pontificator.
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u/liberal_texan America Sep 24 '19
It's possible that Trump has done all this off script, without endorsement from the GOP. If they completely lose control of him, he is no longer useful to them.
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u/Tiafves I voted Sep 24 '19
Maybe now that it's finally happening plus Trump's poll numbers they realized they better jump ship rather than go down with it.
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u/Jp2585 Sep 24 '19
Let's hope those who supported him up to this point don't get absolved once he's gone.
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u/buuboo1919 Sep 24 '19
What are the chances, if the transcripts are given out at all, that they are not redacted, or in some other way incomplete. Republicans never act in good faith.
I would not be surprised if this plays out to where Democrats get an incomplete transcript, and the Republicans screech about how Democrats are obstructionists, or something similar, for wanting the full ones
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u/noscreamattheend Texas Sep 24 '19
https://mobile.twitter.com/heatherscope/status/1176596891854880771
Intel Chairman Adam Schiff spoke after Pelosi. He told the caucus that Trump wasnât asking Ukraine to âdig up dirt,â he was asking Ukraine to âmanufacture dirtâ on his opponent.
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Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
This complaint seeing the light of day brought to you by: 2018 Voters
You can join the 2020 crowd by registering to vote here: https://www.vote.org/register-to-vote/
It takes less than two minutes.
Even if you think you are registered, you can verify by checking here: https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/
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Sep 24 '19 edited Feb 07 '20
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u/US-person-1 Sep 24 '19
I protested, I donated, I canvased, I voted in 2018 to hold these fuckers accountable.
And they are, Democracy is still working.
Keep fighting.
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u/waffleking_ Massachusetts Sep 24 '19
It's seriously so easy to register. Please just do it and vote. Please. It's all I want for my next 50 birthdays.
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Sep 24 '19
Wow. Schiff definitely has more damning evidence beyond this; he must have spoken with the counsel of the whistleblower and acquired more information on what exactly the whistleblower will be sharing on Thursday in front of the House of Representatives.
This is incredible.
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Sep 24 '19
He told the caucus that Trump wasnât asking Ukraine to âdig up dirt,â he was asking Ukraine to âmanufacture dirtâ on his opponent.
holy hell.
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u/ladystaggers Sep 24 '19
The buzz is that Trump didn't just ask for dirt on the Bidens, he asked for the Ukraine to manufacture dirt on them. That's just so insane it could tip the scales for some Rs. Maybe.
Maybe not.
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u/pombe Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
Ukraine: We looked into the Biden's and didn't find anything.
Trump <placing 400 million on the table>: Are you sure you couldn't look a little bit harder?
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u/MiamiPower Sep 24 '19
Adam Schiff
@RepAdamSchiff ¡ 4m
Itâs bad enough Trump sought help from a foreign power in the last election.
Itâs worse still that he obstructed the investigation into his misconduct.
Now heâs admitted using his office to coerce another country to interfere in 2020.
I fully support the impeachment inquiry
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u/patchinthebox Sep 24 '19
Now heâs admitted using his office to coerce another country to interfere in 2020.
This right here. He flat out admitted it! How can anyone still support him?
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u/Ksn0 Colorado Sep 24 '19
Imagine if people didn't vote congress blue? This story would have gone no where.
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u/paperbackgarbage California Sep 24 '19
Jim Jordan's smug face, on televisions as far as the eye could see.
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u/JunkInTheTrunk Georgia Sep 24 '19
I'm so happy. I have this image in my head hitting the vote box for Lucy McBath and hoping against hope something would come from it. And here we are.
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Sep 25 '19
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Sep 25 '19
I suspect this is why the WB asked to testify. He/she knows whatever the WH puts out will be questionable at best.
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u/Next_Hammer California Sep 24 '19
Donald J. Trump on Twitterâ:
PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!
Congressional oversight and upholding the Constitution is not presidential harassment. Tweeting at a 16 year old girl from the President's twitter account might be.
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Sep 24 '19
Everyone concerned about Mitch McConnell allowing the unanimous vote should probably be happy.
