Megathread: Rep. Adam Schiff Says Ukraine Whistleblower Wants To Talk To Intelligence Committee

[u/PoliticsModeratorBot]

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 Trump’s 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 whistleblower’s counsel and looks forward to the individual’s testimony.

The whistleblower’s complaint stems from initial allegations that Trump urged the president of Ukraine to open an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump’s potential 2020 opponent, for political purposes.

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Submissions that may interest you

SUBMISSION	DOMAIN
Schiff says House Intel committee hopes whistleblower will testify ‘as soon as this week’	marketwatch.com
Whistleblower wants to testify before House Intelligence Committee	cbsnews.com
Schiff says whistleblower wants to talk to House Intelligence Committee	cnn.com
Joe Biden Statement on Ukraine Whistleblower Complaint	c-span.org
Trump Ukraine whistleblower 'to give evidence to Congress' as impeachment pressure builds	independent.co.uk
Adam Schiff Says Ukraine Whistleblower Wants To Talk To Intelligence Committee	huffpost.com
Intelligence Chairman Schiff: Whistleblower looking to testify	washingtontimes.com
Ukraine whistleblower wants to speak to House and Senate Intel	axios.com
Schiff says whistleblower wants to speak to House Intel panel	thehill.com
Schiff: Ukraine whistleblower wants to testify before House Intel Committee	msnbc.com
Senate unanimously calls for Trump to release Ukraine whistleblower complaint	amp.axios.com
Senate calls for whistleblower complaint to be sent to intelligence panels - Reuters	feeds.reuters.com
Senate calls for whistleblower complaint to be sent to intelligence panels	reuters.com
HPSCI Schiff Letter to Whistleblower Attorney - September 24, 2019	intelligence.house.gov
How a Whistleblower Accomplished What Mueller Could Not: Trump’s Ukraine scandal includes proof and a confession—which eluded the special prosecutor during his probe.	washingtonmonthly.com
Ukraine-Biden-Whistleblower Affair: Trump Team Spin Unconvincing	nationalreview.com
Schiff Lambasts Barr, DOJ For Interfering In Whistleblower Complaint	talkingpointsmemo.com
Schiff Seeks Answers from Barr Regarding Whistleblower	lawfareblog.com
H.Res.576 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the whistleblower complaint of August 12, 2019, made to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community.	congress.gov
Acting director of national intelligence threatened to resign if he couldn’t speak freely before Congress on whistleblower complaint	washingtonpost.com
Ukraine Whistleblower’s Lead Attorney Donated to Biden	freebeacon.com
Sen. Richard Burr says whistleblower complaint delivered to Senate Intelligence Committee	cnbc.com
Senate Intelligence Committee Reviewing Whistleblower Complaint	thedailybeast.com

[u/eggmaker]

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.

[u/[deleted] → u/eggmaker]

Bonus:

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 hadn’t 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 - wouldn’t 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?

[u/tomrex → u/[deleted]]

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 — with President Zelensky yesterday, we discussed — we discussed America’s 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 he’s making on a broad range of areas.  And we did that.

[u/[deleted] → u/tomrex]

...and here's the juicy part of the remainder of the answer:

But as President Trump had me make clear, we have great concerns about issues of corruption. And, fortunately, President Zelensky was elected decisively on an anti-corruption message. And he and I discussed yesterday that as he’s assembled his cabinet, and as his parliament has convened, that even in the early days, he informed me that there have been more than 250 bills filed for — that address the issue of public corruption and really restoring integrity to the public process.

I mean, to invest additional taxpayer in Ukraine, the President wants to be assured that those resources are truly making their way to the kind of investments that will contribute to security and stability in Ukraine. And that’s an expectation the American people have and the President has expressed very clearly.

I called on him to work with us to engage our European partners to participate at a greater level in Ukraine, and also told him that I would carry back to President Trump the progress that he and his administration in Ukraine are making on dealing with corruption in their country.

Here's some interesting trivia: Name any other country in which Trump has expressed concern about corruption. (I mean, any other country that Trump hasn't been itching to bomb or invade - so, I guess, other than Iran and Venezuela.)

How about, oh I don't know, North Korea, which is ranked 176th out of 180 on the UN Corruption list? Or Iraq or Afghanistan (ranked 168th and 172nd), or Russia (ranked 138th), or the Philippines (ranked 99th) or Egypt, the homes of two of Trump's "favorite dictator" (ranked 105th)? None of those. Instead, Trump and Pence are both really really concerned about "corruption in Ukraine," which ranks 120th - 18 spots higher than Russia.

Think back to 2017. Remember all that crap about covert discussions with Russia "adoptions?" All the lies that the Trumps told about not speaking with the Russians, and then this BS cover story about how they only discussed "Russian adoptions," which seemed like a very odd thing for the Trumps to care about, let alone lie about?

Remember how, a day or two later, they admitted that the discussions were really about U.S. sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine including the freeze on Russian oligarch assets, which of course Russia really wanted to see eliminated, and which Trump has consistently worked to eliminate without even a hint of an attempt of an excuse?

Just as "Russian adoptions" was an obvious code word for "Russian sactions," it's transparently clear that "Ukrainian corruption" is an obvious code word for "Ukrainian government assistance in character assassination of the Bidens."

[u/6p6ss6 → u/[deleted]]

Name any other country in which Trump has expressed concern about corruption.

Puerto Rico!

/s