One wonders what else is in the "classified system".
11
Please tell me the red button on his desk is to order Diet Coke and not to launch nuclear weapons.
8
The implication of this call was clear: You depend on us for money and supplies, so of course you’ll do us a favor, right? Just’t give us some dirt on Joe Biden and your cash will be on its way. Nothing explicit is needed.
As a side note, I saw some of the Twitter messages left byTrump supporters. Scary. Delusional.
10
Onions rotten and otherwise
Before us lies an onion; large and rotten. Layer peel away gags and it's the stench reeks in our collective psychic. Protections, checks, and balances we expected to safeguard the Republic but they fail us and we are poised upon the knife's edge. What is at risk here and now? A presidency, or the Republic as a democratic Republic? Our nation lies wounded. We are divided and the divider has made rotten all of that long tradition which we held so dear. Peel another layer until we reach a core and we shall see if what we treasure remains.
4
This is the first time ever that we are blaming the guy asking to investigate corruption rather than the guy alleged to be corrupt (ie, someone without experience in energy industry, with questionable track record but whose dad was the VP of the USA).
Somehow, asking for transparency has become an act of corruption in this truly Orwellian drama of cognitive distortion. It is virtually impossible that performing no work for a monthly salary of $83,000 reflects an above-board ethical arrangement... but Schiff, ever the sticker for detail, does not seem to care. I wonder why. Actually, I don;t wonder at all.
3
A few commenters have wondered why trump is targeting Biden when there have been no primaries held yet. Simply look at the polls until just recently: Biden looked like a shoo-in.
trump is probably on the phone right now with the Cherokee tribal elders. Who knows what he has to hold over them? Perhaps taking away sacred tribal lands for drilling and fracking.
3
What is interesting to me in this article is the fact that John Bolton acted in such a way that the funds that Congress had allocated to Ukraine were finally released after his visit. It seems likely that Bolton may have contacted someone and thus led Politico to announce that the funds had been frozen. And most certainly Trump, once he found out about this, saw to it that Bolton would be forced out of his position. This, I believe, is further evidence that Trump was holding up funds to subject the Ukrainian regime to cooperating in getting dirt on VP Biden and his son.
5
Trump seems to think he can lie and bluster and insult his way out of the total illegal mess he has created. I suppose there are people who will buy this kind of garbage demagoguery, but i have faith that even some Trump supporters will come to their senses and realize how utterly dangerous this loose-cannon huckster is for our nation. He is destroying us.
One thing that people are missing, is that this was not just one phone call. That is just the smoking gun. Trump has been trying to co-opt Ukrainian officials since January of this year. This has been a concerted, ongoing illegal operation.
Dump Trump!
14
@William O, Beeman: This is Trump's MO, inured over his lifetime, as described to Congress by Michael Cohen, who may now feel more liberated in prison than working for Trump.
5
Trump asks Ukraine to investigate the Bidens’ corrupt dealings in Ukraine, and yet Trump is the bad guy? Um, ok.
3
So it’s cool if Biden asks Xi about Ivankas corrupt dealing in China ?
You are fine with The President and presidential candidates seeking help from any foreign government if it helps them get elected?
5
Don’t you think we should investigate our citizens’ crimes? We need to ask Ukraine, who is on the phone with us for 250m (chump change for USA)? We could initiate the investigation and ask Ukraine to support but asking them to do it solo with Rudy?!
If Trump were smarter, and knew how the law works, he probably wouldn't have asked for this favor. Yet the self-named 'stable genius' probably thought he could 'finesse' the ask in a way that made it sounded legal. But we all know this narcissistic sociopath never reads, has zero intellectual curiosity, and has poor command of the English language. Plus, it's possible his father paid higher ed officials to whisk him through marble halls with the prize being a totally unearned degree. Thus, the latest results may be the culmination of all his numerous faults. Good for us. Bad for him.
10
@ElectAClown-ExpectACircus: The shameless don't know that fraudulent victories are poison pills.
2
As bad as Trump’s Ukraine actions are I think his interactions with Russia and Putin are probably far more serious.
Bill Barr and Giuliani are clearly directly involved in the Ukraine mess but what about people like Mick Mulvaney, Mnuchin, Jared, Ivanka and others?
13
I guess Trump felt that he had to spell things clearly and repeatedly to Zelensky, because that is method he uses with his sons that are a bit slow.
5
First thoughts;
Add Beria Barr to the impeachment counts.
Mick and Rudi can be criminally prosecuted.
BTW, there MUST be a law against using a NSA computer server for the purpose of hiding a crime.
12
An appropriate photo. An empty chair at the Resolute desk fitting for an empty President with nothing to offer but chaos, strum and druag. Empty Barrels truly make the most noise.
7
Do Invanka and Jared have access to the code word servers from their iPhones?
How about taking a closer look at Jared’s 666 Fifth Avenue bailout by Brookfield then Brookfields contract to build nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia . I am sure it’s just a coincidence
10
Trump has humiliated scores of people, an army of enemies wanting to get even if they can. Chickens will be coming home to roost.
7
To all the people Trump has shystered through the years, I hope this impeachment can bring you a little comfort.
10
To all the people Trump has shystered through the years, I hope this impeachment can bring you a little comfort.
3
What is most shocking about this sordid affair is the refusal of the Republican Party to defend the Constitution and our national elections. They should be the most ashamed. Their response is treasonous.
18
One can only imagine the conversations he has had with Putin. To do what he did and betray the founding fathers, our constitution, the office of the president and the American people is criminal. Period. Full stop. He needs to go.
11
@Peter
Trump got money from Russian oligarchs in London when all establishment banks refused him. The money was laundered through The Bank of Cyprus, deposited in Deutsche Bank and loaned to Trump, documented by a reporter in New York Magazine. The bank is now under investigation in Germany. Trump does not want his financial records scrutinized. His financial history, replete with bankruptcies, is even worse than his sexual history.
5
Mr. Trump is a man so out of touch with reality, and for so long, he may actually not understand the profound implications of the position he has put himself into. It’s sad really, to see someone like him flailing, scowling angrily and calling foul. He’s clearly a person who doesn’t play by the rules. He cheats and lies, causes upheavals and spits vitriol almost continuously. Wake up America. Is this the face of America? It isn’t pretty, no sir.
10
Trump would have been more accepting of the report if the Whistleblower's first sentence was "A lot of people are saying......"
6
Trump knew good and well that this was against the law. So did Rudy. You can't spin this as a witch hunt, and you can't spin this as "I didn't know." This is clearly an impeachable offense!! Every single Republican Congressperson and Senator knows this. Enough is enough!
9
It's pretty clear from the comments here that Fox News has issued it's talking points so all the "real Americans" can counter the liberal fake news. This is going to be a very long and nasty election season.
I can't help but notice that it always seems to be the cover-up that gets people in trouble. If the folks in the listening room ( who knew that even existed?) hadn't gone into immediate damage control and lock down this may have passed relatively unnoticed. Sure the President skated across another line but Oh Well... Its just that scamp Donny John , what else do you expect?
5
An empty chair.
A blank desk.
Both are symbolic of the guy who continues to disgrace that office and the country.
10
The WH aides who put the transcript on a super-secret server (hard to imagine this was the first time such a bit of Trumpian criminality had to be hidden away) are the real bad guys in this story. Trump is a rotten apple, a well known fact long before he was "elected." These functionaries, desperate to hold onto their jobs, are the equivalent of the Silent German.
5
"He's really bad and I wasn't going to vote for him but now I kinda feel sorry for him so I will"
- Republicans, apparently
2
@Marion Grace Merriweather
Lordy, a vote for a corrupt old man out of pity?! How about some pity for your country?
3
Trump is going to slap everything and anything remotely connected to the call with 'Executive Privilege' . WH Administration officials will refuse to answer subpoenas and those that do appear will refuse to answer questions. This is how the efforts of the Trump administration has set the stage these past 2 years thru a plethora of oversight-killing precedents. We have, unfortunately, seen this show before.
5
Is the Ukrainian comedian better than ours?
Has the Ukrainian State more class than ours?
Are the Ukrainians less corrupt than us Americans?
Since WW2, have the Republicans betrayed the Spirit of America more often than the Democrats?
1
My Fellow Americans,
Here is how Mr. Trump thinks:
- What's good for Donald Trump is good for America.
- I _AM_ the United States.
- Why shouldn't foreign leaders stay at my Washington Hotel, or Mar-a-Lago? (They are great places.)
- I am a deal-maker. Why shouldn't Ukraine give me what I want, in exchange for U.S. taxpayer dollars in foreign aid?
- Financial support for the Trump Organization or my campaign is support for the United States. MAGA!
This is exactly what the Founders sought to prevent in the Constitution, in their reaction to throwing off the shackles of King George. This is why the Emoluments Clause is included in the Constitution. To prevent the mere appearance of a conflict of interest in foreign affairs.
This is the root of the problem with Mr. Trump. And why he must go. He is incapable of separating his personal interests from his business interests from his re-election campaign from his job as president of the United States. They are all the same thing to him.
===
Our Founders declared that we are a Nation of Laws, and not a Nation of Men. We are now at a crossroads.
Either the United States is a constitutional republic, or we are a failed state and tin-pot banana republic.
Which one is it?
9
The Europeans might have more respect and hope for us if it weren’t that they have a hangover from Bush Jr. still throbbing in their heads.
Imagine if Gore, Kerry, or Clinton had been the ambassadors ( as Presidents) of American foreign policy .
5
There should be one staff member always on call with a roll of tape to tape his mouth shut when necessary. And I'm pretty sure that they have fantasized about this before.
3
Zelensky brought up Biden. The conversation that ensued was well within the boundaries of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty the US has with Ukraine, sign during the Clinton Administration.
https://www.congress.gov/treaty-document/106th-congress/16/document-text
Ukraine has admitted meddling in the 2016 election to the benefit of Clinton and the DNC, even forging financial documents to incriminate Manafort. That was under Zelensky’s corrupt predecessor. Crowdstrike who asserted that the DNC server was hacked by Ukrainian arch-enemy Russia is owned by a Ukranian oligarch, sheltered by the previous corruption.
Despite this, Trump’s is the first outreach to Ukraine and its new President to investigate their previous interference in the 2016 election. He offered to put them in contact with AG Barr who is in charge of the election investigation.
All of this in in line with the treaty provisions. Perfectly legal and desirable.
1
Of the few comments that I have made here at the NY Times, only one has ever been approved. It is sad that there are powers that be that work to silence an opposing voice to anything Democrat related. I see it with Google, Facebook, and the NY Times. I never write anything offensive, I just write what I feel as a veteran of the US Navy, 2nd generation son of a Mexican immigrant, and citizen of the the greatest country there is. I think we all need to read the US Constitution and retake history (for those of you that were actually taught history). This Ukraine Gate is another witch hunt that will only further Trump's chances at re-election in 2020. Socialism/Communism/Marxism go against what America is, which is a freedom loving country. It is sad to see the Democrats trying to turn over am election. President Trump is a duly elected American President. Impeachment is dangerous to our democracy. SMH!
2
let's cut to the chase here! i'm proposing Congress going for a 2 for one special on impeachment. Trump and Barr! anyone with me?
9
This quote really stood out:
"As it happened, Mr. Trump canceled his trip to Warsaw to monitor Hurricane Dorian, which was bearing down on Alabama. Instead, he sent Mr. Pence, who met with Mr. Zelensky."
You can argue all you like, but In 21st century America, art imitates life!
4
Making the Ukraine President “an offer he can’t refuse” sounds vaguely familiar. Now where was it I’ve heard it before. Hmmmm.
3
Dear NYT:
Please make the following corrections:
1. It is false that "President Trump "pressured" Ukraine’s leader to investigate leading Democrats;" in fact, there was no threat of withholding money, and the Ukrainians did not even know that Trump has not already released the funding.
Second, the requested "favor" was not to dig up "dirt" on Biden -- it was to cooperate in the official AG investigation into the 2016 Russian interference.
Third, it was the Ukrainian leader who first mentioned Giuliani, and only then did Trump remark -- only once -- about Joe Biden threatening to cut off $1 billion in aid if the prosecutor was not fired. There was no "repeated" ask for any investigation of Biden.
Fourth, it made perfect sense for the IC to "lock down" transcripts of Trump's foreign leader calls. Consider how many such transcripts have leaked, in a false and very damaging way for our national security.
Your inference that this is proof of guilt is specious.
Fifth, contrary to the "whistleblower's" complaint, Trump made no promises of any kind; however, a promise was made by the Ukrainian leader:
"I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly. That I can assure you."
Since when is extracting a promise of good government an impeachable offense?
These are a few of the many factual mistakes that The Times keeps repeating, as if repetition will cure them.
Corrections are in order.
1
@Jorge
No one wants to hear facts in this Comedy of Errors. And no one seems to want to read the actual transcript.
"Collusion" did not work, so this is the next best thing. Much more appealing for this Congress than working on gun control, infrastructure, transportation, education, climate change....
The President needs a babysitter. The kind of around-the-clock monitoring you might see whenever the baby is awake. And while the baby is asleep, you prep for when the baby wakes. This is not news to Republicans. It was just two short years ago, they were terrified of him winning; knowing fully well he would rip apart their party. He won... and what did they do? They went to sleep. It's more like a coma at this point. Forget the Democrats for a moment - can a responsible Republican please challenge Trump in the next election? Please, before it's too late. Surely a less risky candidate will get the same dogmatic Republican support.
5
Dear Republicans,
You have descended into tribalism. You have been reduced to screaming, "Go Team!" You apparently care not for the Constitution, nor for the Rule of Law. (Mitt Romney did go halfway there, to his credit.)
This is not a partisan issue. This is a matter of defending the Constitution, the Rule of Law, and the bedrock principles upon which the United States was founded.
Our Founders stated that we are a Nation of Laws, and not a Nation of Men. You can either be a blind lemming following one man, Mr. Trump, off a cliff. Or you can be an American patriot, supporting the Rule of Law.
I happen to be a Democrat. But I respect patriotic and honorable conservatives. And I have voted for some Republicans in the past. I question whether I should ever consider doing that ever again.
Our nation needs two viable political parties. Will you choose to go down with Mr. Trump's ship of state? Or will you stand for country above party?
The choice is yours. And we will all be watching, in advance of the 2020 elections. Our future as a nation, and the preservation of the American Experiment, depends upon this.
8
“I believe that everything here in this matter,” DNI Maguire said, “is totally unprecedented.”
This begs the question of what exactly is unprecedented about it.
The answer is that we've never had a sitting president who has betrayed the country.
That's what a traitor is. And to paraphrase Trump, you know what we used to do with them in the old days.
9
@Fred
Maguire would have done well in the Middle Ages when churchmen argued about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. He wouldn't have verified a specific number; however he would have supported a vision of angels dancing.
How many other things that trump has done, have not been reported?
What went on in those private meetings between trump and Putin?
What would Republicans be doing now, if the exact same circumstances occurred during the Obama Administration?
I hate and loath hypocrisy, and the Republicans are covered in it.
6
Trump is smart enough to be careful about what he puts into words - believe it or not - both spoken and written. He uses the tactics of the underworld, implied threats and pay offs, Cohen said as much in his testimony. Trump's conduct here is no different and Zelensky clearly understood the Don's proposition, 'you want money and arms, then give us some dirt on Biden, you can work out the details with my associates, Rudy and Barr'. The more he gets away with, the more brazenly criminal he becomes. Every crime has its trail and stench, let us hope there is enough here and enough Republicans left with the stomach to impeach.
5
@Delacroix
Impeachment would fail in the Senate; it would force a vote for the record. That is what McConnell does not want, a public record of the GOP supporting a very corrupt incompetent President. McConnell and his Chinese wife are expert practitioners of corruption; both are ruthless in their use of power for personal gain. Article 25, Unfit to Serve, might work.
2
All governments are obliged to provide legislative, executive, and judicial functions. Wise government does not set these functions to cross-purposes.
2
Judgement.
Period.
That's what responsibility demands of the most powerful man in the world.
Yet, horrifying as it may be, that man, United States of America President Donald trump who back-stabbed his way from bottom to top, has now been revealed to have attempted to use his power and that of the USA's purse to threaten another leader of another nation with the loss of many, many millions of dollars all of which were to have been provided to Poland so that it could defend itself against a menacing circle of Euro bullies, among them none other than that ruthless totalitarian Vladimir Putin, leader of Russia.
AND That!, my fellow Americans, is called bait and switch, something with Donald, no doubt, has had a lot of experience with as he seized billion dollar property after billion dollar property as he climbed to the pinnacle of wealth he now holds in Manhattan.
In other words, he broke a promised to Poland and attempted to force the President of Poland to do dirty work for him as he seeks to destroy a democratic opponent of his as election time approaches.
This is not a man one ought to trust in any way, shape or form. Whatever he does, he does for his interests only.
Our President. A man with no moral sense and integrity, "leader of the Free World, God Help Us!
Not even Richard Milhous Nixon attempted such a humdinger of a betrayal.
May he get his just deserts this coming election.
5
@Melvyn D Nunes: Every time I read "God help us!" here, I am reminded of the blasphemous claim of the US to be a divine creation that would probably enrage the curmudgeon people believe God to be.
1
While I agree with your overall sentiment, the country is the Ukraine, not Poland.
2
Although Trump, with the help of Rudy Giuliani, are trying to push Uncle Sam overboard from the ship of state, as depicted on the current cover of The New Yorker magazine, the rest of us are not going to let them.
9
As late as last year, Mr. Trump was reportedly still using his personal cell phone to make calls to contacts which include foreign heads of states. If he is so brazen to make these comments to the Ukrainian president when he knows there is a "listening room" full of staffers, imagine what he says on that cell phone when no one is around.
Tip of the ice burg people.
11
If Trump genuinely thinks that this call was not a big deal, and has kept other calls secret, one wonders what he has said to other world leaders. Is this a "typical" conversation? Also, I wonder if it's possible to get the recorded version from the Ukrainian side, since this one seems to be edited.
7
How long will it be before Trump turns on Rudy G? Trump never accepts responsibilities for his actions, he always needs a scapegoat. Watch for it. Rudy will be thrown to the wolves before this is all over.
6
@Lyndsey
Rudy has been living with wolves since he announced a plan to divorce his wife in a public statement; his wife was still living in the Governor's mansion at the time. He demanded that a command center be placed in one of the Towers against all expert advice; experts pointed out that the Towers were large and obvious targets. Rudy was safe in Brooklyn, a temporary safe place, when the Towers were struck and 300 firefighters died. The firefighters had asked for radio bandwidth lined to the NYPD; Rudy denied the funding. The NYPD helo hovering outside a Tower was unable to warn the firefighters. Rudy then made a dramatic entrance from Brooklyn, "America's Mayor". I lived in CT at the time; we did not admire Rudy before or after 9/11. He is worse now, if possible, involved with the corrupt Trump.
3
Sounds like the jig is up. That must be the scurrying sound we’re hearing lately?
8
If there are U.S. history books written in the future, they will show the bloated faces of Mike Pompeo and William Barr as the two henchmen most responsible for the demise of democracy. Trump could not wreak such havoc alone. Sure hope their grandchildren will be proud of them.
7
“If.” Indeed — if.
1
I wonder who paid for Giuliani’s trips to brow beat the Ukraine into helping Trump win an election? Was it tax dollars? Since Trump never pays for anything ( and I feel certain his tax returns would prove this) I suspect we paid for Rudi’s trips.
8
First of all, this SHOULD be a non-partisan matter of the Constitution and the Rule of Law.
That said, I'll delve into politics for a moment.
1. Many Democrats are claiming that the impeachment inquiry is playing right into Trump's hands, and will get him re-elected. I think not. He broke the law, and has publicly admitted it. He is done. Why are you all so afraid of Trump and his minority of cult followers? Nobody likes him (not even most Republicans).
2. The Republicans are starting to jump ship. Many of them never liked Mr. Trump, but he was a useful idiot with a pen. They got their tax cuts, deregulation, and conservative judges and SCOTUS justices. He is of no more use to them.
My wife and her colleagues discuss politics frequently at work around the water cooler. Most happen to be Democrats, but one of them is a smart and well-informed conservative. Immediately after the House impeachment inquiry, the conservative announced that the Republicans were done with Trump. They'll throw him to the wolves. Internally, they are happy to have Pence survive. They think Pence can beat Warren, but Trump could not.
The Republicans are desperate. I disagree with their assessment that Mr. Pence could win a national election. But at least that would be a fair fight for the voters to decide in 2020, without the stain of blatant corruption - unless of course Pence is also implicated.
They think that Warren (their presumptive Dem nominee) could beat Trump. But they think Pence
9
The “articles of impeachment” boil down to just one article.
1. We can’t beat President Trump in 2020.
1
@JQGALT: US politics is so dreary, what sane person wants to be in it?
1
Poor Trump. He's crossed his Rudy-Con.
Sad.
6
The President will weather this and come out stronger than ever.
Biden and his son will be indicted.
Pelosi and her family will be the next to be investigated.
And the beat goes on.
Comical
@John Gilday
Do you often lose money in Reno and Vegas?
2
I heard an interview with Jeff Flake earlier today. He's all for an inquiry into what happened, but he also said the dems need to carefully keep it focused on this particular incident. It might be tempting to pull in aaaaaalllll of the other illegalities they think this administration could be charged with but they risk losing many republicans who would otherwise be for impeachment it in this particular case only.
4
@Dena: Trump's conduct with respect to Ukraine was the same MO Michael Cohen described in his testimony to Congress. It is Trump's preferred method to set hooks into people.
5
In the transcript, the President of the Ukraine makes a point of his stay at the President of the United State’s hotel property. Without anything further being said, it seems clear to me that this phone call is not about the interests of our nation, but of one man.
8
This is not just about the current President. Moving forward, no President, Democrat, Republican or Independent, should be able to circumvent our constitution. That's why this issue has to be played out. The Watergate scandal also began with a White House denial and cover-up. No amount of grandstanding should prevent our government from getting all of the pertinent facts. If it turns out that Mr. Trump is guilty of abusing his powers, then it is my hope that he will be a one term President.
7
These actions are what come with having the fox guard the hen house. Another example - lobbyists hired by Trump to run various federal departments, Rick Perry heading the Dept of Energy when he couldn't remember the Dept's name during the debates, on and on. It's easy research but not easy reading, actually a very disheartening situation when you put someone who hates oversight and regulations in charge of the the best country the world.
9
Remember, while Nixon was pardoned by President Ford, many administration members, including Attorney General John Mitchell and Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans, went to prison. Attorney General William Barr and others had better have very good lawyers retained, and working.
8
Never voted for a Republican in my, but I’m mighty fed up with the Democratic Party’s obsession with trying to overturn the 2016 election by any means necessary...endlessly obstructing the government’s business for the past 3 years. Enough!
WH aides heard it first hand and knew right away it was corrupt conversation after Donald put down the phone. They would be potent whistleblowers. Unfortunately, I imagine them lawyering right now.
7
These are trying times for Americans. Viewing a president bet on manipulating the all persons and institutions for his benefit is sickening. What I find equally tragic is the profound ignorance and anger of his base. Until we as a nation do something to bolster public education across the board we will be condemned to other presidencies like this.
7
@ann dempsey
When I was in H.S. we still had Civics classes; those are long gone. Bring those classes back, and our young people will be able to learn how government is supposed to work: three independent branches with oversight of the Executive given to Congress. The Supreme Court established to be a non-political Court of last resort. Our young people have now learned the hard way about feckless legislators, lessons written in blood.
3
Judgement.
Period.
That's what responsibility demands of the most powerful man in the world.
Yet, horrifying as it may be, that man, United States of America President Donald trump who back-stabbed his way from bottom to top, has now been revealed to have attempted to use his power and that of the USA's purse to threaten another leader of another nation with the loss of many, many millions of dollars all of which were to have been provided to Poland so that it could defend itself against a menacing circle of Euro bullies, among them none other than that ruthless totalitarian Vladimir Putin, leader of Russia.
AND That!, my fellow Americans, is called bait and switch, something with Donald, no doubt, has had a lot of experience with as he seized billion dollar property after billion dollar property as he climbed to the pinnacle of wealth he now holds in Manhattan.
In other words, he broke a promised to Poland and attempted to force the President of Poland to do dirty work for him as he seeks to destroy a democratic opponent of his as election time approaches.
This is not a man one ought to trust in any way, shape or form. Whatever he does, he does for his interests only.
Our President. A man with no moral sense and integrity.
Not even Richard Milhous Nixon tried to pull off such a humdinger of a betrayal.
2
The report written by a CIA officer alleging trumps suggested attempt to have the president of a foreign nation assist trump to investigate the leading opponent trump would face in the next presidential election is but the very tip of the iceberg. Below the surface lies those person/persons who work within or very close to the Oval office and thought this behavior needed to be revealed to the American public.
As in the Nixon scandal, frustration grew daily regarding his behavior as president with very little to reason to believe enough information could be collected to start impeachment. Then "Deep Throat" entered the scene supplying two reporters from the Wash. Post where to conduct their investigation. Looks as though a Deep Throat' sits within trumps White House dishing out information to a CIA officer. Hopefully enough will eventually surface to remove trump from the presidency either by impeachment or my preferred way casting my vote against this corrupt creature.