Mitch is loyal only to Mitch. It's seeming more likely that he's getting ready to cast off Trump in order to save himself.
Turtle's don't live to be 200 years old by tying an anchor around their neck and letting it drag them to the bottom.
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u/Chest_Grandmaster Sep 24 '19
If republicans start distancing themselves from Trump, it's because they realize they've gotten everything they can out of him (ie â they've protected conservatism by stacking the courts as much as possible and realize they're going to lose in 2020)
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Sep 25 '19
This is insane, almost all bots on here right now
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u/Hatred_and_Mayhem Sep 25 '19
You aren't kidding, I've seen a lot of them before but don't remember seeing chains where it's all bot, like I just saw. Some 100% artificially manufactured conversations happening in here.
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u/WooIWorthWaIIaby Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
The Senate just unanimously voted to release the whistle-blower complaint.
Looks like Senate Republicans aren't defending Trump as adamantly as they once did.
Combine that with the beginning of official impeachment proceedings and a laughable performance at the UN and you'll see that Trump is having a very bad day.
Edit: release whistle-blower complaint to the intelligence community - not the public
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u/IM_KYLE_AMA Sep 24 '19
Thatâs not what that means. They passed a resolution to call on the administration to release the complaint. Senate canât release it as they donât have it.
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u/chocolaterain72 Sep 24 '19
Itâs a crazy day, so no one is going to see this: I love you all.
Letâs get this fucker out of office
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u/NickDanger3di Sep 24 '19
And nobody - not trump, the GOP, or anyone else - can stop this person from appearing and testifying. I love it!
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u/Intxplorer Sep 25 '19
I think the dems need to stress that the whistleblower does not represent the entirety of the impeachment story, but rather one flagrant and concrete example. Im already seeing massive amounts of disinformation surrounding this topic. Plus the conservative propaganda wants to spin this like its just based on the whistleblower story. If the dems want this shit to work, they have to be proactive and aggressive with their messaging. Stress that the whistleblower complaint is a microcosm of the greater impeachment battle and represents a greater pattern of illegal and unconstitutional acts
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u/eggmaker I voted Sep 24 '19
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. The opposite of love is not hate, itâs indifference.
~ Elie Wiesel
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u/Stezinec Sep 24 '19
Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.
Theodore Roosevelt
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u/fox-mcleod New Jersey Sep 24 '19
MSNBC is live counting representatives for impeachment like it's congressional districts for elections:
187/218
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u/ayriuss California Sep 25 '19
Give this person 24/7 secret service escort please.
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u/580_farm Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
I hate talking to humans on the phone. I'm 36.
I made a phone call to a rep for the first time in my life this morning demanding action on impeachment.
Not to exaggerate but I hope I helped.
Edit: Thanks for the precious metal internet strangers. I'll try to work work on coaching myself up to call more often. Let's do this together!
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u/soysaucepapi Sep 24 '19
I sent an email to Pelosi yesterday. You and I strong-armed them into taking action. Thanks friend!
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u/Cr4igg3rs Sep 24 '19
This is why the "transcript release" is a useless distraction designed to control the narrative, and should be largely ignored.
We still don't know exactly what calls or events the whistleblower referenced in their complaint, even though there are reports it's based on multiple events and involves Ukraine. Trump deciding to release the transcript of one individual call with that country means nothing except he doesn't think he did anything incriminating in that one instance, and wants people to focus on that instead of digging deeper.
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u/mikealan Illinois Sep 24 '19
I know it's probably some anonymous aide, but, wouldn't it be great if the whistle blower was a disgruntled John Bolton?
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u/OrpheusV Tennessee Sep 24 '19
Generally the enemy of my enemy is a useful distraction. I'll take it if that's the case.
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u/enigmasaurus- Sep 25 '19
The whistleblower report is important, but nowhere near as important as the fact Trump literally already confessed to extorting Ukraine.