5
Like everything to do with Trump, he operates in a gray area, smart enough never to do or say anything so overt that it’s actionable, but to make his meaning and intention clear. It’s the reason he’s been able to induce so many associates into criminality and punishment while escaping himself scot free. He’s the evil incarnation of Eddie Haskell, for those old enough to remember. Democrats have finally had enough of this oily diplomacy and have chosen to make this the smoking gun. They tried with the Mueller Report but it didn’t stick. I hope this one does. This man is bad news for everyone, including his supporters. Where are all those great infrastructure jobs they are waiting for?
7
Trump is both a threat to democracy, but also evidence of cracks and failings in American democracy. A regrettable list we are too familiar and frustrated with:
- The fact that the electoral college has made oligarchy more likely instead of less likely
- A Senate that disenfranchises the electoral power of the majority of citizens and marginalizes the power of the most innovative, economically successful, and dynamic regions of the U.S.
-The failure to achieve meaningful campaign finance reform that does not simply fuel huge PACS and their propaganda regimes.
- Gerrymandering and marginalizing the democratic wishes of African Americans.
- Reasoned and nuanced public debate reduced to social media screeds.
And now, the impossible position of either tolerating and normalizing a man so personally flawed and reckless debasing the very institutions that gave rise to American power and influence; or, pursuing a fraught impeachment likely with a less than just outcome given the feckless response of GOP members who would rather demean themselves at the feet of this president than ensure a stronger American democracy for the next generation.
9
American aristocrats engaged in political knife fight. How unseemly, they used to do it with more decorum and less media fanfare.
At least the American public gets to see this circus. All the while other aristocrats but there was to the ivies in the hopes they can be among the elites that feather their own nests with insider trading, legislative fixes, and bailouts. (Bail out currently in progress as FED prints 85 billion a day between now and Halloween - see repo story in this august periodical).
SMH
The projection by the Democrats on this latest fake news/coup is simply amazing. They are actually doing or have done everything they accuse Trump of. Their lust for power is beyond scary and it's now very obvious that they will be willing to destroy the country to attain their goal of a one part government.
1
@Jon Galt As per usual. you have it exactly backwards.
"A" for consistency. "F" for reasoning.
4
It bother's me that the CIA's General Counsel, Ms. Simmons, appears to have joined the National Enquirer and Attorney General Barr as part of President Trump's catch and kill apparatus. Ms. Simmons has a White House appointment and when she had to choose between the integrity of the CIA or the treason of her boss she made a choice. That choice will make her another squalid footnote in the history of our ongoing effort to govern ourselves honestly.
12
This begs the question, does Trump get to speak privately or not with V. Putin?
It seems he does and is under Putin’s —“influence”—. That would explain a lot.
6
@RjW
If Mr. Trump (or ANY president) gets to speak privately with any other world leader, then the United States is nothing more than a banana republic, a tin-pot dictatorship.
I'm not saying that all such conversations must be transparently revealed to the public. But there should be career staffers present to at least make an internal policy record of what was discussed and agreed upon in those conversations. Otherwise, we have a despot or king as president.
5
@MidtownATL
But Trump made the translator ( Putin’s) tear up her notes. The press covered that conversation as if it were 100pct. private.
That’s why I’m asking the universe for clarification.
5
@RjW
I share your concerns.
My understanding is that it didn't use to be this way, and that it should not be this way.
Any president's conversations with foreign leaders are the people's business. They may not be publicly disclosed, but they should certainly be monitored and recorded by our government officials (and subject to subpoena by Congress ,as necessary -- even if only by those with intelligence clearance).
4
The real scandal is there are no Republicans willing to stand up to Trump
9
Are they all dogs dedicated to protecting their despicable master? Thank god for that whistle blower who is a true patriot.
It just dawned on me that Trump has a most appropriate name. Do you know what the word 'trump' means? It means: a deceptive form of victory involving cheating, meaning something that's been falsely made up, as in the expression 'trumped up'. What an appropriate a name for The Donald. I describes him very accurately as in;
Trump's 'trumped-up' presidency.
I know you New Yorkers are way ahead of me on this one. I'm just catching up a bit out here on the Left coast.
8
The missing transcripts of face to face conversation between Trump and Putin may be in that computer, also. The impeachment team needs to subpoena that information. I wonder if Mueller was aware of this computer?
Kick Him Out
7
Trump obviously behaves unethically in ways that benefit him first and foremost. He can get away with it seemingly endlessly because of a network of enablers. His "acting" deputies are perfect in that role, needing no formal Congressional advice and consent. Enough of this criminal administration, coming from someone showing evidence of always having been a master con artist, if not career white collar criminal. He presented himself as a savior of the common people, so it took a master con artist to pull that one off--given that he had always been and has since showed he always will be nothing of the sort. It flabbergasts me that those people who enable him in his network and the portion of the public at large still support him. But the master con artist knows his "mark": people who are suckered in and the types that can never admit to being suckered so practically bend over backwards to maintain support. The rest of the population: Please keep in mind we never wanted Trump and his ilk. so we must go in very large numbers and vote him/them out, out, out. Or at least "them" if Trump hopefully doesn't make it to November, 2020, but I wouldn't count on it.
2
If Trump will alter a weather map with a Sharpie, don't you think he would alter the transcript? I want to wait for all of the facts to come out but I do not AT ALL trust the transcript released by Trump and his minions. I mean, come on!
6
I thought the constitution begins with "We the people", not "Me the people".
6
From the article:
"But word began to spread anyway, kicking off a succession of events that would eventually reveal details of the call to the public and has now put Mr. Trump at risk of being impeached by a Democrat-led House for abusing his power and betraying his office."
Is "Democrat-led House" in the Times's style guide? The modifier should be "Democratically [-led]". "Democrat" as a adverb or adjective is a slur, popularized by Rush Limbaugh and other right wingers.
2
@bruce bernstein
Better yet, why not just the "House"?
This is not a partisan issue. Rather it is a Constitutional issue, and a matter of the Rule of Law.
3
This article says it all, and White House records show the whistleblower had been very precise in his complaint. As a life-long Republican I am dumbfounded by virtually all of my party in their failure to show any quality other than political cowardice.
9
If Trump listened to people instead of doing the Trump rogue thing Trump wouldn't be in this mess. Trump is his and America's own worse enemy.
5
Instead of focusing on courting moderate and independent voters, Democrats continue their efforts to overturn the 2016 election....an exercise in futility.
As regards UkraineGate, whistleblower’s second-hand information is not admissible. No doubt this impeachment inquiry will come back to bite the Democrats.
@Susanna
so it's not troubling to you that the people listening to the call were so alarmed that they hided the recording in a special top secret sever and not in the regular server where conversations with foreigner leader are stored?
1
I am sure that John Bolton is just waiting for the perfect moment to unload what he knows. He must have been aware of this phone call and with his hawkish views re Russia he would have been burning with rage. But, as he alluded to when he resigned, he will have a lot to say about other things..."all in good time".
As difficult as it is to fathom a Republican Senate convicting President Trump, I have no doubt that even more damning revelations will come out through investigation and story telling by Bolton and others who are lying quietly and waiting to strike. 20 Republicans will see no way not to vote to convict on at least one article of impeachment.
4
We should be grateful that Trump is so arrogant, thick-headed, narcissistic etc. that he did not feel the need to limit the number of people who were present during his phone call with the Ukrainian President. It's almost as if he were proud to show that he was his thumbing his nose at Robert Mueller and his report. Maybe in addition to learning the meaning of the Latin phrase quid pro quo, Trump will learn the meaning of the Latin word hubris.
4
Trump talks and acts like a mafia crime boss... keeping his obvious requests for illegal acts vague but UNDERSTOOD. As a highly unethical developer trump has had lots of practice doing this. His former consigliere, Michael Cohen explained the trump team M O under oath.
While trump had already done sufficient damage* to our democracy to warrant an impeachment investigation if not actual proceedings. I wasn't in favor of that until now, because with the extremely partisan "party OVER Country republicans in CONtrol of the Senate, led by morally bankrupt Moscow Mitch McCONnell, there's no way they will go against trump. NO matter how guilty trump is and regardless of ultimately having tons of proof of trump's malfeasance! Sad and pathetic.
Republicans in CONgress love claiming how patriotic they are but that's ALL a sham.
Their sole objective is to gain and retain power, no matter the cost nor how much cheating, voter suppression, etc. they must do... It has been proven many times republicans can not win FAIR and square elections. And certainly they have great difficulty ever prevailing with a popular vote (without extreme gerrymandering and worse-- see Brian kemp's actions in the last Georgia governor election. Instead of refusing himself as Secretary of State he oversaw the removal of millions of voters (by far mostly minorities who typically vote for democrats when they vote).
PS * Donald J's malfeasance "trump's" Bill Clinton's lying, etc., ten fold.
5
Trump may not know much about Art of the Deal; but he has mastered the Art of Subversion.
Trump has subverted the Law and Order Republican Party - into his 3T image; the Party of Thugs, Thieves and Traitors - the 3T party.
Trump is now subverting our fine government into his image of Thugs, Thieves and Traitors.
We have to stop Trump and the 3T movement in every possible way. November 2020 will be the key milestone.
2
@Henry. Comeuppance would be justice?.... No Jail is justice.
1
The July 25 phone call between Trump and President Zelensky revealed the corruption of Trump, the malfeasance of Barr, and the machinations of Guiliani. Guiliani had spent months working with the previous Ukrainian administration, and was by then pressuring the Zelensky team.
Currently, William Barr refuses to recuse himself in a whistle-blower complaint where he is named, even as the July 25 call makes clear his involvement. Consider, though, this exchange between Senator Kamala Harris and Barr (under oath) on May 1:
HARRIS: Has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested you open an investigation into anyone?
BARR: ....ah ...
HARRIS: Seems like something you should be able to answer
BARR: I don't know ...
Was Jared Kushner part of the effort to pressure Ukraine? The July 25 phone call puts a new perspective on the pictures of Jared seated next to President Zelensky at at dinner in Brussels on June 4. There is nothing haphazard about the seating arrangement.
This this small cluster of phone calls, meetings, and testimony speak volumes about the pervasive corruption within the Trump administration. Moreover, it casts the Mueller investigation in a new light. Leave aside the question of obstruction. Instead, think again of all the people surrounding Trump who were in the pay of Russia or its proxies, and what that has surely meant for the integrity of the Trump administration.
Impeachment cannot come soon enough.
4
So when are we going to see this movie about the mob family that is running the good ole USA.
Can’t wait.
1
How many other inappropriate or illegal phone call transcripts does the "secret server" contain?
5
The missing element in reporting on this conspiracy is Vladimir Putin. The reason Trump did not go to Warsaw to commemorate the beginning of World War II and the partition of Poland between the Nazis and the Soviets was, in all likelihood, that Putin was not invited. During that period, Trump was agitating for Russian admission to the G7 while advocating nothing on behalf of the U.S. Trump's conspiracy to use Ukraine as a political tool was most likely Putin's idea for keeping his puppet in the White House. The Trump conspiracy was the well known strategy of "Both sides against the middle," with Ukraine in the middle between Russia and the U.S. Trump could not squeeze Ukraine without the threat from Russia. It seems obvious that Trump works for one man, Vladimir Putin. Trump even made a statement that now that Zelensky had talked to Putin, Trump could restore Ukraine's status as a U.S. friend.
5
So, the mob conspiracy is not just The Don, Rudy "The Mouth" Giuliani, Bill "Nothing Burger" Barr, "Tricky Mick" Mulvaney, but an entire cast of now co-conspirators who clearly heard the criminal intent in Trump's "favor" from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and chose to participate in a coverup. It's simply stunning to realize how far Trump has corrupted his office in less than three years! Thank God (and I rarely use that term) that there were a few people left with a conscience and a sense of moral duty to support "the rule of law" rather than the utter lawlessness that is "the rule of Trump." It's time to clean house; The White House, that is, and it will take a lot more than Clorox to do it.
2
You have a WH staffed with people who dont care about anything but paying their mortgages. They do as they are told by the next supervisor. If its wrong, their answers are always the same: "That's not in my job description" or "That's above my salary". The day the Dems take over in 2020, is the day they all hand in their resignations, including the "burrowed in". Vote them out!
3
I want to see the “notes” from the meeting with Putin! Does anyone believe that there isn’t a red flag there?
4
"As it happened, Mr. Trump canceled his trip to Warsaw to monitor Hurricane Dorian, which was bearing down on the East Coast. Instead, he sent Mr. Pence, who met with Mr. Zelensky."
Pence's hands are dirty too.
As are those of Barr, Mulvaney, and probably Pompeo.
6
So this wild, vicious president is squirreling away vital information from us, the American people. This hardly qualifies as a surprise.
3
What has happened to the US? With the world's laughing stock sitting in the White House the US is beginning to look like a horror show. Who on earth thinks that this is what being 'great' means?
2
@Garry Taylor
Three million more of us voted for Clinton, despite voter suppression used to control polling places in rural areas, and polling place hours used as a weapon against people who had to be at work early, or who could not leave work in time to vote. Trump lost the national vote; he was appointed by the Electoral College in key Blue States: PA, WI, and MI. Clinton ignored them; Trump campaigned for their votes and received 77,000 more EC votes than Clinton. The EC is an artifact from Reconstruction after the Civil War when Northern mill industries needed Southern cotton. Former plantation States were allowed to count non-voting slave populations, giving them undeserved voting power.
1
Now I feel certain that he, as a candidate, might have talked to Mr Putin or Russian oligarchs on hacking Clinton mails and DNC head quarters. President Trump gone rogue since election. His his base/mob, FOX and talk show media mob do not care about i) corruption (he spent 100 million $ alone as president at Trump hotels, this does not include $ spent by national and international officials), ii) morality and affairs , iii) hiding the tax returns, iv) conscience, v) interference from Russia and now Ukraine, vi) budget and trade deficits..on..on.. , For re-election, he must keep hugging the flag in front of TV and repeating these phrases at town hall meetings: Obama, ACA, western culture, wall, diversity of immigrants, gangs and drugs from border countries, Latinos, … . He converted Obama’s white house to pure white house. He pushed (D) party as Diversity (D) party and converted Republican party to R party. Putin clearly won last election by breaking US voters and probably see them when the voters stand in line along racial split for D and R parties during the primaries. I am a fiscal conservative and I do not support “squad” or those democratic candidates offering “freebies” to voters. Happy to see some republicans challenging Mr. Trump and we need more middle of road republicans and democrats to challenge him and move us to 21st Century believing more in science.
1
@Dara—There was no Biden Corruption. Corruption is a Trump and does not involve Vice President Biden. Best you do some research.
3
Hope Nadler & friends can get that server. What a treasure trove of illegal and illicit activity that must be.
3
The WH aides may have been "alarmed," but not alarmed enough to actually do anything about it such as reporting it to the IG. Complicit.
3
Here's the thing:
Why was the version of the phone conversation with the Ukrainian Prez that was shared with Congress and the Press a "Memorandum" summary, but the recorded original stuffed into a locked-down highly classified computer?
Obviously there is a cover up. A YUGE one.
4
i'm curious about the "completeness" of the record of the phone call. this article says the call's duration was 30 minutes, but the written "dialogue" would not have taken that long. so, what has been omitted?
i'm also curious about the other records of phone calls that have been "buried" in the top level security system. doesn't congress, now, need to check the contents of that system?
13
While it seems clear that impeachment is warranted, I'm not convinced that it should proceed. It is doubtful that Republicans will convict, and it allows Trump to play the victim. The trial will be a circus that will dominate the news and drown out the election season for democrats and the democratic agenda. The public will associate democrats with impeachment rather than their agenda. It will also cause even more divisions. As it is,republicans are much more effective at branding and propaganda than democrats. This may appear to be a political stunt.
So how about a compromise? Proceed with the inquiry to enlighten the public. They must take their time to get it right rather than meet some election deadline. So far, the Democrats have not been particularly effective in their other hearings and investigations. They need to be meticulous. At the conclusion of the inquiry, after the evidence comes to light, they should call it a day and NOT vote on articles of impeachment for a trial. Instead, declare that given that the election is near, which it will be, the voters will decide. Also, they can have a censure vote.
I'd rather see Trump defeated by the voters than by politicians. It will be more legitimate and will drive him crazy. Impeachment will allow him to play the martyr.
If Trump is removed and Pence becomes president, he will be a much more formidable opponent to Elizabeth Warren or Biden.
2
@dba, he's going to play the victim anyway. But the impeachment will put before the people evidence of his unfitness for office anyway. Not as a campaign ad, but as facts sworn and attested to. The impeachment is virtually certain to stop with a senate "acquittal." But I doubt any minds will change; everyone is aware of the republican majority there. Pence will not come to power then--and has no following to compare even slightly to Trump's. A focus nowon the truth and magnitude of Trump's malfeasance is nonetheless called for, his acts having required it. I believe he may well be more circumspect with the light on him as it is--that would be a good thing, too.
2
Can the people in the listening room be compelled to testify before Congress?
Is executive privilege once waived concerning a conversation , gone?
Did those who locked away the conversation knowing how wrong it was obstruct justice?
8
@Lawrence: Those who provided information to the whistle-blower may have done so out of concern that they could be held complicit in abuse of executive privilege to cover up criminal acts.
1
@Steve Bolger
There might be a John Dean in the group who provided information. I lived in D.C. for five years, worked for a politically connected Democratic law firm, and knew there were always leaks. Information was passed at State dinners, in bars, and at private parties. If you can think of D.C. as a small town, rife with gossip, run by educated Congressional staff aides, and subject to K Street lobbies with a lot of campaign dollars to give, you will be better able to read between the lines. Focus on legislation not passed or blocked from the Floor, as McConnell is known to do. The only answer is to start at the State level; elect decent Senators and Congress people; elect decent Governors and State legislators. Get rid of gerrymandered Districts. Get rid of pork barrel funding of empty military bases in every District. Look at the entrenched Pentagon non-working brass sitting around waiting for pensions and perks.
If Trump believes he did nothing wrong, then prove it by releasing the actual call for all to hear. He says he innocent so he must not have anything to hide.
7
This is just another deflection called "No you". When the heat is on, Trump the topic to his adversary. You see, they do it. It may be similar but I think not quite the same. Our presidents is dismantling our government.
2
“Mr. Zelensky talked about how much Ukraine had come to depend on the United States to help in its grinding, five-year war with Russian-sponsored separatists in the eastern part of the country. Without missing a beat, Mr. Trump then segued directly to his request for help in his own domestic politics.”
Donald Trump has essentially leveraged the policy of Russian ‘containment’, which was put in place to prevent a new Soviet Tsardom, and allow some peace of mind to the nations liberated by the fall of the Iron Curtain, all so that Trump might secure ‘dirt’ on a domestic political challenger.
The enormity of this malfeasance, if the whistle-blower is as credible as they seem, cannot possibly be overstated. Some aspects of our national politics are not matters of contention, and our adversarial position to the Kremlin didn’t form in a vacuum.
5
The president was doing his diligence in finding out if Biden was as corrupt as we all suspected. The only aides alarmed by this were partisan. I wish the Dems would just say Thank You Mr. President and move on to something else like voting on all the good bills the president supports. Honestly at this point I think half of America could care less if the President bribed a foreign country to dig up dirt on a political rival. It seem as if the left can conveniently overlook the whole Russian hoax so if it can be brushed aside without holding any Dems responsible I say go for it Donald, employ Putin and the KGB and play by the lefts rules.
2
@RS, you need to learn more about your "hero," the man who bragged he could shoot someone dead on the street and you'd still love him. Learn how he has cheated wives, banks, investors, contractors, "students." Hear him happily talking about "moving on" another man's wife, or grabbing women's private parts. Learn about these and more--many more--examples of his thoughts and acts. And ask yourself how true and honest he is with you. What he gets out of making you his latest "investor." It's what he does. Can't you see that?
3
@RS
1) Vice President Biden is NOT “corrupt” and his sonHunter did not commit any crimes.
2) Half a dozen “good bills” are sitting in Moscow Itch McConnell’s round file under his desk. All passed by Congress over the last 9 months (since Individual-1 allowed the Gubmint to reopen January 25th, 2019) and ALL of them supported by more than 50% of Americans.
3) Of course his supporters do not care if he commits crimes, you deplorables support him no matter who he shoots on 5th Avenue.
4) Read the Russia report, it detailed more than a dozen Federal Felonies committed by Individual-1.
2
Based on Whistleblower’s account, it is striking to note there are many employees from WH Staff to career professionals in CIA that are concerned, happy to leak, help the whistleblower, however none of them are coming out to report the way this Whistleblower did. There should be even more complains now. I’m surprised people in power such as Dan Coats, Bolton or the fired Ambassador who are directly connected to the situation in Ukraine did nothing. It is sad that they see the corruption, abuse of power but kept silent.
6
Aside from the current impeachment inquiry, does not anyone but me understand that this President violates his oath of office EACH time he personally attack’s an AMERICAN CITIZEN via his Twitter account? In my opinion, by using the Office of the Presidency to single out individuals who disagree with his politics and ridiculing them in public he is denigrating his Presidential Oath of Office by using this power.
8
Reading that Ukraine call transcript makes me wonder again about the conversation that Trump and Putin had behind closed doors, the one right before Trump undermined our nation in Helsinki by backing Putin over our national security agencies. I am sure that conversation was in the best interest of the USA...
2
Are there other nations in perilous circumstances that may have also been subject to shakedowns, and are there records of these conversations?
Will those with the knowledge please step forward.
Willie Sutton didn't rob just one bank, and El Chapo sold more than a bag or two of weed.
6
So, when will a federal grand jury be convened to investigate private citizen Giuliani's central role in a criminal conspiracy to violate U.S. election laws, particularly outlawing foreign interference with American elections? ASAP, hopefully! The federal prosecutors office for the Southern District of New York would seem to be the natural location for such an inquiry, where previously Michael Cohen was indicted and Trump was identified as an unindicted co-conspirator, also for election law violations.
5
A non-benevolent despot...
8
All the sycophants around Trump are traitors to America. That includes Barr, Giuliani, and apparently all of his staff. Only one person, the whistle-blower cared enough about our Constitution and our failing democracy to speak out. Republicans are treacherous people.
19
Wow, there's going to be literally hundreds of Trumpites going to jail, oops prison, once this is over. You just need one to break and implicate the others and they'll all roll over on everyone up the line. The smart ones need to get lawyers and get a deal done fast with the Democrats - as they can't trust the DoJ with Barr in charge. And he's going to prison too! (Just like John Mitchell in the Nixon days). What mass delusion for all these types to get involved with this guy in the first place.
10
Thank god for Peter Baker.
5
Trump, and all of his unindicted coconspirators, will eventually wear orange jump suits! Washington couldn't tell a lie, Nixon couldn't tell the truth and these future felons can't tell the difference! Land of the free and home of the brave? Yeh, Right!
9
It must be crazy being a Trump aide. Everyday doo-doo cleanup or the boss's messes. Good training for your next career job as a sanitation worker.
4
@Saints Fan
I hear there are jobs to be done cleaning up the oil spills in your Gulf due to unregulated leaking oil barges. How are those flood plain housing developments doing?
I think they may actually find a "witch" this time.
6
I kinda think the Dems need to find Focus first. The scatter guns attacks, aren’t nailing Trump down, Trumps disruption tactics are well honed he done this for years.
Trumps road maps of the dark streets is faultless, he backs down an ally and shoots through the bakery or drugstore and appears on the next block promoting an entirely different scandal.
Barr is a big question, should the Dems vote to impeach Barr and or Munchin, then their is The Energy Secretary Mr Perry, not the smartest cookies on the Block he has been is Ukraine, I believe on the same case.
I aren’t of The executive impeachable if the commit criminal abuses of their power and aren’t they all judge able of high crimes and misdemeanours making them simply unfit for office.
The Dems need to fish for a minnow to bait their line Trump is a full sized Shark you need decent bait to get him.
The House needs to make the Senate vote again on Barr, Perry and Muchin suitability and competence for high office.
1
Hello to all Aides to Trump and his cohorts of corrupted leaders
We know that you're American at the end of the day. Please awaken true American inside you and go to any news outlet of your choice and open your heart.. for the sake of your country, family and yourself.
We will protect you.
We need few of you to start and I am sure all weaklings will come out.
- Americans
5
Could Trump have thrown a curve with his insane Sharpie hurricane Dorian tantrum to get everyone to look at something besides his withholding aid for Ukraine?
5
Trump’s own people ratted him out!
12
"As it happened, Mr. Trump canceled his trip to Warsaw to monitor Hurricane Dorian, which was bearing down on the East Coast."
But of course; any idea of how hard it is to move a hurricane with a Sharpie?
5
The sound from the Republicans on this abuse of power is . . . crickets. This is how fascist dictatorships begin. Those who believe in democracy must resist, whether from inside or outside the government.
8
The thing that really struck me about the telephone transcript is how obvious the relationships Trump has with Giuliani and Barr. It seems that Giuliani has taken the role of now in prisoned Michael Cohen as Trump’s “fixer”, while William Barr is now Trump’s new Roy Cohn, as his personal protector. The transcript reads like a FBI mafia wiretap.