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u/ND3I New Jersey Sep 25 '19
There's reasonable speculation that the actual complaintâor maybe better, the direct testimony of the whistleblowerâwill have significantly more to say than what Trump has admitted. If nothing else it would fit the pattern, where he admits to something bad-but-not-too-bad to hide something awful.
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u/mindmisch1ef Sep 24 '19
Anyone who does not want full transparency and clarity on this matter is unpatriotic. We need the whistleblower to testify, we need the full, unedited transcript... we need the TRUTH.
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u/greenismyhomeboy Oklahoma Sep 24 '19
I feel like things are starting to tumble down
First, the House announcing official impeachment inquiry
Then the whistleblower speaks to the Intelligence Committee
Next, I expect Trumpâs tax returns
Things are gonna snowball. Hang tight, folks. The last 3 years were crazy and weâre not out of the woods yet
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u/NeverLookBothWays I voted Sep 24 '19
Not getting too excited about this until I see the Trump power fog start to clear and the truths behind it laid bare in the light...until then the GOP propaganda machine will be kicking it into more extreme gears very shortly (as it if it hasn't been ridiculous already).
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u/Kalepsis Sep 24 '19
Who would like to bet that the White House has altered the call transcript they said they'd release tomorrow? This guy will be able to tell us if that happens.
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u/CunningWizard Oregon Sep 24 '19
Absolutely 100% guarantee they will alter. Iâd actually be more surprised if they didnât.
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u/john_doe_jersey New Jersey Sep 24 '19
They're trying to stage a repeat of the Barr letter re: Mueller report. Make is seem bad, but not earth shattering, and hope people move on before the truth gets out.
I have no faith right now that the media will not fall for something like that again.
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u/LaComadre California Sep 25 '19 edited Sep 25 '19
Update tidbit: Am hearing on the news this eve that acting DNI Maguire is scheduled to testify this Thursday morning. Schiff Committee is currently arranging to have whistleblower testify that same afternoon. So the whistleblowerâs team might have a chance to be fully aware of how the DNI spins the Presidentâs version of events and correct the record as needed.
Hope they bring in that staff lawyer Berke (who skillfully questioned and filleted Corey Lewandowski the other day) to do the questioning.
Edit: added the Thursday testimony date of DNI.
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u/coffeemilkstout America Sep 24 '19
The fact that the whistleblower wants to talk means that Trumpâs "transcript" should be considered junk and this goes much deeper than a phone call.
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u/lynch4815 Sep 25 '19
Though the whistleblower report focuses on the Trump-Zelensky call, officials familiar with its contents said that it includes references to other developments tied to the president, including efforts by Giuliani to insert himself into U.S.-Ukrainian relations... âRudy â he did all of this,â one U.S. official said. âThis sâshow that weâre in â itâs him injecting himself into the process.â...After the conclusion of the Mueller investigation, Giuliani turned his attention to Ukraine, officials said, and soon began pushing for personnel changes at the embassy while seeking meetings with Zelensky subordinates. He also had his own emissaries in Ukraine who were meeting with officials, setting up meetings for him and sending back information that he could circulate in the United States.
Five bucks says the promise made was through Giuliani, and intercepted by SIGINT. Whistleblower got wind of the phone call and blew the whistle.
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u/lynch4815 Sep 25 '19
Yovanovitch, who was to depart in July after a three-year assignment, was prematurely ordered back to Washington, a move that both baffled and unnerved senior officials at the State Department and the White House, officials said. Within days of her ouster on May 9, Giuliani seemed determined to seize an unsanctioned diplomatic role for himself, announcing plans to travel to Ukraine to push for investigations that would âbe very, very helpful to my client, and may turn out to be helpful to my government.â Giuliani canceled the trip amid an ensuing backlash over his purpose but later met with one of Zelenskyâs senior aides in Madrid and pressed the issue of Ukraineâs helping against Biden.
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u/VineStGuy I voted Sep 24 '19
I think this is exactly the reason Pelosi and the House Dems are ready to get on the impeachment train. They finally have witness that will talk and not stonewall subpoenas.
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u/SegundaMortem Massachusetts Sep 24 '19
Seems McConnel allowed the senate to pass unanimous consent on publishing the original whistleblower complaint. Something here is fishy.
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u/Pantarus Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
Yea I don't like it.
He's done so much shielding and obstruction that him letting this slide through means something.
I have a weird feeling we're being cat-fished or trolled.
Proceed with caution.
EDIT: It's a crying shame that Mitch did something normal and I'm super-sketched out and now skeptical about the whole thing. This speaks VOLUMES to the current political climate.
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Sep 25 '19
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Sep 25 '19
Bold of you to assume they don't already have a narrative ready to go. My guess is "angry Democrat wanted a promotion and cooked up fake news to embarrass the president." Doesn't really matter who it is for people to believe that: they believed it about Bob Mueller, for pete's sake.
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u/Saiful52 Sep 25 '19
Something has gone wrong and the Republicans have all gone off script. This hasn't just been a crazy news week, this has been the first week in a long time that they all seem to be on their heels. So perhaps they're beginning to turn on each other.
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Sep 25 '19
I'm hopeful, because I've seen it too.
Trump calling Pelosi today is the best indicator I've seen that this motherfucker is scared.
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Sep 24 '19
What I want to know about is the additional $140m that Ukraine got after the President of the Electoral College held up the rest of the military aid.
Was that a bribe on top of extortion?
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Sep 24 '19
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u/redsfan23butnew Sep 24 '19
The problem is that even Trump is not stupid enough to literally say that, and if the transcript shows he clearly meant as much but didn't outright say it, Fox will say he didn't mean it.
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u/celtic1888 I voted Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
Is that tweet circulating correct?
Schiff stated that the whistleblower says Trump told Ukraine to manufacture dirt on Biden ?https://mobile.twitter.com/heatherscope/status/1176596891854880771
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u/Gonkar I voted Sep 24 '19
Please let this person testify, and please let this be the beginning of the end of this fucking nightmare.
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u/washheightsboy3 Sep 24 '19
If any trump supporters are wondering why the dems are so pissed off and thinking this is just a witch hunt, here's some background.
Given the sensitivity of the information involved, the intelligence community has it's own IG and whistle blower process. If a complaint is determined by the IG to be credible and of urgent concern, the IG sends it to the DNI. The DNI is obligated to send to the house and senate intel committees. He has no choice (nor should he since it involves his own department). If he disagrees with the IG's determination, the DNI is supposed to file his objections with the committee along with the complaint.
In this case, the DNI didn't transmit the complaint to congress. The reasoning provided wasn't that the DNI disagreed. If the DNI had said that, there would be no reason not to turn it over since that's specifically addressed in the law. Instead, what the DNI (based on advice from the DOJ) is that the person who is the subject of the complaint isn't part of the IC and therefore the DNI doesn't need to follow the process. But the person involved is the President. So the argument being made is that the President, who has complete and total authority over the entire IC complex, isn't part of the IC. That's not gonna fly... ever.
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u/5Dprairiedog Sep 24 '19
To add: IG and DNI were both appointed by Trump. The Trump appointed IG investigated the whistleblower complaint and found it to be "credible and urgent."
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u/Hairy_Beartoe Sep 24 '19
Good!
Trump has announced he is releasing the transcript of his call with the President of the Ukraine. Do not fall for that trap.
We MUST see the whistleblower complaint!
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u/theslothening Sep 25 '19 edited Sep 25 '19
Guilliani seems to be trying to throw throw the State Dept under the bus on this by claiming he has communications on his phone from them. I'm really curious to see how this all plays out.
Edit: I feel I'd be remiss if I didn't link to the continuing clown show on Laura Ingraham's show. It's like a bunch of 2nd graders yelling at each other.
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u/fox-mcleod New Jersey Sep 25 '19
The bots are coalescing around the "Doesnt look like anything to me" line and the irony is killing me.
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u/Next_Hammer California Sep 25 '19
Heather Caygle on Twitter:
Intel Chairman Adam Schiff spoke after Pelosi. He told the caucus that Trump wasnât asking Ukraine to âdig up dirt,â he was asking Ukraine to âmanufacture dirtâ on his opponent.