12
On one hand, what is that Goober thinking? He's got to realize that someone is watching, and listening, to every single thing he says or does. To either say A),"You see, he is the most bestest El Presidente EVER!", or B), "You see, he should be removed because he's a Republican!, we told you so!". On the other hand, what can the Ukraine government really do to help him? Not really much, from what I can see.
Fascinating to watch Mr Trump's personality disorder play out on the world stage. He is unable to conceive of any point of view but his own. Normal people instinctively know how other people will react to their actions while a narcissist has severely limited awareness of other peoples' feelings. Watch how Trump minimizes other people's alarm, indeed he invariably goes on the offensive, calling other people out for reacting negatively to what he has done.
9
We only have Trump's released 'transcript' of the call - and it contains a blatant request for the President of Ukraine to go after his political opponents, a statement of upcoming reprisals to a former US Ambassador there, pressure of all kinds - and this a week after Trump put a halt to funding Congress was sending to Ukraine.
And this is the call that Trump says was perfect, not a thing wrong. It is truly terrifying to think of what officials have heard in that call that wasn't in the transcript Trump is willing to release, or in all the lesser phone calls.
11
Trump's White House aides' salaries are paid by us taxpayers, not by Trump. They are our employees who have a fiduciary duty to protect the best interests of our country and us citizens. Trump, tragically is the President, but we own the company.
10
I wonder if there is a darker side to this drama. Zelensky was reported to have talked to Putin after his election and is described as wanting to improve the Ukraine and Russian relationship. It seems quite possible that Putin, or his delegate, reached out to Trump to ask the US to stop providing military support to the Ukraine. Withdrawal of US support would weaken the Ukraine and make it more likely Zelensky would bow to Putin's wishes. Given Trump's love of Putin, it seems likely he would embrace any request from Russia that we stop supplying military support to the Ukraine. But Trump then tried to capitalize on that withdrawal, and use it for his own benefit as well, making no promises, of course, that he would then authorize US military support. Both reasons for withholding the authorized military support are illegal, both run strongly counter to US security interests. Each requires impeachment of Trump. But in my view his allegiance to Russia is more serious, and if it played a role in withholding these funds, is tantamount to, or actual, treason. I suggest the intelligence committee look at all conversations or communications between the Trump administration and Russia since Zelensky's election.
11
Another Witch Hunt? Another Fake News Story? If anyone is guilty of treason, it is our President.
10
This is all a tempest in a teapot.
Politics is the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex.
Those who really have their hands on the levers of power will remain in control.
8
@Paul: "Tempest in a teapot?"
How 'bout "the toothpaste is starting to ooze from the tube."
2
@Paul: The US leads the global arms race to Doomsday.
1
I’ll be honest, I’m worried. Even with this great evidence, the Republicans won’t budge and the disinformation war may decide this case rather than facts. Such is the internet age the world lives in. I’m worried.
11
@DDeSoto: The tendency the internet to propagate the worst of ideas is a terrible disappointment.
1
Apparently people are pulling cash out of the banks. So much that the federal reserve is shipping billions of dollars to prevent bank runs. I'm tempted to pull some money myself.
2
@Analyst: Some people are stockpiling AR-15 ammo to use as post Apocalyptic currency.
1
@Analyst
re "Apparently people are pulling cash out of the banks"
Not to worry, we're in good hands. trump with his ragtag motley crew of so-called expert and experienced advisors in tow ... dithering Pompeo, bombastic Bolton (now gone but still talking), amateur Kudlow, silver-tongued Mulvaney and the corruption Mnuchin/Ross duo ... is a 'self-confessed stable genius and will prevail and triumph over all adversarial challenges.
1
@Analyst
Always have 6 months cash IN hand just in case.
Country before party. The members of congress took an oath to uphold and protect the constitution and not their re-election. How can they continually look the other way? How can they look themselves in the mirror every day?
We need to get the story out to the American people. No one wanted Nixon impeach either in the early days of the Watergate investigation. Our "president" broke the law. Period.
9
I get it. It's a good plan. Pelosi is trying to grind Washington to a halt and to slow the economy in one fell swoop. The stockmarket and minority employment should both drop.
Under pressure, Trump will lift sanctions on Iran and end the tariffs on Chinese goods. Things will get back to normal. China and Iran will be back on track.
With a slowing economy and Washington at an absolute standstill, Warren could win the White House at the expense of the nation. It could work. All systems go!
4
Why bother? Trump’s screwing up just fine all on his lonesome.
3
Though, it depends on the definition of though.
adverb: though
however (indicating that a factor qualifies or imposes restrictions on what was said previously).
"I was hunting for work. Jobs were scarce though"
or
"I'll do something for you. First though, I have to ask a favor"
8
Why do I see a historical parallel that winning at any cost will prevail. As this unfolds and a government and leader refuse to see the writing on the wall and digress into more and more absurdist distortions of the truth.
As the Russians are closing in from the east and the Democratic forces are closing in from the West, the leader cloistered in his bunker says if only this and that go our way we will prevail and ultimately will be victorious with no one asking the question, what does victory really look like?
As this leader who has always shown borderline psychological disorders slowly gets worse listening only to those that tell him the truths he wants to hear so that he will not fly into an uncontrollable rage.
This leader finds that there is diminishing support from the hinterlands but there are still his true believers those that say things like, Yes he has made some mistakes but he has our true interest at heart and he is the only one that can make our country great again and alas he remembers all those great rallies with the masses screaming his name in adulation.
6
Dan Coats, outgoing DNI who left August 15th has said "nothing came to me," in regards to the whistle blower complaint. It seems possible, if not likely, that he knew about the phone call and subsequent "lock down." It was announced that he would be leaving three days later. I would hope he would be called to testify.
9
It’s remarkable that Pres Trump’s supporter use defenses such as - Biden did something too, or there was no quid-pro-quo when the evidence of guilt (of solicitation of campaign help from a foreign power) was clear and obvious in the transcript the WH released and regardless of whether those flimsy defenses hold water or not.
5
@Mark Marks: Trump himself has a single digit social age.
1
I have been intrigued by the mention of voice recognition software in articles about the memo of Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy. Depending on the type of software being used there is a possibility of that an audio file is saved along with the recognized text file. This recording is used to allow the editor of the transcription to make up for any software shortcomings. It sure would be nice to know what voice recognition system was being used.
4
They knew he did wrong. But they did nothing except hide the fact that he did something wrong. They covered up a possible illegal act by Trump. They are complicit in this alleged crime. If it were anyone else, what would Republican legislators say? Just how much power does Trump have? And should he keep having more power so that we never know when he's done more illegal things? Where does it end?
8
The Republicans in Congress know it's bad too, but they have no spine to stand up to their boss. They and Trump are in a mad dash to defuse the facts and distract.
And what about his "base"? Trump has just passed a new policy to severely reduce allowable immigrants into this country as a distraction. Once again, Trump goes for short term messaging instead of long term benefits for this country.
6
Given the complexity and long history of these events, I
would encourage the Times editors to use the timeline
presentation as a useful adjunct to the texts of all future articles with a long implicit timeline underlying the narrative.
An important point that cannot be emphasized enough is
that the original tape of the July 25 conversation (along with the earlier one in April) must be made available to the congressional Intelligence committees, and the forthcoming
impeachment committee, if in fact the House votes to begin that procedure. Otherwise the entire discussion is
being conducted on the basis of incomplete (and possibly manipulated) information. This cannot be allowed.
1
This is simple.
President Trump has improved the life of the vast majority of Americans.
Especially those Americans who want to work.
And Democrats do not like him because of that.
He makes them look bad.
2
What IS it with you guys and crowd sizes?
3
But the number of uninsured Americans has risen. Getting sick without health insurance doesn't make for a good life. Where is that awesome health plan Trump and the Republicans promised?
5
@Dr. John: I have never seen the US is a sicker state of mind. It is like a beaten spouse of a sadomasochist.
1
Nixon had the full backing of the Republican party during the Watergate investigations. When the existence of the White House tapes became known and the courts ruled that they be released, the true nature of Nixon's involvement in a criminal conspiracy to cover up the initial crime of the break in became apparent. The nation learned through Nixon's own words just how far he had gone to try and save his own neck. It wasn't long before the his own own party turned on him and urged him to resign rather than face certain impeachment.
If there are records of other questionable calls to other foreign leaders such as Putin, we need to know about them. The American public has the right to know just how corrupt and immoral their president it.
Could the transcripts that are secreted away in the most classified system on earth be the equivalent of Nixon's White House tapes? On one hand we can only hope. On the other hand they could reveal just how much damage has been done to our democracy by this poor excuse for a human being.
3
The problem here is simple. Trump is a businessman and not the "soft indirect" type. He doesn't get the presidential constitutional thing. He wants to say what he wants to say to get his message out clear without actually having to say what is on his mind; in other words, "mob NY business lingo" that he is comfortable delivering. He doesn't know, or he knows and doesn't care; he will continue to try it until he is stopped. I think now just may be that time. US citizens have to admit the fact that, Trump is a fish (whether a shark or a jellyfish) out of water.
2
@bea durand: Trump runs a family business. He has never reported to a board of directors.
3
@Steve Bolger yes and I doubt if he has ever reported to anyone.
trump's release of a transcript of his telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president is just like Nixon's release of transcript of the Watergate WH house tapes (with expletives removed) expecting that that would suffice as a surrogate for the actual audio records. Turns out there was a world of difference between the transcript and the actual audio which proved critical. That difference when it surfaced eventually saw Nixon’s hitherto stalwart GOP support collapse forcing him to resign.
4
There appears to be a crime here committed by the president. But there is definitely a coverup here that amounts to a crime, obstruction of justice. Barr, Giuliani, and numerous others may find themselves behind bars before it is all over. This is much bigger than Watergate,which in the end was a two-bit bungled burglary, not the direct manipulation of a foreign government to sway an election.
8
@Safe upon the solid rock: It is amazing that Nixon even suspected that McGovern might have a secret plan to win the 1972 election.
1
I’m hearing Trump’s defenders say he’s been totally transparent. If that’s true, why were they in “lockdown” mode immediately after the call, placing the transcript in an alternate, and more obscure, location than was called for by classified information security protocols.
The right-wing spin machine is in overdrive and should be careful lest they get dizzy, and fall down.
8
@Jim McCann: The wise see right through Trump after a few minutes of observation.
1
@Saints Fan: Obama merely told Vlad that the exigencies of US politics constrain options in run-ups to elections.
When did the job of the intelligence community, White House staff and counsel, senators, directors, and parts of the judiciary morph from serving and protecting the United States, its laws & its people to serving and protecting (at all costs) one man? Probably the same day that man raised his hand and said, “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” An oath rendered meaningless.
5
@Melody: Does anyone really believe that fear of post-mortal punishment keeps anyone honest?
1
So many people were alarmed, allegedly, yet there was only one person brave enough to file a whistleblower complaint. The Trump enablers are not patriots, period.
9
@Amelia: The classified addendum we haven't seen probably lists the whistle-blower's sources.
1
Republican Senators and Representatives have been protecting Trump since the beginning. They have forgiven his every mistake. They have even tolerated giving up their own legislative prerogatives so as to remain in Trump's good graces. Why because they are afraid of him and his base.
But this is what happens when you are afraid to lead and afraid to reign in a wayward President. Now that President is facing impeachment and they respond with silence. Those who want to fight for Trump do so by attacking the whistle blower.
But let me ask this of the Republican Senators and Representatives, what if the shoe had been on the other foot and it had been a Democrat asking a foreign leader to initiate an investigation on one of them to help in an election? Would they and the entire Republican Party not be asking for impeachment?
7
From everything I’ve read, it appears that Trump sought to work with Ukraine to investigate Biden’s corruption. Even if politically expedient, I think we want our president to uncover abuses of power and hold those responsible to account.
3
@Dara It seems to me that if the Trump officials hid this phone call in a secure server, they had an inkling that what he asked the Ukrainian President to do was not legal. Trump could have pursued this Biden investigation (debunked by Ukraine and the United States - - but you will never believe it)) in other ways in a more open manner. So ask yourself why the phone call was hidden, and why the Republicans are piling on about the whistle-blower report. It has clearly struck a nerve. Again, it perhaps wasn't the content of the phone call that was problematic; it was the fact it was deliberately hidden away in a special server.
6
There is a way to go about opening an investigation. Procedures and policies. Why didn't Trump follow them if the conspiracy theories had any truth?
Furthermore, if you care about Biden's misuse of power then you should care about Trump's misuse of power too. But the tone of your comment seems to imply that you don't believe that the laws apply to Trump. Hmmm.
3
@Dara: Nope. Trump sollicited illegal campaign contributions in the form of pressuring a head of state dependent on US military aid to investigate a political opponent and a private civilian for made-up allegations of corruption. That's a crime and it borders on treason since the military aid was meant to thwart incursions of an American adversary (Russia) into Ukraine, an independent republic and EU and USA ally.
2
When we travel internationally (which is frequently) we sometimes run into avid Trump supporters who claim that the United States enjoys unprecedented respect around the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here in Canada and across the globe, Trump’s bizarre behaviour, constant lies and self-aggrandizement have caused almost all former friends and allies to look at the US with suspicion and hate.
His latest dust up with Ukraine is just so typical of this out-of-control president.
6
Imagine the frequent stress management workshops....
2
Thank you for the clear outline of the story. The President, Nunez (during the hearing), Barr, et.al. are gaslighting us all. It is pure villainy to withhold 300 million in war aid in such a secretive, exploitative way—and try to force a different outcome of the Ukraine’s already closed corruption investigation into the presidential candidate and former Vice President Biden-associated company AND coerce “information” to attempt to dispel the findings in the Mueller report! The Ukraine is at war with Russia. Trump is working with Russia. He has every motivation to exploit the new president of Ukraine. Truth will prevail in the end.
Trump wants to force his own reelection and/or avoid prison at any cost. What makes this all so egregious is that he is a terrible president and has zero empathy for his people and humanity in general.
3
Let's hear those Recordings! That should clear things up. I'm sure Trump will be releasing them around the time he releases his taxes though.
7
We all knew Trump would act this way after he took office. Despite his deliberately erratic behavior to keep others off balance, the systematic corruption was predictable.
But I wouldn’t have predicted that White House aides would be such sycophantic enablers of Trump’s crimes.
Where culpable under the law, charge them too.
6
Now Trump says this:
"Mr. Trump on Friday defended his phone call with Mr. Zelensky, calling it “perfect” and “appropriate” and accused Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and chairman of the Intelligence Committee, of lying to Congress when Mr. Schiff paraphrased portions of the July 25 call from the reconstructed transcript during an opening statement at a hearing on Thursday."
The best way to resolve this issue it to open up that Level 4 National Security server, and get out the audio tape of the call and release a true, verbatim word-for-word transcript of the call. It is no longer protected by "executive privilege" because Trump already released his version that he sais was accurate -- so let's hear the real words.
Also, as long as your up there opening up the Level 4 server, release all the other political talks Trump has had that are only being kept there so nobody knows what he said, and which have no true national security based need to be there.
2
“Instead, he sent Mr. Pence, who met with Mr. Zelensky.”
It will be interesting to discover what was the subject of Pence’s meeting with Zelenskyy. It may put Pence at risk.
6
Isn’t it interesting that now the Bidens need to be investigated regarding Ukraine.
The GOP had control of Congress from January 2011 through January 2019, if this was so important why didn’t they investigate and if warranted, prosecute?
Simple answer is Joe wasn’t viewed as a political opponent in 2016 or prior to that. Hillary, however was their focus for Benghazi and emails and a questionable server.
When Biden was ahead in the polls it became paramount to tarnish him with illegal foreign help just like with Hillary, it worked once with no repercussions, why reinvent the wheel?
8
You have to admit, it’s pretty delicious to see a guy who’s been running around screaming about secret servers and sneaky phone calls and corruption and the deep state getting toasted over secret servers and sneaky phone calls and corruption and his very own deep state.
The part where Trump’s been lining his own assorted pockets and helping out Putin—and witholding that aid does help Putin—is a lot less funny.
7
Time to subpoena Volker, Scotland, Giuliani, Bolton and whoever else has direct knowledge about the meetings with Ukraine. The intent of these meetings needs to come under the scrutiny of the clear light of day, so the American people can judge this administration’s deeds for themselves.
What else is on that secret server? Heaven help us.
5
Wow! It must be tough to be Ukraine! You have the Putin threat on one side which the US is supposed to help protect you from. But now you have the Trump administration on the other side. I’m pretty sure that they knew the aid was being withheld, but they probably were hoping to comply when they learnt what the conditions were.
The Ukraine people have all my sympathies.
3
Those WH officials are co-conspirators who violated the law regarding the use of a classified server to cover up Trump's quid pro quo. The whistleblower complaint's footnote 1 says this: "I also believe that applying a classification marking to this information would violate EO 13526, Part 1, Section 1.7, which states: "In no case shall information be classified, continue to be maintained as classified, or fail to be declassified in order to: (1) conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; [or] (2) prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency." I recommend that these WH staffers who are complicit in the cover-up read the history of Watergate and find out what happened to Haldeman, Erlichmann, and even John Dean. They may want to think twice about how far they are willing to go to protect a man like Trump.
5
Most of the people in this administration , in first place the occupant of the Oval Office , remind me of the characters of Mario Puzo’s novel “ The Godfather “ , never fiction has been closer to the real thing .
4
“’The White House officials were deeply disturbed by what had transpired in the phone call,’ the whistle-blower wrote in his complaint.”
This disturbance led the White House officials to cover up for Trump: “In the days following the phone call, I learned from multiple U.S. officials that senior White House officials intervened to ‘lock down’ all records of the phone call.
[Then the] White House officials were ‘directed’ by the White House lawyers to remove the electronic transcript from the computer system in which such transcripts are typically stored.”
6
They're listening and must have been like holy smokes, he's doing exactly what he skated on and insisted he didin't do.
3
Did any Ukrainian soldiers die on the battlefield against Russia during the time Trump was holding our military aid hostage for his personal gain?
1
John Bolton, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, Steve Mnuchin, Rudi Giuliani, Bill Barr, Rick Perry, numerous State Department officials and Justice Department officials, White House attorneys, and who else tried to hide Trump's collusion with a foreign government to effect the Presidential election? Jared must have had a hand it this as well.
3
Is it even possible for any rational person actually to believe that this pre-planned call was not an example of how an otherwise innocuous congratulatory call to Zelensky turned into horrifying and hair-raising proof that the POTUS is either a victim of severe dementia, or totally insane beyond recovery?
5
Isn't conspiring with a foreign power to obtain information used to sway an election considered tantamount to treason?
7
I can't stop thinking about one little word, "though". As soon as Zelensky says he wants to buy military equipment, the president responds, "I would like you to do us a favor, THOUGH..."
To me, that word directly and unambiguously ties the favor to the military aid. It is therefore quid pro quo.
4
In this Article ,reports that in the President's phone call with President Zelensky, there was no delicate national security information.
1
Everyone should pause and think about it - it isn't the lame stream media or fake news or Congress or Dems or even the whistler blower -it is the WH staff hired by Trump himself (think about that ) who are blowing in Trump as a national security risk. The people that Trump hired and work with him daily think he is a danger to the US. Now that is worthy of impeachment.
57
Imagine how Trump would captain an aircraft carrier? Any doubt that it would not end up in a disaster? He’s incapable of leading anything but himself into some pleasure seeking activity. People who surround him must give priority to preventing his behavior from getting him into trouble. That is the guy who Republicans treat like a hero.
14
@Casual Observer In reality, he commands all our aircraft carriers, and more. That's the scary thing.
1
@Casual Observer
When a Navy captain has a mishap, as in the collision in the western pacific a while back, they are often immediately removed from duty. Unfortunately, there are no constitutional mechanisms to do the same with the President, although he or she could do infinitely more damage than one ship captain. This is a true national security emergency.
1
It is very apparent and without any effort on Trump's behalf to conceal it, his disdain for any other authority, except his own, his complete disregard for everything, except for what he says, words that he takes as the Gospel. Did not he call himself the chosen one. The above said, are the things that have many seething, how he disregards superciliously everything it does not sounds sweet to his ears, his overbearing manners, his lack of respect for the most revered office in the land, which he, in the same way as Nixon, has converted in a cabala of co-conspirators, with the only end in sight, to get re-elected in 2020, no matter what, and whoever that fails. The US presidency has been debased by this man. I hope Ms Pellosi, to whom I admire for her rectitude, can put soon an end to this charade.
18
I can’t understand what values American politics are based upon if these large payments to an immediate family member of an official are considered acceptable. Of course the Ukrainians should look into that, as should anti-corruption authorities in the US. Trump hatred can’t make everyone so blind they would rather see a hireling in the White House. There are plenty of other Democratic candidates, are younger too.
7
@Michael Sweden; all of Europe called for the prosecutor to step down. Biden's son did nothing wrong; this has already been investigated. Trump extorted a foreign leader to win an election. Multiple crimes.
7
@Michael They already did and did and found no wrongdoing.
6
There is zero evidence of wrong doing and yes, it has been looked into. The “values” here are directly related to abuse of power and influence. Being President of the United States is supposed to be about serving your country. Not yourself. And it doesn’t take an imagination to understand that he is heavily hinting that fake evidence would be just as useful as real. It also doesn’t take a leap to imagine Trump is willing to let Ukraine fall victim to Russia simply because he saw no use in them... our values are to hold elected officials to a higher moral standard than this.
7
This is an example of Trump thinking he knows best when such is illegal and he does not even think so. The phone call is typical Trump demonstrating his mob style and transactional mentality (loyalty and there is a price for everything) that reveals he is unfit for the office.
This is all the day after the Mueller probe was ended. He learned nothing. He will not change.
This bully's continued witness tampering in the form of disparaging and threatening statements against a whistle blower is obstruction. If it were any other person, he would be prosecuted. But Barr has said a President can not be indicted -- for anything. This is maddening and dumbfounding.
Congress (The House of Representatives) is correct to stand up for the institutions of the presidency and Congress because the hypocritical and complicit Republicans, who only think of themselves and not the country or citizens, will not.
22
It is now the responsibility of everyone in the government with any evidence of wrongdoing by the Trump administration to let American public on it. Follow all applicable whistleblower laws and do your duty. The real America needs your help to survive.
16
An evil genius or really, really dumb? That is always the question with DT. Try this on: he knows and his advisors know that the one thing that will completely solidify his support with his supporters at this juncture is an impeachment. They also believe there is no way he will be convicted given that 90% of GOP voters back him. No Replubican Representative or Senator will risk it (and some of them have decided to not seek re-election to avoid having to stand up to him). It may also serve to swerve many who sit in the fence. A worthwhile gamble to someone used to going all in all the time would be to force the issue.
So how to best make that happen given Pelosi's rightful caution? Do something like this. It smells like a setup to me. And if not, it should have been. $13 million raised almost instantly? It is so perfect.
Actually, I do not think he alone is the evil genius here, I really think it was a team effort. Look at how quickly they were prepared to release everything once it came out, how prepped they seem to be to fight it. This was all planned and discussed beforehand. Maybe the call was real and people were at first scared, but the way it's going down now? Totally planned.
2
Most likely, as is often the case, Hunter Biden was being debriefed by the CIA, on his interactions with Ukrainian politicians and business persons as well as on Russian interests in the Ukraine. If that is the case, Trump has undermined some of the U.S. intelligence gathering ops, to the benefit of....Russia.
8
“the president saw nothing wrong with his request “... Trump’s mind and views of the world are so warped that this becomes his true moment of honesty.
12
The only treasonous behavior out there is that of Trump, Barr, and Giuliani.
As for the fitting form of punishment of those three, I concur with Trump's allusion.
9
I fear that DJT is close to full blown insanity and I'm truly terrified of what he might do in the coming days. "If I'm going down, I might as well take all of you with me." He is that sick. He needs to be removed ASAP as this is a global emergency.
20
This independent voter says the system worked just as it’s supposed to, is working well still, and working in spite of the House Dems’ claims/impeachment-inquiry otherwise. “Alarmed aides” is the obvious starting indicator. More indicators: Preserving securely the phonecon transcription; Notice back to WH of the start of a whistleblower’s probable action; the DoJ evaluations; Whistleblower’s report transferred to Congress with only brief delay; Transcript of phonecon released (this voluntary transfer was not a requirement); DNI and IG (and eventually the whistleblower) appear before Congress....
1
I often imagine that Vice President Mike Pence awakes each morning, and as he lays in bed, his first thought is “maybe today is the day I become president.”
7
In a statement issued to summarize the phone call, Ukrainian officials described “investigation of corruption cases that have held back cooperation between Ukraine and the United States.” Isn’t this the smoking gun? The Ukrainians clearly understood that U.S. aid (aka “cooperation”) was contingent (aka “held back”) on investigations of Biden (aka “corruption cases”).
7
This is all setting up the leftie denial pathology for when they lose the 2020 election based on their bankrupt and plain crazy ideas. Never underestimate the power of a weak mind coupled with denial and Trump Derangement Syndrome. The DNC is lost.
4
Rarely does one so perfectly illustrate ones point to complete opposite effect. Bravo.
5
To the Editors:
This is in regard to your timeline of events in the most recent Trump scandal.
Of the endless ironies surrounding Trump, it is particularly absurd that Ukrainian President Zelensky's aide met with U.S. Special Envoy Kurt Volker to discuss alleged "corruption"--over breakfast in the Trump Hotel in Washington!
Of course it is also ridiculous that Volker helped connect Zelenksy's aide with Rudy Giuliani, the disgraced former mayor of New York, who seems oblivious of what constitutes criminality: a U.S. president cannot ask for assistance from a foreign government for his personal gain. That is the standard that Trump explicitly violates in the phone conversation. (We don't even need to debate the existence of the obvious yet implicit "quid pro quo" that conservatives are leaning on.)
It may well be sleazy that Hunter Biden got rich off his father's name brand (as did Trump from his father, Fred, and now his offspring from whatever the Trump name stands for). But sleaziness by itself is not a crime. If it were, Trump would long ago have been charged, tried, and convicted, and we would have been spared the circus of his presidency.
Trump and his pathetic defenders are again trying to smoke screen, pointing from his real crimes towards whatever candidate he wants to smear at the moment.
The final irony is their recent concern over election interference in 2016--and their attempt to blame Ukraine instead of Russia!
Have they no shame?
6
@Daniel F.
Isn't it completely clear, by now, that they have no shame? This is why the attempt to recreate the effect of Joseph Welch's 1954 question to McCarthy is futile. At the time, McCarthy clearly had no shame, but the story and moment were narrated and broadcast by people for
whom conveying a sense of collective shame over what had been allowed to happen in the country was very important.
This is the essential difference between now and then.
There is a self enclosed and significant part of the society that feels no shame whatsoever, indeed there's a lot of pride, about what has
happened to the society, esp. its federal government
since January 2017.
They have their own electronic narrators of choice and only believe what they hear from it. We already have read about how they've
decided to package the preceding 36 hours. So, the
absence of shame, which is what trump intends as the message they broadcast, will continue on and on...
4
The actions of unnamed White House lawyers reveal consciousness of guilt. Obstruction of justice charges are only a matter of time.
7
And then prison and then disbarment.
If there was nothing wrong with the call, why bury it? There needs to be a thorough investigation of who was involved in this scheme and the resulting cover up. Then Rudy needs to be indicted and disbarred. The same for AG Barr.
A movie wouldn’t be more thrilled packed. The Trumps are a mob family, complete with corrupt and crooked prosecutors (Barr) and greedy, disgusting lawyers (Rudy, Lewandowski). I cannot wait to watch the box office hit.
13
This is second and third hand information. This is a bit troubling. The whistle blower is going on here say. Important to note was that this person did not want President Trump to be elected. Does this sound like a bit of bias?
The phone call seems pretty innocent to me. It was friendly and nothing damaging was revealed. I think this will go nowhere when all is said and done. There was no crime committed. This is just another witch hunt.
3
Then why did Trump’s own aides get alarmed and try to hide what he said? Answer that question.
10
I like the part where it’s all second-hand info, except for the first-hand info that you’re trying to make go away.
9
@Robert
Logical consistency isn't Trump supporters' strong suit. Slavish devotion to an authoritarian is.
7
Will Republican Senators follow this man at all cost to save their seats and Majority? If this were Obama their hair would be on fire. When will America realize Trump cares only for himself? At the end Nixon felt Shame. This man does Not know what that is.
7
Haul all these aides in to go on the record for aiding and abetting a crime against the United States of America. Put them on camera. All of them, since no one but the whistleblower had the decency or patriotism to stop Criminal Trump.
9
This chaos is indicative of the Trump administration’s disorganization and lack of professionalism.
What would the president do in the case of a need to employ the nuclear codes?
Who’s running the shop? Fox News? Or is “no one home?”
3
When will Marie L. Yovanovitch, his former ambassador to Ukraine, speak to committee, under oath? Has she been interviewed yet?
What other people have had questionable requests made of them?
I am hoping for an avalanche.
7
Who speaks like this? A child or really old confused person. In of itself the sentence makes no sense.
“He wants to see peace in Ukraine, and I think he will be coming very soon, actually.”
7
Red flags going up? Given the goings on at the trump whitehouse, the bar for raising a red flag is stunningly high.
What else are these enablers hiding to protect individual #1?
4
Trump may not know right from wrong but those around him did. Hence the cover-up. The dozen or so who listened in on that call and tried to "lock" it in a top-secret server are liable not only for impeachment but criminal prosecution, as are Pence, Pompeo, Mulvaney, Mnuchin, Barr and Giuliani.
10
Oh, MY! A secret server to hide documents that could end a presidency! If only RoseMary Woods, who erased several minutes of Nixon's Oval Office audio tapes, could see us now.
The technology may be all new, but intent to aid in a coverup of a crime is coming to light. Trump has fired those who wouldn't "go along", and hired replacements eager to sell their souls to support the most corrupt POTUS in our history. Was this all about padding a resume to be submitted later to Fox News? To get a lucritive book deal? Mulvaney, Mnuchin, Miller, Bannon, Conway, Barr, ...
And unless Trump's adult children go to jail with their father, I could see tell-all book titles like, "My life inside a crime family," "The Art of Corruption," Why I Hate Our Father," "We Had No Idea: Confessions of Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka Trump," "How My Father-In-Law Ended My Family Business."
Well, you get my point. Observers and survivors of Trump's criminality and corruption will be offered book deals, screenwriting deals for a docu-movie, jobs at Fox, or a home in Moscow.
8
Although I am not a Trump supporter, which is an understatement, I am deeply saddened by this turn of events. I have just returned from Europe and I can tell you, the United States is not held in the esteem I have come to take for granted. I have always been convinced that this country is the greatest in the world. I was raised by a very patriotic father, who taught me how privileged we are to be a part of this nation. Sadly, I am beginning to doubt my beliefs, which is heartbreaking. I believe Trump has systematically degraded and divided our country. He should be ashamed. I am. He is an embarrassment to the USA
329
@Susan: Trump has established that liberty to enslave is still structured into the US political system.
3
@Susan
I am sorry but suggesting that United States was at any point of time the greatest country in the world is like living in a lie with steadfast arrogance. There are many countries in the world that outshine the U.S. in many many ways.
Certainly Trump and his supporters are pulling us down to the bottom of the barrel where we are bound to stay for a long time. There is absolutely no doubt about that.
17
@Susan Thank you. I left the USA for Art School in Australia after graduating HS in 73.
The USA HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREAT until trumpy.
I am also sad at how my parent country is now regarded down here in the South Pacific.
Further to this; the view the average person here has of the mental capacity of the US public for electing such a person and allowing him to further destroy everything is also distressing.
When is everyone up there going to wake up?
16
I love the headline! ... Too bad that "damage control" seems to be what intelligent people working in the White House - BY AND LARGE - have been reduced to.
Thank heavens that every once in a long while, someone - and they are often "unlovable" because they DO march to a different drummer - comes along who sees the glimmer of a chance that they can actually make a positive difference.
Obviously, I'm referring to "the whistleblower" in that oh so exalted position. But when you think of people like Guliani and Barr, I guess the only question is "Were they born without a moral compass or were they raised in such a way that it wasn't there at age 16, say ... or did they decide at some point in their adult lives that they'd make more money if they could somehow "lose it?"
8
When Congressman Ratcliffe (R- Texas) delivered his impressively long list of sources for the whistle-blower yesterday, his intent was to make the point that the information was all second-hand. Unwittingly, he was making another more powerful point - that a whole bunch of people with first-hand knowledge of the call interpreted what they observed in exactly the same way.
And now we know that there were attempts by some to bury it - yet more confirmation of consciousness of guilt.
This corroboration and confirmation of the facts of the report - especially when combined with the quasi-transcript of the phone call provided by the White House - was one of the more powerful arguments for the report's veracity and the sad irrefutable need to impeach the President.
18
The transcript shows no quid pro quo.
However, appointment of an unqualified candidate with a history of questionable decisions on an energy board at a $83,000 does raise serious concerns about Ukrainian plans to influence US foreign policy. Lest we forget, this is the actual scandal here.
4
If your assertion is correct, why would there be such a concerted effort to cover up the call by a host of White House insiders? If there's nothing to hide, why go to such great lengths to do so?
Alas, you're blinded by the glow of Our President's shining, made-up, brow ...
6
@Kai. The federal law prohibiting asking a foreign power for favor to help a government official personally requires no quid pro quo. So your argument is falling into a trap set by the Trump administration who doesn’t want you to understand that it’s irrelevant.
6
@Kai, no. It isn't. Trump's withholding funding from a nation in sore need, while seeking the "favor" of having trouble made against a political rival is corruption and malfeasance worthy of impeachment of a president of our land. And he is being impeached. That's what is at issue here.
6
Why is Guiliani - Trump's *personal* lawyer - having any conversations with any foreign leaders about *anything* anyway?? He does not act on behalf of the US; he acts on behalf of Trump and his personal interests. The very fact that he is involved (do we not have an entire agency full of Foreign Service professionals to carry out diplomacy?) should raise serious questions worthy of investigation on its face.
24
Trump has recently added "most transparent President in the history of this country" to his list of admirable traits.
It will be interesting to see how readily a full transcript of his April phone call to Mr. Zelensky comes to light, as promised,
However, the transcript of that call will also not be verbatim, and could in fact be quite filtered.
it seems US Presidents have generally stopped audio recording phone calls post Nixon, and the transcripts now are based on notes and recollections from Situation Room duty officers and National Security Council policy staff, who listen to, take notes and document presidential conversations. AI is not used to transcribe the President or other parties of the call, though it may transcribe a staffer's words. Thus, the released transcript is not verbatim and is subject to human error. NSC staffers have been known to to correct grammar, remove disparaging words and smooth disjointed sentences.
Ultimately, there may be no audio recording to turn to to referee arguments about wording nuances.
It seems this method may lead to slippery legal tactics around the "non verbatim" quality of the words,
I can already see the arguments starting around Trump's word "though"
In this high tech era, it seems the recording methods used to document government proceedings are alarmingly low-tech.
There's a chance, all of this hoopla about damaging words in phone calls to Mr. Zelensky may unravel quickly in the court.
3
If we are going to analyze every phone call made by President trump, then we should do the same for congress/senate:
every single phone call, every single conversation, and every single email - by every single member of congress and senate - should be recorded, transcribed, and made available to the public for discussion.
@billy
"whataboutism" is not going to work here billy.
To quote Sen Lindsey Graham (R. South Carolina), “A president doesn’t even have to be convicted of a crime to be impeached. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office”
1
DNI McGuire’s given reason for not following the law (sending the whistleblower complaint to Congress) was a complete lie. If one reads the ICIG letter to the DNI ,it clearly states that the recording of the call will NOT be sent to Congress as part of the complaint.
If the words of the president’s call are NOT divulged, how could his concern be “executive privilege”. Executive privilege of words which are not revealed? Although McGuire has lived an exemplary life, he must be a part of the coverup for reasons that I dare not guess at.
3
How many people were indicted and how many went to prison in the Nixon administration?
Many people alive today were born after those dark days. I remember coming home from school and watching the Watergate hearings. Many of the finer details were difficult to grasp but not the corruption, the lies, the cover-up and then John Dean.
I think Republicans in positions of power and/or complicity in this should come forward, come clean and right quickly.
7
The pertinent sequence of events laid out really nicely here. Thanks for the clarity, Peter Baker.
7
a cover up is being done by the democrats.
The whistle blower complaint itself and several Politico and Hill articles suggest that there may have been democratic operatives, the US ambassador to the Ukriane and other Ukrainians colluding to influence the 2016 election. The impeachment call was in part an attempt to end Trump/Giuliani's investigation into this and discredit. the democrats are also showing their usual lack of credibility by Schiff trying to bait over and over the intelligence chief into saying he supports the investigation, and by Pelosi's comments today that Barr is rogue, although Barr has not been involved in any of this. The democrats are demonstrating there isn't sufficient basis for begin impeachment. Trump and Guilliani are also likely accelerating their investigation. Hopefully all of this bounce 180 degrees to the democrats where more blame is deserved despite trumps minor lack of following good and normal protocol.
2
"“I would like you to do us a favor, though,” he said."
That "though" is very telling and incriminating.
It directly follows discussion of the withheld aid, and clearly communicates to Zelensky that provision of the financial aid is contingent on the "favor." If he hadn't said the "though", he might have a better chance of dodging his quid pro quo problem.
It is infuriating that Trump withheld and delayed the funds that had already been approved by Congress.
And why are White House attorneys trying to help Trump avoid getting in trouble? That is not their job.
8
Are these plot points for the next John LeCarre'? Sadly, no; it's all true.
5
There are strong indications that, in addition to pursuing his own venal political goals with President Zelenskyy, President Trump is doing Moscow's bidding on Ukraine, and is not defending U.S. national security interests.
For example, Trump has publicly asked Zelenskyy to come to a quick agreement with Russia on ending the war -- implicitly a call for surrender -- before Zelenskyy visits the White House. His July 25 call also reflects Russian, not American priorities.
That is why it would be very useful to obtain the transcripts of the Trump-Putin calls that are reportedly also hidden away on the covert action server in the White House. The fact that the Russians have called on Trump not to release these conversations is a dead giveaway that bad stuff is on them.
Just what have Trump and Putin been up to? The answer may be in the Trump-Putin calls, which could be a series of impeachment time bombs even more explosive than the Ukraine scandal.
7
@James I totally agree. I bet Trump intended to get those favours and then refuse the aid to Ukraine or slow the delivery of the aid to the advantage of Putin.
This and climate change too! Wow!
4
Another issue in all this....one that is just beginning to hurt Donald Trump....is that Fox News is changing.
Television is based on research. As their research shows support for impeachment growing, they'll moderate their tone. This is happening already.
Hannity and Carlson may be in too deep to change their acts, but the general coverage won't go over a cliff with Trump.
Donald has obsessed over his ratings. Others are doing the same.
4
If all these people were so alarmed as the whistleblower alledges why didn’t any of them file a whistleblower complaint.
3
@dave - Because they were involved, and wanted to cover their own behinds?
5
I don't think everybody thought or knew that this call would be routine. What was State Department official Ulrich T. Berchbuhl, an advisor, business partner and close friend of Secretary Pompeo doing listening in on a routine "congratulatory" call?
6
This is banana republic stuff, although we shouldn't be surprised because the President openly asked the Russians to intervene in the 2016 election. The President suffered no consequences for all those goings-on, while his henchmen didn't fare so well. Alas, this is what happens in banana republics.
8
This is why we have regulations. Even after Trump, get ready for more corruption in the years to come.
1
The "though" will pass into the annals of history. So common a word we never think what it means exactly. But now we should. Here is a definition: "adverb, indicating that a factor qualifies or imposes restrictions on what was said previously." Here are a few of synonyms: "nevertheless, even so, however, in spite of that, notwithstanding."
And so the "though" says it all. Following directly after Zelensky had expressed gratitude for American military aid and emphasized how essential this aid is to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression, Trump threatens -- in a single word -- that "restrictions" on this aid will follow unless Zelensky helps him find dirt on a political rival.
Those saying the transcript contains no quid pro quo are ignoring what "though" means. Donald Though -- a criminal and a clown.
3
There has not been a moment's peace in our great country since Trump became president. We don't even know what normal is anymore. He continually causes havoc here and around the world.
7
Trump will be impeached, the Senate will not convict. Trump will solidify his base but lose support among suburban women. When he loses the 2020 election he will claim that the election was rigged, declare a "National Emergency" and refuse to leave the White House. The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision will support his "National Emergency".
So ends democracy in America.
3
Interesting that Trump characterized Zelensky as "a very reasonable guy" who "wants to see peace in Ukraine" (i.e someone who would be willing to work out a deal with his aggressive neighbor Vladimir Putin).
Also interesting that this call took place the day after Mueller basically dropped the ball in his testimony to two congressional committees. Trump (and Putin) probably felt they could do more of the same in 2020 since the country's best prosecutor had failed to make a case against them. So, the very next morning, it's back to business "as usual" for Trump.
Once a mob boss, always a mob boss.
6
Trump cheated to win the 2016 presidential election and he will cheat again to win the 2020 election. The phone call just proves this fact. No quid pro quo is necessary to understand this simple but terrifying truth. To Trump it's all a game, and if he is still in office in November of 2020 we shouldn't be surprised to see him "win" another election.
If you believe the 2020 presidential election will be fair, you are simply not paying attention.
7
"...the call turned into a bid by Mr. Trump to press a Ukrainian leader in need of additional American aid to “do us a favor” and investigate Democrats."
I don't know how an objective person could characterize what Trump actually said in this way.
When Trump used the phrase "do us a favor", he was explicitly talking about investigating the interference in the 2016 election, in which a server supposedly in Ukraine played a role. One would think that getting to the bottom of what actually happened in 2016 would be something any responsible President would do.
Characterizing those words as applying instead to the investigation of Biden's son could hardly be more unfair to what Trump was saying.
6
Haven’t all of the U.S. intelligence agencies come to the unanimous conclusion that the Russians interfered with the 2016 election?
Trump will continue to deny this, and try to implicate Ukrainian “corruption”.
5
@Russ Goldberg
It's pretty obvious that our intelligence agencies had less than perfect information in their analyses, and only a vague characterization of the parties involved. Most of the action in the 2016 in the election meddling took place in either Russia or Ukraine -- to which our intelligence agencies hardly have full access. Why wouldn't we want to know exactly who was responsible? Why wouldn't the government of Ukraine potentially have a lot to offer in nailing this down?
And your point doesn't at all address my original one: how can anyone pretend that this is a non-controversial case of Trump targeting Democrats?
1
@frankly0
so innocent phone call that had to be secured in a special top secret server. so non controversial that SEVERAL people listening were so alarmed that hided the recording
1
That any Republican member of Congress can still back the president on this one shows how truly lost they are morally and legally. Why is it so hard for them to choose country over party? History will not be kind....
7
Russia just asked that the conversations between Trump and Putin remain secret.
Oh, ok, since they asked nicely, we should respect their wishes.
Nope, forget that - review the content of every call in that top secret server to ensure each and every one is there for the right reasons. Covering up isn’t a “right” reason.
To the Democratic leadership - cut the jokes and get your jobs done. None of this is humorous.
3
Poor Acting-Director Joseph McGuire. In over his head. It's what used to be called reaching your level of incompetence (the Peter Principle), though it seems possible that McGuire got jumped up one level above even that too soon. In that way, he got lucky - reached a height he may never have reached under normal circumstances. The Lady Luck deserted him and handed him this.
What he did, basically, was act like a grunt who runs into a complex military situation and desperately looks for the most likely higher authority in the chain of command to take responsibility for any decision he might otherwise have to make on his own understanding the situation. In other words, he did what a lot of German officers were convicted of at Nuremberg: followed orders, no matter how immoral.
Not so the folks continually covering for and protecting the President. They are acting fully on their own initiatives, not even trying to follow the law or established policy as McGuire sought to do in his very passive way.
As for the Republicans trying to excuse or wave away Trump's actions: they no longer have any leg to stand on criticizing Democrats of ANY supposed wrongdoing at least back through Obama's two terms. All their whatabouts are steeped in conspiracy theories based on suppositions ten times shakier than the determination from publicized facts that Trump abused the power of his office for political gain (which for Trump equals monetary gain).
4
When the phone call occurred, were Zelensky and trump speaking to each other in English. Were interpreters used. One interpreter or two. Think about how hard it must be to interpret for trump, the man is inarticulate.
Was the interpreter dealing with the Russian language or Ukrainian. I assume there is a deeper bench of Russian interpreters in DC than there are Ukrainian interpreters.
I once read about the difference between “interpreting” and “translating”. Interpreting usually applies to oral communications, translating to written conmunications. Think about how difficult it must be for an interpreter to convey a nuanced conversation coming out of trump’s befuddled brain and mouth. Especially if the interpreter or interpreters did not know in advance this was something other than a routine “atta boy” call between two leaders.
Was it simultaneous interpretation or consecutive interpretation. Again, think about the challenges for an interpreter to sort out trump’s syntax.
If it was an English-only call, did Z. understand the subtext of what trump was allegedly trying to obey.
Bottom line: these are issues that have to be sorted out in the impeachment process. Exactly what did trump say to Z. in English and how competently was it interpreted for Z’s ears in Russian or Ukrainian. Best Evidence Rule.
3
* change “obey” to “convey”
1
While you are at it, impeach also the Ukrainian president. After all, Obama pursued regime change in Libya and other countries.
John Bolton comes out of this piece looking principled and patriotic. Let that sink in for a while.
8
I can only quote Mark Slackmeyer on May 29, 1973 - “That’s Guilty. Guilty, Guility, Guility!”
7
Question, is there anyone in the White House that serve the American people?
8
@L Riches
Assuming you are not counting the staff who cares for the building and runs the kitchen, No.
7
And.....I'm really surprised that the Democrats didn't sit on this until a more strategic timing was reached, ie., right before the election, when he would be scrambling in response to it. Right now, we'll all he feeling like chimneys, what with all the smoke being blown up our yahoos.
In my opinion, Barr is as dirty as Rudy G. The difference is while Rudy goes on TV spit screaming his unfounded accusations , Barr quietly communicates with trump via his son....Who happens to work in the White House !
8
The desk is as empty as the soul of the corrupt trump.
7
While the alleged transgressions in the actual phone call are egregious on their own, it's the alleged cover up and all those implicated in it that will likely, finally, bring this narcissistic, lawless and evil man and his administration down.
There is no historical trash heap big enough to swallow this illegitimate and outrageously unfit "president."
3
The cover up is always more revealing than the crime.
I suspect that this kind of behavior happens on a daily basis in the White House.
Corruption has now risen to an unprecedented level and I hope something is accomplished legally or politically to rid our country of this toxic sewage dump of an administration.
5
NYT, would you please publish an article regarding the nature of the relationships Trump and Giuliani had while Giuliani was mayor of New York City?
4
When a scorpion comes to you and tells you he is a scorpion and you elect him “leader of the free (?) world and he behaves exactly like a scorpion, why are you surprised? Oh...I know, because the scorpion told you he would make America great again. How’s that working out for you now?
8
I just listened to the audio version of the whistleblower complaint. It's staggering. At first I believed that the whistleblower might have been helped by WH aides, but those hopes were dashed. In fact, the assistants to the WB had to be from the state department & the intel people that were assigned over to the WH. For some CRAZY reason, I thought maybe KellyAnne might have come to her senses.
This is the link. Don't know if it will work. It's on SoundCloud. Very short.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__soundcloud.com_penguin-2Daudio_the-2Dwhistle-2Dblower-2Dcomplaint-2Dreleased-2Dby-2Dthe-2Dhouse-2Dintelligence-2Dcommittee-2D9262019&d=DwIFaQ&c=QKHPbakIsHoCi_7U6GmDDA&r=l9viCraXsT_rQDAlgy-75ldCef9uWqOjAIFrWgCgAbQ&m=YmuUUWC7GTvaVrCF1J_hH7r_fLcv6LF_3NbBVPvRBts&s=LuvXcxxbAPHeuTOEYrY42hCvWxZIbmH88fN_r1Dz7OA&e=
1
Zelensky denying there was nothing untoward ? If a compromiser senses a potential compromise does he normally say “ hang on, do you know I can compromise you at a later date “. Or, on the other hand, how likely is he going to say “yes, I was shocked the US president asked me a favour in exchange for releasing $400 million military aid to my country “ ? The man made a profile as a comedian; he was a famous joker. He had zero experience in statecraft. He embarrassed himself in that phone call. Ukrainians deserve to feel embarrassed by their noice president talking to a criminal one in the tone he adopted. Yes, send over a private citizen as your highest level of emissary. We’ll help him out. Great goings guys. It is a circus. We can hear the uproarious laughter in the Kremlin. The clowns are so funny.😂😂😂
2
Here in the USA, VP Pence also knew how bad this was.
"Pence urged Trump not to release a memo detailing his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky … Pence fell in line and ultimately supported the report's public release, but privately counseled Trump against the matter when it was first raised. … Pence argued Thursday that the readout of Trump's call with Zelensky "completely vindicated" the president … "
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/463337-pence-advised-trump-against-releasing-partial-transcript-of-ukraine
So, after we impeach the corrupt President Trump, we will be left with the corrupt President Pence. Lucky us.
5
@Joe Miksis
As I recall Pence was corrupted by corporate interests in Indiana; he was going to lose the Governorship. Then, along came the corrupt Trump looking for some mid-West support with an offer the corrupt Pence couldn't refuse. A bit like a double-tap to kill good governance.
All the President's Men - Giuliani the loony lawyer a central figure and slowly hanging himself and Barr the Attorney General has stopped working for the American people and switched allegiance to protecting Trump's corruption.
Now the loony lawyer has fingered Pompeo's State Department. How far does this corruption reach?
4
@Scrumper Pompeo was just subpoenaed by 3 House committees. I hope he tells the truth. It would be refreshing in this administration.
1
I would love to know if any of these concerned White House officials and lawyers stood before Trump and explained his error. Or all they all cowards?
13
“Explain” and “error” does not happen to Trump. People still don’t see the vast cognitive, psychological, and emotional defects of this guy, it seems.
5
@Stephanie Cooper
"explained his error"??
You mean, treated the President of the United States as the wayward six-year-old he is?
1
I am coming to the conclusion that Trump is simply dumb, as opposed to being viewed as a calculating narcissist out to feather his own nest. How else can you explain his attempt to collude with the Ukraine to damage Biden's reputation? Two years ago, he could not spell "collusion"; Now he can spell it but he doesn't know what it means!