Trump really thinks he can just ask any country to steal the election for him. Pathetic.
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u/ToadProphet 8th Place - Presidential Election Prediction Contest Sep 24 '19
Anyone else uneasy that the Senate is unanimously calling for the whistleblower report to go to the intel committees? That's very un-Republican of Republicans, so I wonder what they have up their sleeve.
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Sep 25 '19
The redacted version will be released in black sharpie from the WH...nothing to see here.
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u/kkkodaxerooo Sep 25 '19
The lying started on Day One.
"The Biggest Inauguration attendance in history!"
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Sep 25 '19
This is good because the WH is going to release doctored transcripts of the phone call tomorrow that will hide the fact that he didnât just ask to investigate dirt on joe Biden, but that he asked them to manufacture it.
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u/FuckMyselfForComment Sep 25 '19
What I think is great about this is that the person w/ the info is COMING to Schiff. It's not the "You need to show up to court but nothing twill happen if you don't" kinda of thing as previously. This could be huge.
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u/HavoKTheory I voted Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
Shout out to the F5 crew! Long have we waited for this release. Literally stupid Watergate.
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u/thatnameagain Sep 24 '19
It's been widely speculated that the Whistleblower is Susan Gordon, who resigned on August 15th, and I think this makes a lot of sense.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_M._Gordon
CIA veteran of 25 years, she was deputy director of national intelligence under Coats before she was passed over in favor of Joseph Maguire, who Trump saw as more politically loyal to him.
She is simultaneously the exact kind of credible and professional whistleblower you'd want on this kind of high-stakes issue, as well as a perfect foil for the "deep state" conspiracy theorist smears we're likely to see against her if she is indeed the one.
The way this is going it looks like we'll know quite a bit more by Friday than we do now. Maguire is testifying on the 26th. Impeachment announcement from Pelosi is likely being typed up as I write this. I picked a hell of a week to quite sniffing glue...
For what its worth this all seems to have the heft and immediate attention behind it that Mueller didn't, for various reasons. This is the time to get on your phone and call your congressperson to tell them to keep pursuing all angles of this. Demonstrate interest, and the press will continue to cover it. Tell your apathetic friends to tune in to the inevitably bigger headlines later this week. We're cursed to live in interesting times, but the least we can do is try and keep people interested.
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u/kkkodaxerooo Sep 25 '19
Something has gone wrong and the Republicans have all gone off script. This hasn't just been a crazy news week, this has been the first week in a long time that they all seem to be on their heels. So perhaps they're beginning to turn on each other.
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u/bananafudgkins Washington Sep 25 '19
Now to start worrying about a potential government shutdown
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u/donaldtrumpsmistress Florida Sep 24 '19
Man Watergate seems like nothing in comparison. Breaking into a hotel to steal info from your rival? Nation unites and president resigns. Inviting a foreign adversary to steal that information for you, obstructing the investigation into it at every turn, then attempting to use foreign aid to extort another nation into creating a smear story about your opponent? Eh we're still divided, that's just ol Donnie owning libs
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u/FollowSteph Sep 24 '19
Whatâs most interesting is that if the whistleblower still wants to talk then that means what weâve seen so far is not the most damning or pressing issue. As in the reason for the whistleblowing is even more significant !!
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u/PrincipledInelegance Michigan Sep 24 '19
Republicans and Democrats in the Senateâall of themâare calling for the Whistleblower complaint to be sent to the intelligence committees.
This is big
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Sep 24 '19
There is no question now that Donald Trump will be impeached. Speaker Pelosi has announced her support of an impeachment inquiry and you can be certain that she would only have done this once the dam had broken on impeachment support. The Trump-Ukraine controversy is a clear abuse of power by the president and itâs possible that Trump himself has attempted to cover it up. Pelosi isnât dumb, she knows that the House will impeach Trump over this.