8
Trump is spouting like Old Faithful today.
Well, except, he's not faithful.
8
@jhanzel
Let him spout. He's rattled because he's lost control of the news cycle for once.
4
Is there any entity that has legal authority to scutinize the "Code word classification system" outside of the white house to ensure that the contents isn't loaded with corruption and graft?
This seems to me to be a built in system to hide any and all corrupt corespondence the public should be made aware of.
2
I am so grateful that our unethical president has finally been caught and it is unbelievable that it was by his own doing, releasing that mafia style phone call.
Obviously he thought it perfectly ok to betrayal our country’s private elections if he so desired. Typical sociopathic behavior. The man is sick.
Let us hope the impeachment goes forth swiftly,
taking down those nasty consiglieri Barr, Giuliani and Mulvaney with Trump.
5
When Pence and Trump go to prison, Pelosi should name Hillary Clinton her VP, then immediately "resign" back to Speaker.
10
Mean.
I like it.
1
I've said this from the beginning. Trump is a criminal and a crackpot and should be immediately impeached. The call to the Ukraine is the least of his crimes. I don't understand why paying hush money to prostitutes before the 2016 election doesn't bother his supporters? Or why ripping off students in his so called university doesn't bother his supporters? Or failing to release his tax returns when every single candidate has done so in modern history. And then there are the many sexual assault cases that have not been investigated against both Trump and Kavanaugh. Has the country lost its mind?
Are we afraid of Trump and his supporters? I think we should crush them in every legal way possible. I look at the people surrounding Trump and the top Republicans that gave him license to cover-up these crimes against people and the country and point my accusatory finger directly into their faces. They disgust me and I look forward to kicking them all out of government in 2020. They are the dregs of this society now. I would rather the country be run by immigrants who know what true democracy means.
6
In thinking about Trump I am reminded of a quote of Cicero - "O wretched man, wretched not just because of what you are, but also because you do not know how wretched you are!"
8
Like Michael Cohen, Rudi Guliani and others will end up in jail, but Trump....
2
"Trump had also planned a meeting during the trip with new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Trump’s personal lawyer – former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani – recently said he was again lobbying Ukraine to investigate a natural gas company in the country connected to the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic front-runner to challenge Trump in 2020." TIME 8/29/19.
Right out in the open. Really, Trump should be worrying about Giuliani and his own lawyers who let the notes of the transcript out to the "fake news". Trump and his own people have created the situation where what else do you do with a president who is using a foreign government to win an election. Oh the irony of a secret server. Imagine what else is on it!
4
Trump (in a Sicilian dialect): "I love Ukraine. I've been very, very good to Ukraine. But now I need a favor from Ukraine. There is a family that a seeks to take over my territory. I need you to find a little dirt on the patriarch of this family. You take care of me, i will continue to see that Ukraine remains a good friend of America."
6
The whistleblower first reported concern to the CIA GC, who promptly shared a document which accused the White House and the DOJ of wrongdoing with - guess who - the White House and DOJ.
Dan Coats states he knew nothing of the claims, that they were received by the DNI after he left. But he was still there when the CIA GC handed it to the White House. Hard to believe Dan did not know.
Also, Dan Coats broke into a meeting that his deputy, Sue Gordon, was holding on the election interference, to tell her that she needed to resign.
Both need to testify under oath.
4
From his own testimony it is very clear why MacGuire is an "acting" DNI. His long military career has set him up to be a a bag man to his commander in chief, a stooge of treasonous proportions ready to fall on his sword, and he has performed the role brilliantly.
"I'm offended at the questions of my integrity"
"I have done everything in my power to provide the committee with the memo"
"the executive branch is bound by Justice department legal opinions"
Mr MacGuire may get the opportunity to discover handcuffs slightly more binding than a corrupt Justice Department opinion.
5
Donald J. Trump must resign from office.
7
From the "kill the messenger" response to every word they have said and done in this matter the republicans have all revealed themselves to be corrupt to the core. The GOP is officially a criminal organization.
To all those readers who may be republicans I suggest you ponder this idea, What if you woke up one day and realized you have been voting for and supporting for years a bunch a racist criminals who are seeking to destroy representative government in this nation to impose a classes system where only some get rights and they had managed to hoodwink you only by relying on your blind trust in them because of your blind loyalty to an imagined ideal the title they carry represents?
It has to be your blind trust they are relying on since even a cursory glance at the facts of any thing a republican has promoted for the last 50 years you would see it is not what is best for the most of us.
2
The Mueller inquiry spent almost 2 years to trying to research and document acts of foreign interference in the 2016 election.
The final Mueller report touched primarily on collusion and obstruction of justice. Although no formal charges were brought by Mueller his team painted a deep picture of both in its findings. That took almost 2 years.
DJT committed both collusion (Ukraine call) and obstruction of justice (hiding traces of the call on another server) in just a few days.
DJT is officially CTD..... circling the drain!
Vote 2020!
9
The White House is corrupt and they should not be butlers to the president. They should all be removed and prosecuted.
5
Do me a favor and quit reading too much into the phrase “do me a favor”. And if you do, I won’t expect anything in return.
3
It’s more than do me a favor.
The fact alone that Trump asked a foreign government to look into a political opponent, or anyone, goes too far.
8
@Deniseso it’s okay for the Democrats to ask a foreign government to look into a political opponent (Mueller) but not Republicans?
For several years now, Adam Schiff has shown great leadership and courage through difficult times.
Mr. Schiff might not be the loudest voice, but he is a voice of reason in unreasonable situations.
I'm more impressed with him than any of the presidential candidates.
29
Same here. Most Dem candidates are not thrilling. I would have supported Schiff. Doesn’t matter though. A cardboard cutout will get my vote on the Dem ticket over 45.
2
@Baba
Adam Schiff is reputed to be one of the smartest people in Congress. He has lived up to that reputation. Very impressive.
This is a Republic. Does anybody know what that means? The President is supposed to be our highest representative, sent to help run the Government on our behalf and in our interest. The President has acted like a monarch from day one, praised monarchs and despots from day one and lied to us about his actions, intentions and ambitions from day one.
I do not have a problem with representatives like Mitch McConnell, who may not do what the average Californian wants but is otherwise representing the people that sent him to the Senate. I have a problem, however, with sending somebody to an office that requires a high level of thought and process who then lies to us constantly for the sole reason of preserving his access to the office. As Mr. Trump so eloquently put it, we had ways of dealing with leaders like that in the old days.
23
@Ken Parcell: The Electoral College guarantees presidents who govern for only a fraction of the people.
2
Yes, we are a republic in which people see each other as adversaries rather than partners. It’s what Trump has been indoctrinated to believe since childhood.
1
And you think Moscow Mitch, he of Merritt Garland and a twenty-mil “gift,” from wifey’s wealthy Taiwanese parents, never did this?
I don’t mind his representing. I mind his refusals to represent.
4
"Do unto others as they do onto you," rather than turn the other cheek.
I'm getting a bit upset that we Americans are complaining about allowing other countries to influence our government. When Americans are known for causing coups and replacing elected governments.
3
@Alice
Responding to your misguided, simplistic comment at a level you'll understand : "Two wrongs don't make a right."
4
@Alice, yes, such acts have been done, ill done, at a number of times. However, that fact does nothing to make more acceptable letting corrupt leaders with maleficent interests control our nation, or others. Letting ill deeds run rampant is no way to make a nation better or the world safer. Too many innocent people are harmed. Good people's being silent out of some national "guilt" (and never mind the actual authors of those deeds, many times like Trump themselves) would be counterproductive in every way. Right now we need to bring rectitude and decency to our own house and resolve to act rightly to others as well, and with all the strength we can gather for it.
5
@Alice
You fail to adjudge the motivations and reasons for the actions you wrongly speak of as if they are not different.
1
How do we get them to release the actual audio of the call?
Can they be ordered by the court to do so?
Nixon is smiling right now. He's say "Someone worse than me"
16
1. Release the rest of the contents of the secret server and let the chips fall where they may.
2. Congress has a duty to do. This duty should be exercised irrespective of the political consequences including the prospect of being re-elected. You cannot be half pregnant. A misdemeanor is a misdemeanor and that fact should not be dependent on whether I am a republican or democrat.
3. Clarify whether "intent to obstruct justice" is the same as actually committing obstruction of justice. We lock up somebody who has clearly stated his/her intent to blow up something with a bomb without actually having actually done so. Why should it be different for the White House or otherwise?
12
The "smoking gun" in Nixon's case was the taped conversation in which he directs one federal agency to run interference with another to obstruct the Watergate investigation.
However, in this case, a federal agency NSC takes it upon itself to bury evidence. In a situation that involves national security -- the domain of the NSC -- in two dimensions: foreign policy toward Russian armed aggression and security of US national elections from foreign interference.
For what purpose? To shield Trump from accountability and probable impeachment for blatant crimes.
If I am reading correctly, then none of this is in doubt.
Add to this the suspicion of AG Barr, as well as Congressional Republicans' stance that Trump is just being Trump (as Capone was just being Capone).
And what do we have? Is it too early to wonder if we are living under a criminal state?
14
@Joyboy
From what I've read, the decision to guard the exact transcript of the phone call was made by White House lawyers. As such, this is an executive branch cover-up, pure and simple, and.....impeachable.
3
@dmckj
By the WH lawyers, yes. And in the reconstructed document, Trump expressly states that the Justice Dept and AG will assist Ukrainian officials in authoring an acceptable narrative of corruption by the two Bidens. If that's not Nixon, then what is?
I am very interested in learning more about how the WH lawyers and NSC worked together to consign the transcript to the vault. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that the lawyers acted in a partisan way. But the NSC acquiesced. Did they have any reservations about this course of action? And I think we must presume that the NSC officials must have been very high ranking to approve the "vault" classification.
1
This an effort to counter Barr’s coming reports and unclassified materials which will demonstrate the Obama Administration used information from other countries as justification to conduct FISA spying on the Trump campaign, even after he was elected.
7
@Dr. John It's coming just like Trump's terrific Health Care plan is coming.
7
@Jack Toner
And his tax returns.
5
@John, Considering at that time Russia was using many of the same tactics in several other countries elections that they were doing in our 2016 elections, it made sense for our IC to talk with, and compare notes with those countries for our National security and the integrity of our election. You're comparing apples and oranges. Deny, deflect and denounce may work some of the time with some people but it won't work all the time with all the people.
3
As a Trump supporter, I don't see this going anywhere for the Democrats except hurting themselves. They got nowhere and no impeachment with Russia/Mueller. Now they are on a case that requires the parsing of the nuances between parsing the nuances between speaking freely vs doing a favor vs quid pro quo and the interpretation of the finer points of Constitution that even lawyers argue over.
As a Trump supporter, the important thing is he has done more than recent Presidents on immigration, right to life, gun rights, taking on China, cutting government regulations increasing our energy independence.
As long as he keeps up his agenda, the 90% of the population whose never heard of "quid pro quo" won't pay any attention to the Democrats agenda and would just see it a further proof of how they are driven their political hatred of Trump.
7
@Qcell
The "90% of the population who never heard of quid pro quo" probably haven't heard about VP Joe Biden's 2014 withholding a billion dollars of aid to Ukraine unless Ukraine fires the prosecutor who was poking around Hunter Biden's corruption ($50,000/month salary with Burisma, a large Ukraine gas company).
@Qcell
First, we didn't impeach because Pelosi knew/was worried that Republicans would act as corruptly as they always do and protect Trump. Mueller showed that Trump obstructed justice. Just because Republicans control the severely unrepresentative Swnate does not make Trump innocent.
Second, there is no need for quid pro quo for Trump to be guilty of soliciting foreign help with the election, which is exactly what he did.
Your guy Trump is going down. Even Republicans outside the administration look like they won't protect him now.
4
@Qcell "As a Trump Supporter"... Trump can break any law; destroy America ; rip up the Constitution,execute Democrats... because he wins for the right wing. Period.
4
Will the Republican Party support the integrity of the Constitution of the United States or support a Republican POTUS who has put himself about truth, a free press, financial integrity, and serving all citizens of the country regardless of party or political affiliation? There was no corruption in Joe Biden's actions with Ukraine; it was US policy. Those who say that POTUS has a right to ask a foreign country to investigate a bogus corruption claim of a political opponent promote the President's immorality. They too took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Perhaps they should read it.
12
@Maine Moderate: People who swear oaths on Bibles are rather prone to ignore "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion".
1
Trump said that in the old days we were smart about what we did to spies. What is he suggesting? Is he taking a page from Putin's playbook. I think this President has lost what little mind he had left. This is a frightening time for our country. Yet the Republicans still back him. Is there a patriot among them?
12
@Sharon Conway
He signed his own death warrant.
3
@Sharon Conway
Not yet.
4
@Sharon Conway, they're lost in a fantasy that has fattened them on delusions of their own purity and power. And with a huge television industry and a multitude of books and other media pandering and puffing the delusion, it will be hard to bring them back. They are literally being told that "everything you're seeing is a lie," and believing that. We will have to outvote them, and then do what we can to restore sanity to the nation--they will be in the rear, digging in their heels all the way. We have to do it anyhow.
3
It's not just the Constitution and the political system of the United States, our allies are watching this wondering if they'll be asked to "do a favor or else." It wouldn't surprise me if South Korea or Taiwan started plans for building their own nuclear weapons because they can't be certain that the US will stand behind them if threatened. It also gives our enemies leverage if they have secret deals to "dig up dirt" on Trump's enemies, real or imaginary.
10
In releasing the partial transcript of the phone call with Zelensky, Trump believes there is absolutely nothing wrong with its content. If he gets away with this, he must go further underground with his nefarious actions. If that doesn't frighten us, nothing will.
9
Those alarmed aides were certainly not alarmed over the threat to our country. Oh no. They were alarmed because King donnie might have besmirched himself; they're actually cohorts who hastened to hide the evidence. Thank all the gods there are still some real patriots risking their careers and even their lives to do the right thing.
13
I would like to know if Trump is clueless and was thinking “This is just how things are done”. Or was he thinking “I may be stepping over the line but I can get away with it.” In either case the man should not be sitting in the Oval Office.
21
Just wondering... why no one who actually heard this "damaging" phone call step forward as a whistleblower...
Why did they all wait for someone who was not there to tell him/her their story?
3
@Karma
Because Trump surrounds himself with only people who are in complete obeisance to him.
1
I'm waiting for a timeline the starts with the call, then progresses through the visibility of the Whistleblower's filing as it is revealed in the White House counsel and to Barr.
Let's look at how Trump, et al, behaved for the next 2 months with this knowledge hidden from the public and congress.
2
It’s in today’s paper.
@Robert
The story below is indeed a start.
But in my experience in IP infringement litigation we would identify multiple parties in a GANTT format over time and note how they passed information back and forth and brought more people into the deception. We would be so granular as to note when they stopped using easily traced email and went to text, phone or face-to-face meetings to hide information.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/09/26/us/politics/ap-us-trump-impeachment-whistleblower-timeline.html
"Mr. Trump dismissed the complaint as part of 'another Witch Hunt' against him and suggested whoever passed information to the whistle-blower was 'close to a spy.'”
It remains to be seen just how close he was to you, Mr. President.
4
I'm hoping that the impeachment inquiry will go way beyond the obvious criminality and cover-up of Trump's pressure on the Ukraine leader, to include the many other high crimes and misdemeanors Trump engages in.
When Trump describes a whistleblower as a spy, for which one punishment is the death penalty, you're seeing clear evidence that Trump thinks and acts like a mob boss.
8
To paraphrase candidate Trump in July 2016:
Norway, if you're listening - perhaps you could find all the documents on the secure WH/NSC server and release them for the good of our Republic, which we're trying to keep.
5
Somewhere in one of the articles about this issue was a statement that other phone call recordings were also stashed on the ultra-secret server.
What is in _those_ calls?
8
I am amazed that Republicans congressman are willing to die on this hill. There seems to be a lot more meat on this bone when you read the entire context. I hope for a full investigation. With all that was going on, the President didn’t need to be explicit with the quid pro quo. Besides, even he is not stupid enough to do that.
The dead give away for me is the Rudy component. If this is all about US foreign policy, there is no need for the President to involve his personal attorney. He has a huge State department at his disposal. I would bet that Pompeo is doing everything he can to stay away from this baby.
I would guess that Mr. Trump has never worked in an organization that was not 100% beholden to him. Presidents come and go, a career government employee must keep their eye on the constitution for guidance. This whistleblower is putting his/her entire career, pension and reputation on the line with this accusation. That is no small decision for any individual. There is no spying going on here. This was all done by the book.
8
Mr. Trump is correct on one point in alluding to the traditional penalties meted out to traitors....a "self" fulfilling prophesy perhaps?
6
The ability to call out wrongdoers being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to blow the whistle on such wrongdoers shall not be infringed.
8
The Wall Street Journal broke a story this morning about the NRA's close involvement with helping Russia in the 2016 election interference campaign. How much more obvious corruption is America willing to tolerate from these people? It's time to take back our country.
7
"Alarmed aides", folks. Aides. As in, TRUMP'S OWN PEOPLE.
So much for "partisan nothingburger". His own people from his own party knew he was doing something very wrong. And tried to hide it.
13
A stained dress and a third-rate burglary look downright quaint compared to the current situation.
My, how far we've fallen.
16
In some parallel universe, Congress might mandate an examination of what else is illegally hidden on that server.
12
Of course Trump aides were alarmed. What he did was blatantly illegal, despite attempts by Lindsay Graham and other sycophantic toadies to talk this down. Trump badly needs minders to keep him from doing these boneheaded stunts. There are many things people would like to do "if they were King of the World" but normal people know limits. Trump has no governor. He knows no limits, and he has protectors all around him to make sure that he is given free rein to whatever outrage he wants to perpetrate.
The American people deserve better--much better. If he is re-elected, we have only ourselves to blame for the disaster that will follow as he moves toward monstrous and unchecked self-aggrandizement.
17
"Alarmed aides" are now known as "almost spies," according to Trump.
Soon, they'll be witnesses.
12
Trump has stunk up the country long enough now. Just read his policies. They are worse than the shake down with Ukraine. Also, he's not once gone to visit our troops in the war zones. He has as much patriotism to our country as Putin does.
13
There are many high level officials who knew what Trump was doing.
The Attorney General, William Barr is no longer working for the USA, he is working only for Trump; this is alarming.
How many Republicans tried to hide Trump's treasonous phone call?
The Whistle-Blower made it clear Trump did not act alone; he needed help to hide his crimes.
All Americans must ask themselves
"What blackmail deals does Trump have with Russia...China...etc"
Justice must be served.
10
Trump and the republican stooges that support him are an enemy of the state and are making a mockery of our democracy that all military personnel have fought to uphold and defend.
8
In the new Jeopardy category "White House Administration" here's the $100 answer:
"quid pro quo"
And the correct response is: What is Donald Trump's Latin America policy?
9
So now it turns out there are inconsistencies in the complaint versus what actually happened. Guess that’s the problem with second hand knowledge.
5
@Jackson Care to detail these alleged inconsistencies? But don't worry, after all the relevant witnesses have testified before Congress we'll all have first hand knowledge.
What will you do with such knowledge?
3
@Jackson...The White House transcript of the conversation has been released. Trump asked Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden. It's not second hand.
3
Years ago I worked with a person who was extremely close to the management of the "Swift Boat Veterans" group. It became abundantly clear that their goal was not to make sure that the correct story came out, but rather "that their team wins". For many that are near the top level of politics it's not about core beliefs anymore, it's about being invested in a team and doing whatever it takes to make sure that your team wins. Mulvaney, Barr, and Giuliani all fall into the camp who have suppressed any moral compass in favor of supporting their team. None of them are every going to reach a higher position in the future than the one they have right now and they will do whatever it takes to hold on.
450
@John
Hmm. . . sounds similar to Clapper, Brennan, Comey, McCabe, Strzok...
2
@John And this is equally true of trump supporters. They don't care what he does to this country as long as democrats don't win! He can sink them and their country and they'd support him over a democrat who would help them.
36
@John "Mulvaney, Barr, and Giuliani all fall into the camp who have suppressed any moral compass in favor of supporting their team."
I'm not so sure Barr fits in there. I think he honestly has a moral compass. Unfortunately it is a very limited compass, dominated by an ideological belief that holds, essentially, Presidents are Kings. To that end, he will lie, obstruct, spin, and cover up whatever he needs to. In that sense, he is immoral where Trump and his main cronies are amoral. he has a sense of right and wrong; it's just skewed and he's willing to do immoral acts for what he thinks is a "greater" morality.
After all, everything Barr is doing to give Trump extra-Constitutional powers becomes precedent for the next Democratic President to exercise those powers. He's a smart guy, so unless he thinks Republicans can successfully pull of a virtual coup and take over Washington forever, he is laying the groundwork for his party to be rolled over in the future by a Dem POTUS. I don't think he would do that if he didn't really believe his President-is-King theories.
Of course, I could be wrong and Barr is just a run-of-the-mill smarter version of Giuliani. I don't think so, though.
2
This is not a popularity contest. The Dems won oversight in 2018 for this very thing, and it’s their lawful duty to impeach Trump. It won’t shift the voters, b/c we all decided who we were voting for in 2017.
13
I am terribly embarrassed to have a person like Trump as our President. I just hope that our institutions hold strong until we can vote him out of Office (Impeachment may just be a ploy by his supporters to distract the public & is highly unlikely to succeed).
I am troubled by the lack of a clear leader among the Democratic candidates to succeed him, with Biden perhaps the default individual who could both beat Trump & have the good sense to assemble a top notch team to govern.
Therefore I am very disturbed about what he, and more importantly his son, were doing getting mixed up in the well known corrupt environment of Ukrainian politics. The sooner this is fully revealed to the public the better!
6
@Richard Huber It had already been investigated and no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens had turned up.
4
@Richard Huber
I hope that if you have children, every day, they make you proud to be their father.
And then there's the real world - not as "real" as 2019's White House where comparisons to organized crime are rampant and right on! - where neither you nor I nor our spouses nor our progeny ARE SAINTS.
Biden is not running on his children's record, and he shouldn't have to. Public service - and I'm no big fan of Biden, by the way - is even more un-family-friendly than most other high(er) paying fields. People like Biden spend enormous amounts of time AWAY from their families - and just maybe ... in this case ... that has something to do with lapses in judgment by his son. (A New Yorker article not that long ago paints a pretty sad picture.)
Last thing from this armchair psychologist - it IS tough on a kid to have a VERY famous father and an almost surely more loved older brother.
I believe Joe when he says that he didn't discuss his son's business with him. Yes, it may have had an aspect of "don't ask, don't tell," but most adults recognize that they've long since lost the ability to "talk sense" into their now adult children.
3
@Andy
I do hope that the "no wrongdoing" holds up. But it was without question bad judgement.
1
Some people wonder about the length of the pseudo-transcript vis-a-vis a 30-minute phone call.
I'm no DJT supporter (see past posts and I'm certain that there are high crimes and misdemeanors on this episode, and others!
But it also occurs to me that the phone call probably involved translators, which might take some time unless (UN-style) they were using simultaneous translation.
We know from Wednesday's press conference that Zelensky's English isn't adequate for nuance "push" vs. "pressure").
And I think we know that Trump's Russian is non-existent (don't we?).
5
@Peter Stix I bet DJT knows at least the word "kompromat".
2
Where is the "full" transcript of the phone conversation? I don't believe that five pages of a reconstructed document the contents of which the White House first tried to hide from the public provide us with sufficient information to see the complete picture. And, without all the facts, how can we begin to conclude if the allegations of impeachable offenses are true or merely further examples of egregious, self-serving, poor behavior totally outside the bounds of what we expect from our president. I'm not even convinced that the White House showed the "full" transcript to the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel. And without that being absolutely true, I remain convinced we don't have the "full" picture. Let's hope that somewhere in the White House there is a person of character who will provide the "full" story. Then and only then will we know the correct path to end this debacle.
3
So the whistleblower acted after reading the transcript and was not a first-hand party to monitoring the call. Isn't a job of those with oversight (Justice Dept and Congress) to find all of the people who >were< first-hand monitors of the call and prosecute them for >not< blowing the whistle?
12
If we do not remove this criminal from office by the end of this year, we are as a country saying yes to being governed by a corrupt and lawless regime with malice toward reason, consensus, and comity. We are advertising to the world that our principles are transactional and that we favor wealth and power over right and justice.
24
I am afraid that the Senate will under no circumstances vote to impeach Trump, turkeys do not vote for Thanksgiving. He will then continue banging on about: "witch hunts, no corruption, fake news", etc. Annoying isn't it?
1
Our foreign policy is usually tainted by the inclusion of foreign powers in our domestic problems such as presidential elections. This last case is not exception and not worth paying much attention.
7
The sole purpose if the call was to enlist the aid of Ukraine in affecting the presidential election. This is NOT usual and NOT ok. You know it and the White House knows it, Otherwise, they would not have squirreled away the transcript in a super secret vault.
1
@Turgut Dincer
Politics stops at the water's edge is an old school adage; it is good protocol. Sad to say that Trump is compromised by the Saudi sheikdom which produced bin Laden who funded 9/11; the sheikdom which murdered and dismembered a Saudi dissident who resided in Virginia. The Saudi sheikdom which is now bombing innocent people in Yemen, causing death, destruction, and starvation. The Saudi sheikdom where Trump has serious business interests. Compare to that FDR who had no business ties to Krupp Industries et al.
The Democrats should have done nothing.
Biden would have gotten the nomination and quite possibly the White House.
What's the plan now?
Trump isn't going anywhere. His base is completely energized now. A snowstorm, hurricane, tornado, forest fire or earthquake are not going to keep them away from the polls.
The Democrats' biggest donors are not going to back Warren. It is that simple.
They might even give big to Trump, not that he needs the money.
And to top it off, those moderate Democrats in the House, who won in the midterms, could easily be gone.
There is a good chance the Democrats are going to lose the House. The Republicans are going to dump so much money in those races that are on the fence that the voters are going to be bombarded with red.
The sooner this is over the better. You've gone down the road. Have the vote. Let the Senate dismiss it and move on quickly.
You've lost Biden. He's gone.
Bring in Bloomberg or Schultz and appease the big donors that's your best bet now. Bloomberg and Schultz can get the Fortune 500/CEO support which the Democrats desperately need at this point. Put the "Squad" in a very secure hiding place until after the election.
9
So you are suggesting we abdicate our responsibility just like the republicans?
12
Do you really think the decision to impeach should be based on predictions about Biden's electability? The need to remove a danger to the country and the Constitution seems like a better guide.
14
@P&L
Biden is fine, in fact he’s moved up in the polls.
2
I wonder about the POTUS oath of office trump took. Was this the first oath of trump's life? Where and in what occasion had he ever been sworn-in to any position in the past? Did/does he understand what an oath means?
He was born rich, raised protectedly, and was never asked to swear to tell the truth except in court. He learned to lie so convincingly even he believes it. An oath in his world was meaningless, unimportant and immaterial to his greater purpose, the expansion of his empire, the glorification of his name and the demise of all who would impede him.
Trump's excuse for this Ukrainian mess is simple, he never took the oath of office and cannot be held to it's demands.
6
@LGL Well-said. HIs Oath of Office is about as meaningful as his vows made to his various wives.
3
When will we finally be able to read the full transcript of the now infamous phone conversation? Can Congressman Schiff subpoena that and other similar documents out of their hideaway, please?
7
It is incredulous that the Republicans can remain a major political party in this country.
24
@Clark Landrum
Yeah, hard to believe that a sizable bloc of voters might have a different view of the world.
2
@MikeDouglas It's different alright.
3
@MikeDouglas
They lost the national vote by 3M votes. They hung on to PA, WI and MI due to Clinton's flawed campaign strategy directed by an unseasoned bunch of neophytes. If she had listened to Bill Clinton, she would be President.
At the end of Michael Cohen's testimony [the presiden's own attorney for years, who is now in jail] he warned all those around Trump, and all of us, about the nature of this president. I thouht his testimony was believable. Apparently others thought the rewards would pay off. So much info is hidden, but if more brave people of conscience come forward, even tho' Trump has made obvious his evil intensions against his enemies, our country can weather this storm. I have both hope and fear.
11
This is a learning opportunity if you voted for Trump. If you voted for Trump who was widely known to be underhanded and promotional of falsehoods, the rest of us would appreciate an apology. If an apology is too much to ask for, at least exercise your right to vote more responsibly. If you continue to support Trump, look deep into your soul and see if you like what you find. I anticipate that it will not be virtue.
30
Trump voters don’t learn, don’t apologize and I suspect many have no soul to look into.
2
Nikki Haley is raising funds for Republican Senate candidates.
Many of whom might sit in judgment of the President if the House votes to impeach.
Someone should ask her about President Trump's Ukraine call.
9
The coverage of the conversation with Zelensky has failed to highlight what it reveals about Trump's dangerous detachment from reality. Cynically deploying conspiracy theory-inspired tweets for political effect is terrible. But the conversation suggests he actually believes things that are thoroughly proven to be false about the Bidens and the dismissal of Ukrainian prosecutors. And that he is conducting foreign policy with the defense of foreign allies at stake, based on a jumbled melange of fringe fantasies. The conversation reveals that his predilection for convenient conspiracies isn't just to collect ammunition for political battles. He actually believes in knowably false nonsense and makes critically important decisions based on those delusional beliefs. His abuse of power for personal gain is awful. His apparent detachment from reality is at least as dangerous and deserves to be explicitly highlighted in the coverage of this story.
13
@Andrew
Emphatically agree. The saddest/most terrifying part is that I'm sure he still actually believes himself be a "very stable genius."
1
Given the whistleblower's report and the corroborating coments by those involved, I think it is clear that the impeachment inquiry needs to proceed. My main concern now is that Biden appears to be a damaged candidate, real or percieved. Either his campain needs to lay out the events surrounding the bogus accusations in order to quash the speculation in the eyes of the remaining rational votoers, or he needs to pull himself out of the running. I feel like the democrats have already forgotten the dangers of running a candidate with significant baggage. Can we please not repeat 2016?
5
If what Trump continues to purport was not illegal and that he had done nothing wrong but merely asking the Ukraine president for a favor, then why oh why did the National Security Council take extra and previously unknown steps “to shield Mr. Trump’s call with Mr. Zelensky from all but a very small number of officials by assigning it to that system”?
Why oh why was the “rough transcript of Mr. Trump’s call with Mr. Zelensky stored in a system operated by the agency’s intelligence directorate “solely for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive — rather than national security sensitive” information, the whistle-blower wrote”?
What is equally alarming is that this was “not the first time” Trump officials had confined a presidential transcript that way.”
Why oh why is this kind of behavior ignored and tolerated?
There is a HUGE difference between keeping information secured vs. taking such extreme measures to hide and conceal the information, giving the appearance that no phone call or conversation ever existed in the first place.
Why hide and lie about something that was supposedly legit, above board and legal?
Please – “Anyone with half a brain can read it and understand why they wanted to protect the distribution,” including my blind cat.
14
If it is illegal/wrong for an elected government official to use government influence to investigate a political rival in hopes of influencing the outcome of the presidential election, then why are the Dem Reps on the House Intel Committee not engaging in wrongdoing by using the power of their office to investigate the Pres for using the power of his office to seek an investigation of former VP Biden?
Can their be any doubt that the motivation of these representatives is to pursue this investigation in hopes of reducing the chance that PresTrump is successful in a reelection bid? I mean if this were ViP Biden threatening to withhold US Foreign Aid unless a prosecutor investigating the company that his son sits on the Board of Directors of, for misappropriating millions of dollars in US foreign aid, is dismissed, do we believe that Rep Schiff, who was the ranking member on the HI Com in 2015 would have called for an investigation for possible wrongdoing?
In the end, don't we want the US to ask Ukraine to investigate whether Berisma engaged in misappropriating US Foreign Aid and whether improper influence was put on Ukrainse to fire the prosecutor ? It seems to me that we do. Thus, the real basis for the HI hearing is that the Pres' motive was wrong, because certainly the request to investigate corruption was not. If that is the case then the impeachment inquiry seems to be likewise infirmed.
4
@Gregg Duval
Everyone gets that there's politics involved in, you know, a presidential election.
But there's a right side of the law and a wrong side.
7
The Constitution says that the House can investigate and impeach the President. By definition, then, the current investigation into Trump's abuse of power is both Constitutionally permissible and in the national interest. If it ends up hurting Trump, well, that's tough: he should have thought of that possibility before he used the Presidency for personal ends.
1
@Gregg Duval..."If it is illegal/wrong for an elected government official to use government influence to investigate a political rival"...Yes it is wrong; but they are not trying shake down a foreign government ;and they are doing it openly, in plain view, following prescribed rules.
1
Call in and question the people who were in the room when the call was made.
9
Why don't you have commenting capability for the secret computer article? All computers radiate radio waves resulting from current flows at the various frequencies of operation, either through the network cables if not exhaustively shielded and grounded, and then even that is detectable. If the computer case components are not fully shielding metal grounded, meaning plastic, it's a transmitter. Even the ground can partly convey the activities of the computers. Even the power they consume from the electric grid variations is detectable back on the power lines. You better do better than that if you want the stuff secret, after all, as written of earlier, there's a russian TV company right down the street from the White House, and may I ask; why did you allow that even after you expunged the diplomatic spies around the country? It doesn't look good Trump!
2
This story gets worse and worse by the hour. Now we learn that the original transcript was passed around in hard copy to prevent too many eyes from seeing it after the president went off-script. Ms. Pelosi is right: "This is a cover up."
14
The chaos and corruption in the White House started from the top. From the beginning of his presidency Trump demonstrated, in the words of nearly every Republican legislator, that he is not a "conventional" president. Trump thought the transition from head of a boutique real estate business to the head of the nation had no distinction. He answered to no one in his business, eliminated anyone in his way either by firing or buying their silence, and thought he was empowered to answer to no one as president and eliminate anyone in his way and conceal his wrongdoings. He replaced honorable subordinates such as Kelly and Sessions with corruptible sycophants Mulvaney and Barr. Trump has been consistent in his nefarious, lawless behavior. The problem for him is that he is now learning that business as usual has its consequences.
3
@nzierler
Agree except that we're in a sad state of affairs when Jeff Sessions looks "honorable" in the rear view mirror.
@DW Barr makes Sessions look like Bobby Kennedy.
Our democracy, always on a bit of shaky ground, has rapidly slipped into a near dictatorship as a result of the election of 2016 when a minority of the voters put this horrid creature in the Oval Office. I am relieved that finally--finally!--the Democrats in the House are moving--and rapidly I hope--toward impeachment. No, Trump won't be removed because of the GOP dominated Senate with them in lock-step with their horrific leader. But maybe this will give enough of a push to get thoughtful, caring voters out in November of next year, ousting Trump and the gang of thugs surrounding him.
6
Even if the Senate does not remove him from office, they will have to stand up and put their vote on the record. It will likely happen before November of next year. Republican Senators Susan Collins and Cory Gardner will not survive a vote in Trump’s favor. Senator Mike Lee would likely not do well in Utah either.
1
The first reflex: concealment of evidence. The second reflex: obstruction of justice and circumventing law. The third: providing a false media narrative. the fourth: attacking the character of a potential witness and attempted intimidation of that witness.
Yesterday: threatening that witness and publicly soliciting his or her assassination as “a spy.”
Outrage is too mild a response. Trump, Pence and Barr must all be impeached. The sooner the better.
12
Trump denying he “pushed” Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian president saying he felt no “pressure” are irrelevant comments and red herrings.
The statute that Trump violated says you cannot “solicit” aid from a non-American. It says nothing about pressuring or pushing.
Trump asked Zelenskyy, a non-American, the president of a foreign nation, for a favor to help his own election prospects of 2020. That is solicitation from a non-American for aid for personal gain.
That is a federal crime.
Trump admitted to asking for the aid, he released his transcript of the conversation in which he clearly asked for help, or solicited aid, from the Ukrainian president, and no one, not one Senator nor Congressional Representative nor White House employee nor even Trump himself has denied this.
Trump admits to committing an act that is a federal crime.
Why is there still debate on this?
8
@Inkspot
There's debate on it because soliciting foreigners for help wasn't deemed a problem, or even illegal when Democrats did it.
It wasn't a problem last year when only Democratic senators sent Ukraine's president a letter to demand cooperation with the Mueller investigation lest they risk losing aid.
It wasn't a problem when the DNC and the Hillary campaign employed foreigners for "oppo" research using their government sources. It wasn't a problem when they refused to hand over their servers for investigation, or when they erased material under investigation. It wasn't a problem when the Obama administration directed intelligence agencies to conduct baseless surveillance and abuse the FISA court process.
Yet all of this a problem when Trump does it.
1
Not that a federal crime is required, of course. Trump's abuse of his authority is enough.
@Viv
It's not the same thing, and if you think it is, you've got a "problem."
The only thing missing in this helpful timeline is an explanation of how Hunter Biden came to be a highly compensated board member of a Ukrainian energy company while his father was Vice President. Was that not a "favor"?
Of course Trump wants to damage Biden, but does Biden's candidacy mean this topic is off limits? It should be the opposite.
10
If a conspiracy theory about the years-ago activities of Joe Biden's son is the strongest defense Trumpites can muster against the clear evidence of wrongdoing, then President Donald Trump is most definitely sunk.
2
There were investigations that exonerated Hunter Biden already. Joe Biden has shown his tax returns multiple times over multiple years in his political career which showed he made and had the least amount of money than other major American politicians. He has been extremely transparent about his finances for many years.
That said, if you want to be concerned about nepotism and undue influence of political families, we could compare Mr Trump’s children Don Junior, Eric and Ivanka. Junior and Eric run hotels around the world that solicit business from foreign entities. Ivanka has reached a trademark deal in China since her father became president and her husband has an unusual relationship with the leader of Saudi Arabia at the same time he is in need of money to bail out his highly leveraged 666 Fifth Avenue building in New York City. All of this warrants investigation as well.
We've had plenty of time now to understand that "letting Trump be Trump" means letting him behave like a criminal. Many of those who left found that unacceptable and anyone who's stayed and survived with him this long knows it and acquiesces to it. At this point, they are all complicit.
5
Make no mistake: this matter is deadly serious.
"The alarm among officials who heard the exchange led to an extraordinary effort to keep too many more people from learning about it . . . ."
"White House officials embarked on a campaign to 'lock down' the record of the call . . . ."
" 'The White House officials who told me this information were deeply disturbed by what had transpired in the phone call,' the whistle-blower . . . wrote in his complaint . . . . 'They told me . . . that there was already a "discussion ongoing" with White House lawyers about how to treat the call because of the likelihood . . . that they had witnessed the president abuse his office for personal gain.' ”
The president has subsequently threatened the firsthand witnesses who spoke to the whistle blower:
'“I want to know who’s the person who gave the whistle-blower the information because that’s close to a spy,” Mr. Trump said. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart with spies and treason, right? We used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”
In other words, the President has now declared a desire to execute witnesses who saw his behavior and revealed it because of their apparently immediate misgivings that they had just witnessed a crime.
5
@Mark
Yes. I don't understand why the clear death threat the president issued yesterday after noon is not bigger news.
3
If the president didn't do anything wrong as he suggests, then why all the effort to hide the transcript of the conversation in the first place? Which begs the point, how do we know the official transcript hasn't been edited to remove even more damning evidence already? There is no compelling reason to trust anything this administration does or says, quite the opposite.
That the poor excuse for a head of any department, let alone Justice, Trump sycophant Barr says there is no law breaking, the opposite is the truth. Any prudent person reading the "released" transcript, with knowledge Trump held up $500 million in bipartisan approved defense funding for Ukraine, sees a mifia-style shakedown, extorting favors before receiving the money. I'm wondering if the holding of monies also has to do with Russian blackmail of this POTUS as well. Just a thought.
21
Trump still does not think he did anything wrong, which is why he released the doctored (but nevertheless damaging) memo of the conversation. It was his handlers who hid the verbatim transcript of the conversation, as a way of protecting their boss. They knew very well what he had done.
I strongly recommend reading the companion piece on the timelines that came out today. It’s absolutely damning, and seriously changed my view on this.
I’d figured it was impeachable, and certainly noticed that Trump’s been behaving bizarrely this last week, even for him. And after all, of clurse I knew the guy was lying ro support a wacko-bird conspiracy theory. But the close links in time between his phone calls and suspending aid, between the stages of this all coming out and his throwing the aid out there and releasing info to Congress...
Well, it sure looks like an extended pattern of pressure, a demand for a quid pro quo, up to the middle of summer.
Then it looks exactly like guilty knowledge.
12
This is a clear example of a country sliding towards an autocracy. Fortunately we have those who take seriously their responsibility to uphold the Constitution. Unfortunately we have Republicans who care not about the constitutional implications of Trump’s latest actions and more about being re-elected.
469
@Teacher
The most amazing part is that continued support of Trump can be viewed as helpful for reelection at all. Is this the best the Republican party can do? Really guys?
55
@Teacher This say a lot about those who would re-elect them.
27
@Teacher: Let the games begin. Our Caesar-wannabe will be watching closely while continuing to provide conflicting explanations. IMO, cognitive decline is increasingly evident.
Trump claims his talk with the Ukrainian leader was a "very nice, no pressure call." He needs to read the transcript.
5
It is important to dig through the basics of Giuliani’s role in this potential crime. If State Department asked him to work with Ukrainians as he claimed, there should be an employment contract, security clearance or other forms of physical evidence to support his claim. Likewise, if he is working for WH or the President in a personal capacity, there should be some form of official document to support his work or payments. He is in hot soup.
25
Former businessman and deal maker Trump refused to pay lawyers for advice he did not like. Similarly, he stiffed contractors for work done for his enterprises. Currently as President, he operates the same way without regard for the Office. Slowly he is dismantling our great country.
35
With all of the criminal activity going on in the White House, what are we to make of those government officials and members of the Senate and Congress who see all of this. We have a group of people who know what is going on but still rally around this most corrupt administration. In my opinion they are no better than Trump. If our democracy is to survive they all need to be removed from office.
64
I understand people's strong desire to get rid of Trump, but everything has to be done legally. If there is no strong evidence to prove that Trump violated a law and if Biden's son indeed committed a crime, Trump should stay as president and Biden should not continue to be a presidential hopeful.
9
@widereceiver
A. The evidence seems to be there.
B. Whatever Biden's son did or did not do is irrelevant to Trump's breaking the law.
C. Even if Biden or his son did something wrong doing an illegal thing to stop an illegal thing is not legal. Cases get thrown on because things like that.
D. The supposed crime happen in a foreign country where Trump has no interest and he pursued just this one supposed crime.
E. The supposed crime was investigated previously and none was found to exist.
11
@widereceiver there was already an investigation into Biden's position. There was no wrongdoing discovered. And the process of investigation into whether Trump violated a law is itself a legal process. Impeachment itself is a legal proceeding to look into evidence of criminal action by the President.
8
The Biden’s were exonerated ages ago. Stop listening to Trump.
1
It’s all very alarming. As has been pointed out, many of in the WH are probably consulting attorneys to protect themselves, including WH attorneys- btw, can you say Kellyanne Conway?.
The danger is that by allowing Committee members to conduct the questioning, they could miss the point and weaken the process. Chairman Schiff needs to hire professional counsel to conduct the interviews and questioning. There’s too much at stake.
24
trump releasing a transcript of his conversation with the Ukrainian president is just like Nixon releasing transcripts of the Watergate WH house tapes (with expletives removed) expecting that that would suffice as a surrogate for the actual tapes. Turns out there was a world of difference between the transcript and the actual audio which was critical. That difference when it surfaced eventually saw Nixon’s hitherto stalwart GOP support collapse forcing him to resign.
19
The greatest irony of this latest Trumpian fiasco will come when Joe Biden is not selected as the Democrats' 2020 presidential candidate.
15
@RLW
Nonsense. None of this reflects on Biden except to demonstrate that he’s who the GOP most fears
1
No, that wouldn't be ironic.
I followed the traveling circus yesterday and what a joke. We're really supposed to believe Trump went to such great nefarious lengths with a foreign leader only to get some political dirt on a washed up and memory challenged potential political rival that his primary competitors are already mopping the floor with, about a subject that is well known and any competent private investigator or former spy for hire could probably easy look up on Google? Everything about Trump looks and acts like the boogie man to Adam Schiff. He's going to make the Democrats look like what Trey Gowdy made the Republicans with Bengasi and Hillary. I felt like I was watching Charlie Brown trying to kick a football yesterday, only now he was wearing a suit and tie and sitting in the Congress.
7
@John Doe
Then why the cover up after the call?
Really, if the call was so innocent, why hide the transcript?
12
@John Doe
Trump is small and acts small. You are giving him way too much credit for logic and intelligence. What was reported is entirely consistent with his previous business dealings and methods.
Oh and he didn't think they were nefarious lengths, just business as usual.
2
Clearly, Trump thinks he needs help from foreign governments to win the election. Pathetic.
The White House hid the transcript. It must be a doozy.
2
As the head of the Trump crime syndicate, Trump himself is inured from the concept of wrongdoing. He does what he wants, when he wants the way he wants, regardless of short-term or long-range consequences. He sees nothing wrong with strong-arming a foreign head of state to advance his own warped vision. One can only imagine how many dozens or hundreds of calls and meetings Trump has initiated in an effort to benefit his business and his family. Ukraine is only the tip of the iceberg. Keep digging; there's a lot to uncover in Trump's insidious, felonious world.
15
Trump has no filter, external or internal, the outcome of having been coddled and humored all his life. Entitled to maul women, to commit adultery, to defraud banks, contractors, anyone who believed him--and allowed to. Money and a stable of lawyers--from birth--were his ways to get out of jail free. To make people fear him, the damage this purveyor of threats could do. As president, the same--a boundless bully building walls, caging tiny children, befouling the environment, wrecking friendships, alliances, treaties, lives. So of course he said what he wanted to extort out of this latest "deal." Good for the whistleblower who dared speak up. Good for Pelosi and high time. He really must be told no--sometime by someone, and now's the time. It should've been done long ago--long, long ago.
44
How can Republicans in Congress continue to support a president who is so lacking in moral grounding that he doesn't know when he is doing something egregiously wrong, yet others around him immediately recognize his wrong doing and attempt to coverup his criminal behavior?
49
@RLW
Ping! I've been wondering this for 2 years. And the longer he holds the office of POTUS, the more the 'support' from the GOP in Congress stinks. Have they no decency? It appears not.
Trump has been running the While House without having any interest or ability to do it . It is no surprise that the White House under his leadership is in shambles, as is his entire presidency.
Add to it his mental condition, which is erratic under normal circumstances , and the only conclusion is that it’s not a moment too early to remove him from office.
18
Also...an actual quid pro quo isn’t even necessary to meet the definition of high crime or misdemeanor. Soliciting aid is enough...of course Trump put the exclamation point on it...the web of deceit and illegality goes far beyond. Russia/Putin once again made that clear today.
27
As a native New Yorker, I always knew what Trump was and how bad this whole thing could be.
But I am amazed at the group of criminals that he has amassed in his administration. I guess birds of a feather do flock together after all.
Drain the swamp, indeed!
53
@Me
Yep! Trump the mob boss had to surround himself with thugs experienced in thuggery. And that includes his army of lawyers.
2
This is going to make a great movie.
14
No one would buy the storyline. It’s too unbelievable.
That is, if it wasn’t all true. You couldn’t make this stuff up and sell a screenplay to Hollywood based on it. It’d get laughed out of the industry as “no one would ever buy this wacadoodle story.”
I suppose several dozen screenplays about all this are being written right now.
@Elizabeth
It would be if Trump wasn't in it.
1
@Elizabeth
The movie will be called, "Unpresidented".
1
Still trying to wrap my head around why the CIA's general counsel, Courtney Simmons Elwood, shared the whistleblower information with the White House. How can the CIA maintain its integrity when their general counsel is throwing one of its own under the bus?
16
A few questions:
What is a "reconstructed transcript produced from notes and voice recognition software?" More specifically, what is "voice recognition software" in this context?
Who is paying Rudy? Where is the money coming from for legal fees and expenses?
Did Trump effectively deputize Rudy to work with the State Department? If so, let's see the proper paperwork, including the security clearance. And, how is that not a conflict of interest, since Rudy keeps calling Trump his "client" and Rudy is Trump's personal lawyer?
Who is normally in a "listening room," and was anyone in the Oval (or whatever room) with Trump when he made the July 25th call?
Why is the reconstructed transcript much shorter than what would be the length of a 30 minute phone call?
Weigh in, everyone....especially the NYT reporters on this story.
22
@Alexandra Brockton All good points!
1
The unnamed CIA officer who outed the Ukraine phone call transcript - which, in another article here today seems to have been illegally kept out of the official NSA logs, should receive a Medal of Honor in his future. Obviously, this will have to be by the incoming Democratic President.
My father, who spent his adult life in the NSA/CIA would be proud of him and would so recommend this patriot.
49
@Neil
I would also suggest a very handsome retirement package to keep the whistleblower comfortable through the rest of his life in anonymity. If he is outed, like Valerie Plame was, his career is over and his life could be in danger, thanks to Trump's rally speeches.
1
When watching scandals unfold, it is often “not the crime, but the coverup” that leads to downfall. Here, it only remains to see how many additional people will fall with this criminal president.
19
The starting line for Republicans and Trump buffs is, and always will be, Trump did nothing wrong. That leaves little room for intelligent thought or discourse. It doesn’t matter the offense, the illegality, or the willful ignorance of the facts. Therefore, we are forced to do an end-around the Trump defense to insure laws are followed and justice prevails. Republican sermons will continue to espouse the same old talking points; witch-hunt, you’re just mad your candidate lost, there’s nothing to see here, you’re just doing this to affect the 2020 election. Republicans can rail all they wish with regard to the treatment of their tarnished leader, but America still has a country to safeguard, unfortunately, without the support of an entire political party.
16
They love to play victim when, in fact, it is the American people who are victims of this corrupt administration. Impeachment may be a long shot given the complicity of the GOP Senate but the House is the only thing that can fight this enemy of the Constitution until the election.