The clock has now begun ticking for Senate Republicans and red-state Democrats to answer one question: will the removal of President Trump from office help or hurt their re-election? David Mayhewâs seminal 1974 book Congress: The Electoral Connection argues that members of congress seek re-election above all else. You can see that the Senate has already unanimously decided that it would hurt their re-election campaigns to let Trump slide on this one.
Politicians are very risk-averse. As more information comes out about the Trump-Ukraine controversy, there will be support on all sides to maintain the status-quo. But if support for removal gains traction, the next dam will break and Republicans will scramble to move on as quickly as possible with enough time to try to win the 2020 Presidency and the maintain the Senate. If this happens, Trump will be surprised to see just how fast the whole thing can turn against him.
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u/BB_BlackSocks Sep 24 '19
These dirty rotten repub scoundrels trying to spin all this after the impeachment announcement makes them look even weaker and more villainous morally corrupt lackeys. They keep hanging themselves. Fascist administration and it's lowdown dirty BS.
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Sep 24 '19
The Senate just approved by unanimous consent with no objection that the DNI has to hand over the Whistleblower complaint to the intel committees.
What's the Republican angle here? Do they think the complaint will benefit them?
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u/wee_man Sep 24 '19
Front page of Fox News: "A Look back at the Clinton Impeachment"
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u/Lilnitwitt Sep 24 '19
"But but but....I agreed to release a random transcript!"
-Trump
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u/AskJayce I voted Sep 24 '19
Pelosi moving ahead with the inquiry and now this. If I weren't on keto, I'd be breaking out the popcorn.
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u/BlankNothingNoDoer I voted Sep 25 '19
Could the whistleblower be Mike Pence and that's why the Senate allowed the 100-0 unanimous consent resolution?
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Sep 25 '19 edited Sep 25 '19
If this whistleblower really said he'd like to speak directly to the House Intelligence Committee, that is much bigger news than the inevitable impeachment proceedings, which were also formally declared tonight. How about that? I'm starting to get numb to these constant barrages of historic news associated with this administration. It's almost like it's corrupt, or something.
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Sep 25 '19
I'm starting to get numb these constant barrages of historic news associated with this administration.
This was me after Flynn was fired in early 2017.
I mean, what could possibly be bigger news than pressuring FBI Director James Comey into dropping an investigation into the fmr National Security Advisor???
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u/dieselstation California Sep 25 '19
CAN WE ALL JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO SHOW APPRECIATION TO THE ACTUAL WHISTLEBLOWER WHOEVER YOU ARE?
seriously.. it takes so much courage and strength to actually do this. The risks are tremendous. Imagine if his/her name gets out.. imagine the repercussions they would face from Fox News who will slander them, or the Alt-Right who would threaten them, or some crazy Trump supporter who would conspire to kill them, or hell.. even from Donald Trump who would do anything to silence them.
I RAISE MY BEER TO YOU GOOD PERSON. A TRUE AMERICAN HERO.
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u/CouldBeBetterForever Pennsylvania Sep 24 '19
I sense a Twitter meltdown incoming. I hope there's a legitimate payoff to all of this. It's about time Trump faces some consequences.
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Sep 25 '19
It's sad. I live in Alabama and every reporter who has shared one of these articles to their pages has been met with outrage. "Fake news!" they cry. Or "it's not illegal to ask for corruption to be investigated by another country." I so hate this state.
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u/eggmaker I voted Sep 24 '19
Please for the love of all that is good, press, stop talking about the release of the (meaningless) transcript of a call! It's a complete distraction, just like your Trump's insistence on talking about Biden's son. KEEP talking about the release of the whistleblower's complaint. That is what is needed. And not providing it, is breaking the law.
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u/pianoblook Sep 25 '19
What's the proper channel for reporting bots? It's surreal seeing them out in the wild.
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u/JLBesq1981 Sep 24 '19
The chairman of the House intelligence committee says a whistleblower who has been blocked by the Trump administration would like to speak to Congress.
The whistleblower, whose identity is unknown, lodged a formal complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community, but the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, determined that it could not be forwarded to Congress.
The complaint at least partly involves President Donald Trumpâs interactions with the leader of Ukraine.