1
Next assignments: what other forms of aid to any nation or organization has Trump held up? What light can foreign leaders, esp ex ones like Teresa May, shed on Trump's communications? Where else has Rudy traveled? Does Jay Sekulo enjoy foreign travel too? How much did Pompeo know and when, same for Mick Mulvaney? Did Dan Coats resign because of what he saw in the key code data system? Has CIA had unexpected or new visits or calls from Trump flunkies? Where is Haspell in all this? Is there anything else Maguire isn't telling the oversight committees?
15
Aides were alarmed...
Like this was new behavior?????
Mr Trump has behaved like this openly and has shown us who he is his entire presidency.
This comes as no surprise to anyone.
6
This will come, as a complete shock & denial to his base, otherwise known as Evangelicals, Republicans, & numerous other “names”. Hopefully; as the Articles of Impeachment and the Impeachment process continues along; they will finally agree and their Senators will vote to remove him. I’ll be able to have hope again regarding the USA. This is long overdue, IMO, however; Nancy Pelosi was right. Overall, the American citizens disagreed with a need to Impeach. Finally, some are seeing potus in a more accurate light.
Secret Server! Lock him up!
26
Although I managed to make the NYT, censor list and rarely get posted, I just had to ask an obvious question that no one has raised out of all of this.
Why is Trump selling arms to the Ukraine to fight his buddy Putin?
2
Uh, because Congress apportioned the money, we promised Ukraine that if they’d give up their nukes we’d stick up for them, and half the point of this mess is that Trump withheld the money just as long as he thought he could get away with it.
6
In order to get “favors” from Ukraine in the form of dirt in his political rivals. It’s the same reason his son went to the infamous Trump Tower meeting. Trump has always got some shady deal bubbling and this is just of many.
It appears that the sole purpose of White House staff and the Justice Department is to protect the President at all costs. Gratefully, there was one person with knowledge of this disorganized crime network that had the courage to come forward and report this criminal activity and corruption. One layer has been peeled off. There are many more to go. One wonders if there are any other staffers, who lie awake at night, that are concerned enough and courageous enough to share what they know.
500
@donaldo Perhaps we shall see a domino effect here as other's realize the magnitude of their wrongdoing. That's assuming they have a shred of decency though...
34
@donaldo
I'm hopeful that things will unravel. The writing is on the wall.
28
@donaldo
Perhaps these WH and Justice Dept staff employees should come forth right away before they are accused of being party to Trump's blatant request for a foreign government to interfere in our national election and complicit in the attempt to bury it.
The going rate for defense lawyers in DC these days has skyrocketed.
Look at poor DNI director Maguire...on the job for a only a few weeks and already mired in DJT's cesspool of corruption.
DNI acting director Maguire's repeated refusal to even admit that he ever spoke to President Trump reveals that of course he did... otherwise he would have said proudly and emphatically "No".
So Maguire is now FULLY complicit in Trump's tangled web of lies and deception along with Trump's lawyers who "locked up" the evidence of Trump's "perfect" phone call.
A 30 year stellar reputation down the drain.
59
Never in American history have we encountered a presidency such as this. The day-to-day turmoil is nerve-racking. The inexperience exhibited by the president and his appointees with regard to their lack of skill and understanding of how to run our government in a competent, ethical and transparent manner is astounding. But what is terrifying- in the face of global climate change and everything else that we face as a nation, are the citizens who fully support this extreme Administration, the Executive branch appointees who continue to enable this president, and the elected officials in the Republican party who support the administration or worse are actively working to tear down the system of checks and balances that could restrain the administration and the president. I worry every day that my children may not survive the catastrophes headed our way.
26
He got away asking for political help from a foreign country before and GOP senators let him get away with it. So why would he stop now? This is exactly what I would expect from a corrupt president but am utterly shocked at the Republicans who know better and continue to enable him. I don't think he is simply asking for an investigation either. He is asking for Ukraine to lie and fabricate. This stuff has already been investigated and conclusions reached. He doesn't want the truth. He wants a whole new narrative, no matter how wild, to help him rile his base and win an election. He will continue to build counter narratives as long as his base is gullible enough to swallow them up, in spite of facts, evidence or lack thereof.
15
It is absolutely unreal how crazy tribalism has made this issue. This should not be partisan. It is bad for a President to ask a foreign government to attack a domestic political opponent. Period.
But people who only view conservative media have no idea what is going on. It’s truly astounding! Americans who only view conservative media have no clue that these allegations are credible, and that the real discussion was so incredibly damaging that the LEAST damaging reconstruction of the call that the administration put together was still incredibly incriminating!
I have looked over at the conservative media articles and they’re all prepared to go down with the ship. They WILL burn every last tenet of democracy and decency to the ground in defense of Trump. Meanwhile, the exact thing we said was going to happen when Pelosi launched impeachment proceedings, is happening.
Months ago, those of us in favor of impeachment said that impeachment hearings needed to begin in order for support for impeachment to rise. This morning we are seeing polls indicating that nearly half of America is in favor of impeachment and we are barely one week in.
Democrats need to keep being as aggressive as possible, because Republicans have no idea how to handle being on the defensive. They only know how to attack. And because of that fact it leaves them very vulnerable. This is not the time to let up. Now is the time to escalate the intensity against Trump and his administration
He’s not invincible
37
Very well said!
Impeachment is a long and slow process. The best we can hope for is that the President over reacts and lashes out, until voters have an "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" moments to end this sorry episode in American history, long before Republican senators can be persuaded to let go of the man's shirt tails.
3
One thing has been made very clear by these stories:
When Trump does leave office -- whenever that is -- someone has to be standing by to ensure that these documents are not destroyed.
Clearly, they have worked hard to hide them from the American people and even their own employees. Let's be sure they are not hidden from historians.
7
Let Trump be Trump. Great strategy. Pelosi was right a few months ago when she said he’s going to impeach himself.
12
Republicans, and our Republican representatives in the House and Senate need to wake up and see the long game here. If they deny there was any (wanton, egregious, etc) wrongdoing in this instance, given the evidence, given that Trump’s own White House grew alarmed by the conversation and reacted in diverse ways (both hiding it and preserving it), they lose credibility. If they ever feel a future Democratic president commits wrongdoing (which will happen some day), claiming Trump did nothing wrong here means they cant be taken seriously in the future. Is Mr. Trump really worth degrading the impeachment process?
Wake up - you’re stronger without this loose-cannon on your ticket. The way this man gets people with storied careers to debase themselves is astounding. Its a very dark skill.
2
Mr.Zelensky is also very eager for continued aid from NATO-he visited NATO headquarters on June 4 to help solidify their support of his new government.There has been talk of admitting Ukraine to NATO.Mr.Trump has famously criticized the countries of NATO for not supplying enough funds for defense-he asserts that the US is doing more than their fair share.He. However he feels comfortable holding up taxpayer approved funds for the defense of Ukraine until that government supplies him with political ammunition.Our NATO allies are already disgusted with Trump-this new revelation will land with a large thump when they are faced with Trump”s hypocrisy.
5
Joe Biden's son Hunter gets a very lucrative position from Ukraine while Joe Biden is the sitting vice-president in the Obama Administration while at the same time Ukraine is waiting for the Obama Administration to approve a billion dollar loan, which it received. If Biden is not the sitting vice-president does his son Hunter get this job?
That's not influence peddling? That's not worth looking into?
And this guy Biden, who apparantly peddled his influence, wants our trust and our votes?
But somehow Trump is the wrongdoer for trying to get to the bottom of what may be criminal conduct and encouraging President Zelensky to consult about the incident with Attorney General Barr, a law enforcement officer.
8
@MIKEinNYC
The allegations against the Bidens have already been investigated and there is absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing. Some basic research would show this to be the case.
But speaking of nepotism, what on Earth are Ivanka and Jared Kushner doing representing the USA on the world stage? Neither has a shred of qualification.
4
Trump's son-in-law gets fancy job dealing with lovely Saudis- no influence peddling there?
How many other Trump phone calls have been "locked down"?
I would like to see what Trump and Putin have discussed.
13
Rudolf Guiliani said months ago he is not charging Trump for his services. Therefore, someone said, there is no attorney client privilege. Guiliani has said that he has no intention of appearing in front of a “kangaroo court.” He must be subpoenaed and not be able to do a Cory Lewandowski.
7
'While the president saw nothing wrong with his request . . . ' And, herein, is the nub of the problem. Say what you will about Mr. Trump (and I have said plenty), but I am not sure that he has the smarts to know what is he doing. Dare I say, he comes across more a simpleton than cunning, more Chancy Gardener than Machiavellian . . .
10
I agree! However it does not make him any less guilty.
Who came up with the idea to bury the phone records on the higher security network; 45 does not have that knowledge? This ay have not been the first time. How much other information has been "moved"?
2
What this reveals is that a majority of the white house staff recognize the criminal antics of Trump and know they must cover them up. This leads to the question of what other acts have they hidden from public view? This also is a perspective on the Republican recognition that their man is basically a risk to remain in office. And this means many in the party are on the edge of defying Trump to save their political skins.
5
The fact that there were so many people in the room during this phone call, and recalling that this occurred ONE DAY after Robert Mueller’ testimony on The Hill, shows just how brazen Trump became once he knew he’d gotten away with cheating on the last election. He was already full of confidence that the Dems are never gonna catch up to him and he can run roughshod over them like he has with all his enemies his entire life!
He is absolutely convinced that he’s done nothing wrong! I mean, the innocent thing he’s pushing😳, it’s NOT a game! He absolutely, unequivocally, 100%, in his heart and soul (if he had one) believes that there’s nothing wrong with what he has done!!
Trump has zero interest in reading our constitution, and if he ever does read it, I’m not sure he’d understand it. I don’t say this in a mocking fashion, I say it as a point of fact. Trump is in the position of the president NOT for America, but for what he has to personally gain from however long he can fool the American people into believing he is there for them! To Trump it’s all about the Benjamin’s.
2
Although Trump described the Whistle Blower as "political" and a "spy" we Americans owe this Whistle Blower a debt of gratitude for actively taking great efforts to see that the immoral, unconstitutional behavior of our president seeking personal gain at the expense of American foreign policy, was through his efforts, finally made available to the "oversight" committees that should monitor such egregious behavior. May he continue to serve our country for many more years as an example of how good government should work. As for Trump and his enablers in the White House and the Congress, may their self serving behavior shame them for the rest of their lives. But as we have seen,Trump's narcissistic psychopathology will never allow him to see himself as shameful and he will continue to blame others for his own immoral acts.
6
Trump's tweet storm this morning is extremely alarming. 11 as of this writing and they just keep coming. A "very nice, no pressure, call" certainly wouldn't warrant this type of crazy behavior.
8
Of course the Grand Old Phonies and Trumpistan remain invertebrate on Donald Trump's latest election-rigging efforts.
The entire Republican electoral strategy for decades has been to rig elections to maintain illegitimate Grand Old Power through any means necessary.
Nixon did it via the Anna Chennault back-channel to Vietnam in 1968.
Reagan did it via a back-channel to Iran in 1980 to delay the release of American hostages until after the 1980 election.
Dubya did it in 2004 with a trumped up invasion of Iraq based on forged evidence of uranium purchases.
And on the domestic side, Republicans have dedicated thier political lives voter suppression laws, unConstitutional gerrymanders, voter file purges, stopping the counting of votes, automated black-box counting of votes and losing ballots and votes that don't support their political larceny.
The record shows that Republican are among the most prolific election thieves in rich world and believe that a stolen election is a sign of hard work.
GOP immorality knows no bounds, Donald Trump displays every day of his ill-gotten Presidency.
America is in a fight for survival against political thieves.
In spite of Republican rigging, the GOP and their supremely corrupt Trump can be defeated by a supermajority of vote Americans with a conscience.
Register and vote in record numbers on November 3 2020, America.
Stop letting the Trump-GOP make America a crooked, corrupt, stolen oligarchy.
16
Trump has proven innumerable times that he has no integrity, honesty or allegiance to the Oath of Office he took on Inauguration Day. It is most disturbing that this impulsive and emotionally volatile individual has access to top secret classified information. Congress must move to impeach and convict with the most haste. No one but Trump really knows how much he’s already divulged to family, foreign governments and citizen advisors like Rudy Giuliani and Sean Hannity. We have a rogue President who has surrounded himself with powerful senior government lackeys willing to cover-up his misdeeds. It is constitutional crisis time in America.
5
From a Post article in July 2016: "The Trump campaign worked behind the scenes last week to make sure the new Republican platform won’t call for giving weapons to Ukraine to fight Russian and rebel forces, contradicting the view of almost all Republican foreign policy leaders in Washington."
So, business as usual?
5
The only words missing from Trump's perfect "do us a favor" phone call were the words "or else".
5
Is anyone going to actually scrutinize the situation with Joe Biden and his son. Biden admitted he asked Ukraine to fire the prosecutor who was investigating his son. That sounds very egregious to me.
2
@Ari
It's already been investigated and no evidence of wrongdoing has been found. This is just a straw man thrown up by conservative media. Do your own research and get the actual facts.
Three days after the call, President Trump announced Dan Coats was resigning - Maybe he should be brought in testify to see if he new about the call - maybe this was the straw that broke Mr. Coats back.
5
It is alleged that this incident was not the first time that such a "troubling" call had been "locked-down."
How many more instances are there? What was the problems that caused them to be covered-up?
It is truly amazing to see how the republican have totally sold-out our nation to what is obviously an International Criminal Enterprise with the White House serving as a satellite office, apparently reporting to Putin.
2
It is my understanding that solicitation of election assistance from a foreign country is a felony violation of American election laws. Election of an American president should be within the exclusive province of American voters. Trump was lawless and unpatriotic in seeking election assistance from Ukraine. If impeachment is the only immediate remedy, so be it.
5
@Gigi
We must also point out that ‘people are saying’ is what trump has repeatedly used to convince his supporters of the veracity of his outlandish accusations. Ironic that his supporters now admonish us that hearsay is not legitimate proof of anything.
2
What’s surprising to me is that his aides are shocked when he behaves the way he does; what do they expect?
14
I find it hard to believe that this would have been an unusual event in the Trump WH. More likely, there were lots of phone calls like this one, with Trump soliciting favors for his golf courses, hotels, and other businesses. The records of these illegal solicitations are probably on that code word server, along with records of his responses to the Mueller investigation, transcripts of other embarrassing activities, etc.
Get the server.
698
@Lew: Yes, the Impeachment committees must immediately subpoena the server and all of its contents asap, before the coverup perpetrators try to destroy, remove, delete, etc. this extremely important evidence. No doubt trump and many others around him committed many crimes and impeachable offenses in relation to the whistleblower's complaint.
62
@Lew
You touch on why using that server for this is so unconscionable. There are legitimate deep secrets. They should not be available for inspection by any but the most trusted people who have an actual need for it. By mixing Trump's nasty dirty political laundry into that server, they have tainted the whole thing. There should be heads rolling over that issue alone, and if Trump was involved, another impeachment article.
74
@Lew
Indeed. And let's think about Trump "suggesting" that Pence and his staff stay at Trump's golf resort in Ireland.
Then there are the USAF cargo aircraft landing, and refueling, at a money-losing Irish commercial airport where the fuel cost much more than at a nearby military base. Then they stayed at Trump's resort. All billed to the American taxpayers.
And there is the thing: Trump's resort was deep in red ink. If that commercial airport were to shut down, odds are Trump's resort would shut down as well. There are so many dots to connect, and so little time.
27
Turns out the aides were 100% wrong, as the transcript of the call shows. The so called whistleblower had no direct knowledge and as such his information is hearsay and not admissible in a court. Talk about a nothing burger.
6
@KR,nothing burger? Please re-check the menu as burgers are not on the menu yet. Historically, we don't shoot the messenger and this is the situation here. The Whistle blower was approached by multiple White House Staffers with what they'd seen and observed in the Ukrainian phone call and thr CIA staffer agreed to make a report. Facts and details by the Impeachment Investigation will soon determine if the event is a "nothing burger".
@KR
This comment is exactly why as a country we are in trouble. It sounds like you will only see a problem if the whistle. blower heard the president say, "unless you investigate Biden and his son I will not provide military aid." This means that unless president was dumb enough to say such a thing and his aids forget to delete, all is good in the world according to your logic. So, I place a bomb under your chair and I have access to the detonator but I only mention I would like your help--hmm what might you think about the bomb. Oh you are wrong about the statements of the whistleblower by the way. Second hand statements that can be corroborated by other evidence, even if circumstantial are accepted frequently by courts.
@KR Good thing you do not have a job in any Government Security Department. If you had read widely on the NYT reporting, you would note that the FBI, the NSC, WH Counsel, OLC, and IG were all involved, and the allegations are so credible, that the issue can NOT be left to fester.
You may think it is amusing, or 'nothing', that the Trump ego finds nothing wrong, 'his words', in asking for dirt on an opponent, whilst using YOUR tax dollars as the QUID, or the QUO.
Further, this sends a signal to every country, that Trump is blackmail material, bribe material, and is happy to pay to play, ie extort.
Whether it is out of ignorance, stupidity, the way he has always worked, he must be stopped.
I am an independent voter. I did not and will never vote for Donald Trump. In my opinion he is a terrible President and has demeaned the office of President.
However, in the phone call transcript that I read on the NYT, elections per se were not mentioned, explicit threats of withholding military aid, unless favors were granted, was not mentioned, Trump asked the Ukrainian government to investigate the Bidens, but did not ask them to falsify the investigation of them, and did not say how the investigative information would be used.
I believe the Senate will not convict Trump based on these facts, unless there are more facts.
I also would like to know facts as to exactly what were the dealings of Joe & Hunter Biden with the Ukrainians.
Additionally, Trump has the Constitutional right to know and face his accusers, does he not?
51
The problem with the call is its intention and the implicit blackmail.
The Biden story is 3 years old. Ukraine had already investigated the issue under two different state attorneys and concluded that there was no criminal activity on either Biden’s side. Only now, when Biden became the political opponent in the next election, the president asks a foreign leader 3 times in his call to investigate him AFTER he personally froze previously agreed vital military aid without explanation to the government staff involved.
In the phone call he mentions several times how much the US do for Ukraine and says that this didn’t go both ways whe insistently pointing to the “favor” of investigating Biden. Biden was the central point of the call.
This “harmless” chat transcript was hidden in a system for highly classified matters of national security, not in the ordinary system reserved for such calls.
If that is not implicit blackmail and abuse of power for a personal political gain with attempted cover-up thereof, then what is it?
He didn’t have to say “or else”, he just pointed out the need of the weaker part and asked for a “favor”.
272
@Time - Space: If the House votes Articles of Impeachment, Trump will get to face his accusers in a trial before the Senate with the Chief Justice presiding.
134
@Time - Space
Place this in the context of repeated Giuliani visits to Ukraine and meetings with Ukrainian prosecutors. The Biden accusations have been denied multiple times now. This is a simple smear campaign. Add in that Trump wanted Ukraine to provide the DNC servers which for some bizarre reason he thought were in Ukraine.
The context also includes Trump blocking the $400 million in aid to Ukraine without consulting anyone in the government just a few days before his phone call, his demand for reciprocal help followed by "I need for you to do me a favor". That favor was purely personal and political, nothing to do with national benefit to the United States.
The heavy implication was of course that he wanted fabricated evidence. This was clearly to interfere with yet another election. Look at how much Trump has already smeared Biden based on Four Pinocchio claims, so the precedent is out there.
Trump does not have the right to reveal a whistleblower whose confidentiality is protected. There were some dozen White House personnel mentioned, so many people knew about this and other phone calls, were involved with hiding the evidence, and with misleading the public.
Violation of the public trust, extortion, and bribery are all in view now. Even the transcript is a "reconstruction", not an actual transcript so we have no idea what words are conveniently missing.
162
The crux of the opening sentence is that wrongdoing and malfeasance is absolutely routine for this lawless president and administration. Knowing no boundaries or guardrails, the president has run roughshod over every norm of responsible government and civil decorum.
The accompanying photo is apropos for the current state of affairs in America. There is nobody in the Oval Office, just an empty chair, a country without a president.
369
@silver vibes
Excellent comment!
I might add that in addition to an empty chair, the desk is void of any and all materials as well.
The entire photo shows an empty and hollow presidency.
50
@silver vibes
"There is nobody in the Oval Office, just an empty chair, a country without a president."
True.
Fortunately, there is ONE & ONLY ONE individual who had the courage, patriotism and integrity to file a whistle-blower report, at the risk of his career and personal safety.
All those who knew, and who either aided and abetted the President, participated in the coverup, or who stood by and did nothing are complicit .
18
@silver vibes No, unfortunately, there is someone in the President's chair and he's bringing our country down. Time to stop him.
2
This article reports that in the President's phone call with President Zelensky, there was no "delicate" national security information. I beg to differ. There are, in fact, multiple instances during the call of our highest elected official soliciting another head of state to interfere in our next election. If this isn't a flagrant breach of national security, I don't know what is! I understand President Trump's and Mr. Guiliani's concern for corruption involving the Vice-President and his son, but investigating this is the responsibility of our own FBI. The President has exposed us all by his actions, now being witnessed in plain view. The call may not have named CIA operatives, or given State secrets, but it certainly did contain one very delicate national security issue, the behavior of our President and how he operates.
239
@Fritz Lauenstein
good points, but this is what we have seen. If it contains national security information, Barr declares it classified and bound by executive privilege. If it does not contain national security info, Barr claims it carries no whistleblower protection. do you see how Barr is getting his way both ways? This is GOP 101. It is the same game McConnell plays. When Dems elected Obama, he blocked Obama’s policies on principle. Then, when it suits him, McConnell declares if Dems want to govern, they must win elections. My point is, these GOP, or whatever they are, extremists are playing their own game, it is not “rational”, and the sooner the Dems wake up and face this the better.
16
@Fritz Lauenstein His "concern" for the Bidens? Are you kidding me? Don't fall for his talking points. It had nothing to do with their actions (which have been scrutinized before) and everything to do with bribing a foreign country for personal gain.
7
@Fritz Lauenstein It should be clear that the administration was never investigate corruption by the vice president or his son. He was building a case to support his lie about the nature and personality of Joe Biden. If the Republicans are horrified about who and how some people wind up sitting or various corporate boards they only need to look at themselves and family members to find that one out. I would love to see that investigation, lets start with Moscow Mitch and his wife, or former Senator Gram and his wife, or even Hillary if you like let's look at it all. That could and should be delt with another day and soon, but right now we are looking at the Godfather style shake down of a newly elected President who's country is about to be crushed Mr. Trumps of buddy Vladimir Putin. This is a case of abuse of power and Trump is using tax payer money to do it. As a side note I would like to point out that Mr. Trump does not appear to have paid any taxes for quit some time. So again Mr. T is using someone else's money, but this time it can't lead to bankrupts court, but the frying pan this time.
7
What? They used another server to hide official government business?
The irony of this situation is dumbfounding.
Lock him up!
1004
@DP
Luckily for the GOP their false-information supporters don't even understand the concept of irony.
So get your government hands off my Medicare, tell the patriots over at the NRA that the Russians have a big donation to make, and hide it all on private servers.
79
@Pat...How ironic that y'all want the Government to get their hands off your Medicare. But, then, trooth and facks Demos are perplexed by the concept of irony.
1
@DP I don't find it all that dumbfounding. Every time Trump accuses someone of something, or labels them as "this" or "that," it's because he's done that thing, or he is that thing.
30
It astounds me that in multiple cases, the White House, the subject of the whistle-blower complaint, was informed about the complaint prior to anyone in the Legislative branch of the government. This was done by the CIA's general counsel as well as the acting DNI. How is this okay? If this does not raise legal questions about due process and the flow of information, it raises serious concerns about our whistle-blower laws and will need thorough revaluation. It's also telling that this isn't the first time this has happened either. Mr. Mueller's report was also first sent to the White House. Subjects of a complaint should not know about it prior to necessary investigations being completed. The status quo gives the subject plenty of time to hide/obscure relevant information and evidence.
41
@Sampat Don't you know? It's perfectly normal for the subject of an investigation to get to decide whether the investigation moves forward -- in dictatorships that is.
6
@Sampat
no one is watching the REAL spies.
@Sampat We so totally agree. This whole mess will be played out in the press without all incriminating details safeguarded and proven without a reasonable doubt. That Whistleblower will get no protection from a 24/7 news cycle. Every news report is recycled information and tv screens blast "Breaking News" over and over. Come on, our country's democracy is at stake. Let's show some moral and ethical responsibility and not make this a side show like the circus surrounding the Mueller Report - not to mention the mess of the Corey Lewandowski hearing.
I have a somewhat technical question.
Why is it that Giuliani's participation in any aspect of this doesn't destroy executive privilege as to that specific aspect? He is not White House counsel, he is a personal lawyer. If, for example, he were to talk with Attorney General Barr and Trump about some aspect of this, wouldn't that conversation be unprivileged? Giuliani is a personal, non-government attorney, if information about the President's official actions is shared with him, isn't the privilege regarding that conversation destroyed because it is shared with someone outside the zone of interests protected by executive privilege? Communications with White House counsel about issues relating to Trump's actions as president are covered, but why would the involvement of someone who serves as Trump's personal, non-government attorney be covered in any way?