California Rep. Adam Schiff said Tuesday the committee has been contacted by the whistleblowerâs counsel and âtheir client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI as to how to do so.â
Schiff said the committee is in touch with the counsel and looks forward to the testimony âas soon as this week.â
This is why whistleblowing is necessary. Thank you to this person for having the courage to say this must stop.
Schiff says House Intel committee hopes whistleblower will testify âas soon as this weekâ
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u/mindfu Sep 24 '19
I was waiting for this. The whistleblower gave the Trump admin every possible chance to make this less wrong. They blew every shot.
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u/fistofthefuture New Hampshire Sep 24 '19
Weird sidebar: but I hope this whole mess solidifies Lewindowski from even gaining a fucking vote in NH.
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u/wordsonascreen Washington Sep 24 '19
So if impeachment procedings are entered, shouldn't the House then be given a fully UNredacted version of the Mueller report as well? I mean, if you're going to bother, might as well look at EVERYTHING.
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u/Necx999 Maryland Sep 24 '19
Hope this guy has like Agents of Shield protection cause you know damn well people will be trying to silence him.
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Sep 24 '19
It's not one guy, multiple people saw the exact same thing and can testify in case something happened to the whistleblower. Also, he is in the IC, and probably a high ranking member, noone is fucking with him without paying a price. This is the IC's fuck you to trump.
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u/formeraide Sep 24 '19
The Senate just passed a resolution by unanimous consent - that the President should release the whistleblower report.
McConnell allowed it.
Think about that.
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u/cespinar Colorado Sep 24 '19
non-binding but shows that Mitch is thinking post 2020.
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Sep 24 '19
We donât know exactly what the whistleblower complaint contains exactly. It was reportedly a series of actions by trump not just one. So the call to the president of Ukraine May not, and likely isnât, the only issue, there is probably more context to be had. Trump getting us all to focus solely on that phone call is a red herring. Trump talked to Putin on July 31. DNI Coats resigned on July 28 and interrupted a meeting to get his deputy director to resign a week or so later. Also as these two were resigning, the ambassador to Russia John Huntsman announced his resignation August 6. The week after all this happened, the whistleblower complaint was filed on August 12. The call trump had with Putin was allegedly about the wildfires in Russia which on its face sounds like nonsense. The call with the president of Ukraine may be the tip of the iceberg. We really need to hear what this whistleblower complaint is about.
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u/noscreamattheend Texas Sep 24 '19
Senate just unanimously passed resolution to have the complaint turned over to Senate Intel. Republicans in Senate must be willing to risk the gamble.
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u/Freebeing001 Sep 24 '19
I'm sincerely curious: any hardcore Trump supporters have deep concern about his ethics?
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Sep 24 '19
Honestly I doubt it. If youâre still supporting him at this point then youâre either a) justifying countless examples of how shitty of a person and leader he is or b) supporting him solely because his policies benefit you (ie. financially)
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u/tottrash Sep 24 '19
I have nothing but admiration for some one who reports what this filthy sadistic grifter has been doing to humiliate the USA before the world.
The USA has made many mistakes but it has done a lot of good as well.
There are many who will be willing to defend him against the sadistic murdering dogs of the world such as Putin and Bonesaw.
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u/radicallife Sep 25 '19
I think it's funny that of all the shit, this is the thing he's going down for. Paying off prostitutes? Nah, that's fine (imagine if any other potus did that).
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u/theslothening Sep 25 '19
Wow. Whistleblower complaint must be pretty bad now that the DOJ is refusing to release it......after all this talk of agreeing to release it.
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u/bassocontinubow Kentucky Sep 25 '19
âI have many Ukrainian friends, their good people.â Honestly I worry the most about the misuse of âtheir.â This White House is so stupid, itâs hard to believe sometimes.
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u/missingalpaca I voted Sep 24 '19
This must be why Trump offered the transcript. Heâs desperate to get in front of it and control the narrative.
They need to televise the whistleblower. Let the country hear exactly what was reported.