22
@Kove Michaels Yes. Not just that, but there is no attorney-client privilege over criminal or fraudulent activity.
3
Once the House starts to pull in those people who decided to "hide " the transcript the house of cards will start to fall. At this point they have seen that Trump will not protect them and they may finally realize that it is time to save themselves.
Thanks you to those few in service who have the guts to finally say enough!
26
I congratulate the officials mentioned in the article for being appropriately appalled. If they want to prevent this from continuing, it's essential that they testify before the House Committees involved in the impeachment inquiry. It's vital that the evidence be from enough sources in Trump's own White House that even Lindsay Graham can't continue to say "there's nothing there."
15
@cary Graham was leader of the house case against Clinton during his impeachment. Samantha Bee (TBS 25/09/2019) play a clip of him arguing for impeachment of Clinton on the Senate floor. Fast forward to today the hypocrisy is stunning.
1
@DRTmunich
I remember it well.
Trump thought the release of the summary of his conversation with Zelensky would prove he did nothing wrong. It remains to be seen whether impeachment will follow, but clearly the President of the United States doesn’t have a clue about what presidential power means or the responsibilities that the job requires.
22
@PeterKa
He's not the President. He's just playing one.
Putin would also benefit from suspending aid to Ukraine. There is no evidence he is involved in this but there was that conversation between he and Trump, the contents of which has never been disclosed to anyone.
13
The sequestering on servers for national security materials the Ukranian transcript (is the original recording there as well?) establishes the credibility of the whistle-blower's complaint. Sequestering as a national security risk politically sensitive DJT phone antics is a remarkably clear demonstration that those surrounding DJT understand DJT's actions are wrong, possibly illegal and that they condone DJT's behavior. When it comes to incredulity nothing tops DJT and his Republican stand-ins, in particular, Rep. Nunes, claims of the WH's transparency, hand-wringing complaints about 2nd hand information and inference impeachment falters for the lack of quid pro quo.
2
100% behind impeachment hearings of the President. But I don’t think it should be because of the phone call with the Ukrainian President. President Trump has risked our national security and the world’s security by ignoring climate change. He’s violated the human rights of law-abiding asylum seekers at the southern border. And his administration’s handling of the hurricane in Puerto Rico led to the deaths of thousands of Americans. That we need to have hearings over such a trivial matter as a phone conversation, when so many other actions have been so egregious, shows how broken our government really is. The phone call is just the icing on the cake.
4
I commend this whistle blower and the ones to yet come forward for their bravery and patriotism. It is Americans like s/he that we need a great deal more of in this day and age. In the land of the free, where all are equal in the eyes of the law, NO ONE is above the law, including those who hold the highest positions in the country. Anything less is against everything our Fore- Fathers stood for, as proven by the US Constitution.
8
While what Trump did has most likely been done before, just not so openly, it makes wonder if Trump wanted the conversation discovered in the first place. Since It begs the question Trump obviously wants aired. How much did Hunter Biden make for doing what from where and what was his fathers involvement? That question will not go away and most likely a Senate investigation into the Biden’s will be in motion before the election.
Even if Trump is impeached by the house he will most likely be re-elected regardless. Leaving the Democrats looking and feeling more helpless than ever.
2
Small point: I think you meant "leaving democracy looking and feeling more helpless than ever."
It is important to keep pointing out that Trump asked for two favors from the president of Ukraine, not one. All the focus is on Trump’s request for dirt on the Bidens. But Trump also — in his comment about Crowdstrike — asked for evidence which would clear Russia from responsibility for hacking the Democrats’ computers in 2016. This is important because it clearly shows that Trump is not only trying to use illegal means to win in 2020, he is also still openly and directly serving the interests of Vladimir Putin.
41
Trump is who he is and we have learned to deal with him once the house came under Democratic control.
But the most scariest situation is the workings of the Attorney General. Isn't he supposed to enforce the law? Why is he involved with covering up crime instead of revealing it?
7
A cogent and informative summary. Thank you.
Now that the horse is out of the barn and running amok, it is my hope that all "US Officials" who were witness to Trump's phone call and/or the actions to hide its contents will voluntarily come forward and speak to the House Intelligence Committee.
Patriotism is love of country, not deceit and deception of country for love of power. It's time to end Trump's reign of terror over our democracy and the rule of law.
9
Dazzling series of events and superb reportage. Thank you.
It cannot be repeated too often: the document offered by the WH as a "transcript" of the phone call is no such thing. It's their edited and possibly soft-pedaled version.
Without the full recording it should not be given much weight, especially in light of this Administration's history of lying about anything and everything.
8
What happens to the information on this classified system? Will congress be able to retrieve the full transcript? Are there safeguards in place to be sure that the information cannot be deleted, tampered with, or otherwise destroyed?
11
I’m hoping this phone call is unique in its criminal aspects, so that impeachment hearings can center on this issue.
I fear however, that this is only one of the hornets nests that will be discovered, as frightened trump aides begin to panic, and spill the beans to protect their own hides.
3
The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a good read. Another good read is the actual transcript of the call. After that, compare it to the inaccurate hearsay in the whistleblower report.
4
@Buster Dee Nobody has seen the 'actual transcript.' What we read was a memo. Thus, there is nothing to compare. Yet. A longer and more detailed transcript exists, and possibly, although not likely, a recording. When the longer transcript is revealed, the whistle blower's report is going to look remarkably on point.
As for the Boy Who Cried Wolf. That would be Trump. Fake News every time, until the one time - the one glaring Constitutional blunder - nobody will listen.
5
so far, everything that the whistleblower has asserted has been second hand information whose sources are still anonymous. this part doesn't even pass what used to be considered normal journalistic standards.
please wake me up when some proof of high crimes and misdemeanors shows up.
until then, it's just partisanship as usual.
3
@flaart bllooger
If there's nothing to hide, then why hide the actual transcript of the call?
1
Huh. Funny how fast the White House changed its tiny mind on Ukraine aid, after this “hearsay,” started to get out. Funny, too, how fast info got to Congress after the DNI reported. Very funny how the timelines interlock.
And funniest of all, how nervous Trump’s been acting. I mean, we’re all used to his weird combo of lying, brags strung together in no particular order, accusations, crawfishing and belligerence—but even by that standard, the last week of veerings between catatonia and threats has been something special.
"It was a beautiful conversation." Sure it was; that's why the White House took every precaution it could to cover up its contents--like the special code-only server it was stored on.
Trump clearly committed an impeachable offense. Imagine what the Republicans would be saying on the very same public record but with a president named Obama or Clinton.
But, as in Watergate, there are now lots of other offenses as well. Everyone who took part in the cover-up is on the same level as Mitchell, Erlichman, Haldeman, Colson, and the other stars of the Watergate cover-up, all of whom, quite deservedly, went to prison.
8
All the presidents men obviously learned nothing from history. Maybe we’ll see Barr, Giuliani et al in cuffs?
8
“The whistle-blower, employing an anonymous process, brought his concerns to the C.I.A.’s general counsel, Courtney Simmons Elwood, according to multiple people familiar with the events. As she sought to determine whether a reasonable basis existed for the accusation, she shared the matter with White House and Justice Department officials, meaning that the same institution he was complaining about had advance notice of the issue.”
The general counsel of the CIA should be fired for clearly compromising the whistleblower’ anonymity.
8
No alarm when Senators Menendez, Durbin and Leahy wrote a letter to Ukraine’s prosecutor general essentially threatening him for his cooperation with their investigation of Trump. No alarm when Joe Biden, then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion from Ukraine if the government did not fire the country’s top prosecutor, evidently because his inquiry was getting too close to circumstances around his son's job with a Ukrainian oligarch. The alarm will sound again in 2020 when citizens come out in droves to reelect Trump, despite all other misgivings, against the blatant shenanigans of exposed elites.
2
You really should read more. The Ukrainian equivalent of the DOJ had cleared Hunter Biden of wrongdoing at least a year before Biden called for the dismissal of that prosecutor. He was echoing the demand of the EU and the IMF in doing so, because they had all concluded that the prosecutor was immensely corrupt. He was not fired because of his investigation of Hunter Biden. Open your eyes. Trump and company are lying to you.
1
So far I've not yet seen any discussion about the relevance of
the events in July and Coats' termination as DCI that occurred
on July 28-a mere 3 days post phone call and "securization"
or "sequestration" of the actual transcript. This means that
Coats' conducted daily briefings July 25, 26, 27. How would
he not have known about the call or the post call treatment of
the transcript?
It would therefore be helpful for someone in Congress to enable Coats to explain his interpretation of these events ASAP. The most appropriate forum would be the House Intelligence Committee.
In the meantime, a fair amount of effort needs to be made to
access the entire "untreated" transcript of the July 25 call. Lockdown just won't do now.
Naturally I'm very curious to know if this ultra secure server also has the tax returns!
The obsession over the phantom server in Ukraine that "started it all" is quite amusing. I wonder if putin fed trump that idea through an intermediary...(for obvious reasons). This is but one reason why those missing translator's notes of their private 1 on 1 conversations, confiscated immediately after they ended, need to be read by the Intelligence committees!
3
The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a good read. Another good read is the actual transcript of the call. After that, compare it to the inaccurate hearsay in the whistleblower report.
2
@Buster Dee
What actual transcript?
The released summary backs up the whistleblower complaint.
How soon we all forget. Remember the June 13, ABC interview when The President was asked if he would be willing to benefit from foreign nation sourced information on his opponents?
“It's not an interference, they have information -- I think I'd take it," Trump said. "If I thought there was something wrong, I'd go maybe to the FBI -- if I thought there was something wrong."
What’s truly amazing to me is how far down a very deep dark hole of empirical denial the entire GOP has travelled (as well on climate, gun control, education, infrastructure, healthcare, etc.) They are now questioning the credibility of a CIA whistleblower; very plausibly the same sort individual as by-the-book Director McGuire, whom they smothered yesterday with saccharine patriotic platitudes. If trump is exonerated, if the Senate does not take this seriously, This is in effect, a soft coup d’etat.
8
Has the United States of America changed?, or is it that it has been always like that?
I've lived in different countries and as the years pass, the United States politicians don't seem to be any different from corrupted politicians from third world countries...
So, what's enticing about the US then....?
No wonder the rest of the world are happy to see it Empire falling to the ground...
8
Just to be clear, Section l .7(a) of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Classification Guide (ODNI CG) includes the following language that explicitly prohibits classifying documents under specific circumstances:
“(U)...information shall not be classified, continue to be maintained as classified or fail to be declassified in order to:
• Conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error;
• Prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency;
• Restrain competition; or
• Prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of the national security.”
Entering the transcript and other records related to President Trump’s conversation with the President of the Ukraine into a system reserved for properly classified information effectively classified the documents and objectively violated the ODNI CG order.
The action was knowingly undertaken to either conceal a violation of law or to prevent embarrassment to the President, or both. No other conclusion can be logically drawn.
38
Speaking of the decision to impeach, we are well aware that a nation that could elect a con artist such as Donald Trump will not readily respond honorably to the responsibilities of dealing with amoral revelations in the presidency. That annoying reality does not, however, alleviate the responsibility the rest of us have to call it out, and deal with it. To wit:
We have someone in high office with an unacceptable gangster mindset, current gangster activity, surrounded by an installed gang.
It's time to clean house.
28
President Trump was very open about the phone call between the Ukrainian leader and himself. If he had had anything to hide, he would not have allowed anyone to listen in to this phone call. He had no secrets as we now see.
He did not demand that the Ukrainian leader conduct an investigation of the Bidens but said it might be worth doing. He felt there was something not right about the relationship between Hunter Biden and the Ukraine government. The Ukraine leader agreed. This was just a normal request along with other things that came up during the conversation. I think the Democrats are making a mountain out of a molehill. I am sure that if this had occurred among the Republicans the Democrats would have handled it in the exact same manner.
3
@KMW - You don't think at all and therein lies the problem. It's the problem with all Trump supporters.
8
Uh, actually this DID occur, “Among the Republicans.” And guys with nothing to hide don’t stash their phone calls in the government’s most secure server, which has never been used for such a purpose before. Nor do they try to suppress a whistleblower’s report.
In fact they don’t do a whole buncha things you don’t seem to want to notice. Why is that, I wonder?
Wouldn’t be related to the reasona Trump’s been behaving so bizarrely, even for him, would it? Myself, I believe the relevant legal term here is, “guilty knowledge.”
I have read now probably a dozen articles about this whistle-blower complaint. The WH and Justice (the perpetrators of alleged wrongdoing) were notified well before Congress and then stonewalled by McGuire. He delayed far more than the 7 days legally required to notify Congress.
Prior to this the Trump administration has repeatedly blocked Congress’ constitutional duty for oversight of the executive branch.
Then we have Republicans and Republican TV flagrantly lying to the American public about the seriousness of these issues and the actual facts.
Our system of government is broken. We need to institute basic structural reforms (preferably constitutional) so that a corrupt president and one party can never again bury all evidence of crimes.
The framers never envisioned this.
33
Trump's behavior has been a concern to republicans since Trump's announcement to run for president and that concern has continued through a revolving door of government officials, so many that they are no longer nominated and confirmed they are simply "acting" (to make it easier for Trump to quickly change them), and a growing number of republicans who did not run for reelection in 2018 and are not in 2020. While Trump and his loyalists are consumed with attacking the democrats for launching this "witch hunt" they are perhaps missing the real source of what gave rise to this impeachment inquiry, the republicans themselves - republicans whose loyalty is to the party and the uninterrupted continuation of its agenda. An impeachment led by the democrats is the only way that the republicans without risk to themselves can be freed of Trump and peacefully nominate a competent and electable candidate - the republican party has an 8 year opportunity from an impeachment arising as a result of an unnamed whistleblower with unnamed allies.
5
No wonder Republicans are obsessed with promoting the ideas of conspiracy and “the deep state”. It is what so many of them are all engaged in - the president, his administration, congressional Republicans and supportive conservative media outfits. We are watching a true concerted effort to cover up, dismiss and spin obviously illegitimate government activity.
15
Why isn't the actual, word-for-word, telephone conversation between Trump and Zelensky not made public? The "rough transcript" made public by the WH under pressure from Congress is undoubtedly the most sanitized version possible.
15
At this point, it's hard to know what's more alarming; the fact that a sitting U.S. President is reaching out to a foreign government (AGAIN!) for help in winning an election -- or the fact that he sees nothing wrong with doing it.
35
@N. Smith.....or the fact that GOP supports Trump’s obvious crimes.
I said on here about a month ago that we needed to let Trump just be Trump, and he would be his own demise. Once all the facts are known, all the witnesses called and questioned, maybe then the GOP will see the corruption in this man and do the right thing.
With Nixon we had the recordings. With Trump we have the transcripts.
It will be a fight, but the end of Trump is upon us.
10
@Lyndsey I doubt many Republicans will do the right thing under any circumstances.
7
@Bernard Waxman
I do think there are a few GOP men/women who still have a shred of integrity. We shall see. I hope they speak up, and in turn, others will step up.
If everything were on the up-and-up and completely "perfect" as Trump claims, why move the transcript to a secure server reserved for things like the Bin Laden raid?
11
Even though "alarmed aides saw trouble" Trump insists he did nothing wrong and folks like McConnell and the entire Republican herd will believe and support him.
Slowly and painfully like pulling off a band-aid, I am feeling the impeachment inquiry will remain only that - an inquiry. Republicans are behaving either like scared rabbits or they continue with that "deer in the headlight" look and mentality.
The ONLY way to rid Trump from office is to vote him out.
That is the one sure fire way of winning against him.
5
@Marge Keller - I'm not so sure. CNN had a list of Republicans who were suddenly too busy to have looked into this matter. It seems many of them are in hiding and are keeping quiet about all of this. They're not rushing to Trump's defense.
5
@DR
I agree that not many are "rushing to Trump's defense".
It's more like they are waiting in the wings, seeing which way the wind blows before committing one way or the other.
Once again, it seems they have more loyalty to their party than to the country.
They seem like a herd of "lemmings in wait".
3
Of course Trump saw no problem with the phone call - he has no moral compass. That's why he has been stiffing contractors - including small mom-and-pop contractors - for decades, and jokes about very inappropriately and or illegally grabbing women, and calls the media the enemy of the people, and offers to pay the legal bills of people who beat up his opponents, and makes fun on the handicapped, and on and on.
It would be unreasonable to expect a man like that to see anything wrong with his now infamous July 25 phone call.
23
History has shown that it isn’t about the crime. It’s about the cover up.
12
@tim s.
The cover up is bad, but let's not downplay the crime. Asking a foreign country to help you dig dirt on a political opponent is a disgusting abuse of presidential power.
July 2019 was a month which bears much closer scrutiny. China trade talks also took some strange twists and turns during that month. Did Trump also lean on China to dig up dirt on Biden:
June 29, 2019 to July 16, 2019 – US and China are negotiating and all is well
July 16, 2019 – Trump threatens tariffs on US$325 billion of Chinese goods; What happened? Why did Trump do this? Did China refuse to investigate Biden?
August 1, 2019 – Trump says US will impose 10 percent tariffs on another US$300 billion of Chinese goods starting in 1 month; This is a sudden unexplained escalation by Trump
August 6, 2019 – US declares China is a currency manipulator; the nuclear option and for what?
Is there a whistle blower lurking in the Trade teams? Do you think the farmers will feel like taking one for the team if Trump is using their livelihoods to get himself re-elected?
8
Obvious criminal extortion. It is not part of Trump's job to use taxpayer money to shake down other countries for the benefit of his campaign.
16
The president made a request to a foreign country that they find dirt on a political opponent. That’s it, game over.
The White House can parse it as many ways as they like but the crime is there in the summary of the call.
11
Two things. I hope the whistleblower is in a safe place with reliable people helping. Second, after this miserable episode is over, the Congress needs to take a look at how people do business. The President works for the people. He has no business secreting information about what he is talking to foreign leaders about. In a functioning government, the right people would find out about these interactions. He thinks he's a lone actor and I'm sure more disturbing news is coming about his phone calls etc. The guy has no idea what he is doing.
36
I am not pleased with Biden, nor do I plan to vote for him unless it comes to a "lesser-of-two-evils" situation. My fear right now is that we are moving very close to a coup-d'etat. This seems to be a likely turn, seeing how easily those protecting the president simply refuse to comply with the rule of law.
That said, I wonder where the military would stand should the various houses of checks-and-balances be disbanded.
Every person who joins the US military must pledge to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. The pledge begins with these words:
I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;
Only afterward does the pledge include obedience to the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the commanding officers "according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."
Will the military, first and foremost, stand by its pledge to defend the Constitution? What if the president and his own seek to nullify what is left of our democracy?
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@Rev. Roz Here's the irony. Fox News and their ilk spent yesterday claiming the impeachment inquiry is a Democratic, 'Deep State' led coup d'etat. And they believe, fervently, that in protecting Trump, they are also protecting our most cherished values and Constitutional integrity.
I simply do not understand.
5
Pelosi simply needs to request the verbatim transcript from the 'top secret' electronic location in which it was reportedly to be hidden. Failure to comply will simply add to the obstruction related charges. Executive privilege cannot be claimed because of the previous release of the reconstructed account. What would be the harm in revealing the "perfection" of Trump's actual conversation?
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@rab
How do we know that they won’t edit it?
Pelosi simply needs to request the verbatim transcript from the 'top secret' electronic location in which it was reportedly to be hidden. Failure to comply will simply add to the obstruction related charges. Executive privilege cannot be claimed because of the previous release of the reconstructed account. What would be the harm in revealing the "perfection" of Trump's actual conversation?
7
So many people knew about this, and yet, only one courageous person has come forward.
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Indeed. That's why the whole "hearsay" critique is particularly weak: The information inevitably will be second-hand when none of the witnesses or co-conspirators in the White House decide to come forward.
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@On Wisconsin
Exactly. When this administration is over, how many of these officials will write a book as a mea culpa saying, "I didn't know" or "everybody was doing it". There is very little conscience in the White House these days.
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@On Wisconsin Not exactly. The "whistleblower" actually talked to many people, and his/her report is a recounting of the reports from several people who came forward. That's why the Republicans are trying to pass it off as "hearsay."
7
"Soon after President Trump put the phone down that summer day, the red flags began to go up. Rather than just one head of state offering another pro forma congratulations for recent elections, the call turned into a bid by Mr. Trump to press a Ukrainian leader in need of additional American aid to “do us a favor” and investigate Democrats."
Even while "red'flags" were being dropped, the coarse of action taken was to "lock down” the record of the call, removing it from the usual electronic file and hiding it away in a separate system normally used for classified information."
Such deliberate actions by White House officials to hide, conceal, and then deny any wrong doing existed is incredulous. AND illegal I should add.
But what really mystifies me as well as makes my blood boil, is that on going "routine" of allowing Trump to continue doing illegal and nefarious dealings with other countries. It's as if "business as usual" was in play.
Good grief - is the entire lot of minions working for this guy as corrupt as he is? Is their sole job to continue hiding the many illegal acts he commits without ever giving his own actions any thought?
And to think this guy called the whistle blower a spy. That individual has more credibility and honor in his or her little toe than Trump has in his entire body.
This entire story just gets more sickening by day, especially because it seems NOT ONE Republican seems bothered nor disturbed by these actions.
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@Marge Keller
The only bright spot is that gangs of crooks are only loyal until things start to go wrong. The instant the rats sense water flooding the bilge, they will trample each other to be the first over the side to save themselves.
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@Marge Keller
"Not one..." ... I think rhat a small number of Republican are openly disturbed by this revelation but it will take a much greater number for reach the critical mass adequate for impeachment. Yes, it is sickening.
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@Marge Keller
"Good grief - is the entire lot of minions working for this guy as corrupt as he is?"
Well, no. Some subset of his minions saw clear abuse of power, and reached out to the whistleblower. This point just isn't getting the emphasis it deserves. The source of information driving this process is White House officials. Presumably at least some of them are still working in the White House today.
I really think that unless Trump engineers a successful coup d'etat (and I acknowledge that he's moved somewhat down the path to doing that, particularly by making Barr AG), he's burnt toast. As he puts it, he has mystery spies following everything he does.
23
Let's put to rest any concerns about the whistleblower complaint being based on "second-hand" or "hearsay" information. The reason that hearsay is usually (not always) excluded as evidence in a court of law is because of concerns about the reliability of such evidence. In the case of the current whistleblower complaint, we have a contemporary transcript/summary of the contents of the call between Trump and Zelensky which validates the factual premises of the whistleblower complaint. As a consequence, any hearsay concerns about the reliability of the complaint are eradicated.
452
@Gigi
Yes, and Congress can call the primary sources referenced by the whistleblower and have them testify under oath.
35
@Gigi Really? Where is the supposed quid pro quo mentioned in the transcript?
2
@Jon Galt
It isn't a transcript. What we've seen is only a reconstruction provided by the White House. The actual transcript has been secreted away in a secure server.
12
Americans elected a man of dubious character. So obvious to me for the last 50 years. In my humble opinion, this questions my opinion of the judgement of 63 million Americans. While I can sympathize with those people who are poor and uneducated and/ or brought up in a family with questionable beliefs and moral systems, I am saddened that on a higher level human beings can't ethically move forward consistently. The environment and universal healthcare and empathy towards all human beings would be good examples. Does this mean as a species we're doomed?
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@Two Americas We didn't elect him. We elected Hillary Clinton, by a margin of 3 million votes. The Electoral College put Trump in office.
14
@Two Americas just those in the Fox and talk radio universe
1
@Two Americas
My take on 2016 is that 63 million Americans thought that, by voting for Trump, they were getting something for nothing. Now most of them should realize they got nothing but trouble. Are they chastened or wiser? Is it true that a sucker is born every minute?
4
While the particulars of this situation are without precedent, candidates and presidents have abused their bonds of trust with the people before. Nixon comes high on the list as both a candidate interfering with negotiations between Hanoi and DC as well as later abusing his presidential powers in Watergate. The very fact that the Founders included impeachment as a tool to rid us of malefactors in the presidency (and the courts), is proof that they understood that human frailty could jeopardize our democratic republic. They were not idealistic fools, but pragmatic leaders.
So, let’s calm down and do the hard, detailed work of investigation. We the people deserve the truth. That is the only guide we need.
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@David Potenziani
While I loathe Trump and hope he is impeached, the morale outrage by so many is interesting. Do you really think that every president is honest and works solely for the interests of the American people? Our government is very secretive and always has been. It consistently protects the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of “ we the people”. Yes, I hope Trump is kicked out and jailed. But the idea that this government would otherwise without Trump been serving “we the people” is beyond naive. Trump is just a careless bumbling idiot, which makes him an easier criminal to catch
1
NYT...thank you for the great reporting.
Now, to arm us against those who are still claiming that Biden needs to be investigated, please clarify how the Bidens were cleared of wrongdoing. We need a timeline of events for that episode also.
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@Mary Ann
The Biden timeline will have to include the fact that Biden was attacking the Prosecutor in question because that Prosecutor was NOT investigating corruption. Biden was insisting that the Prosecutor open investigations - not close them.
15
@Mary Ann . I've followed this and believe the company Hunter Biden served was doing business in shady ways 2 years before he joined them. They had been investigated by a prosecutor many believed was corrupt. (He is named in the whistleblower's account too, I think). But the Biden name attached to the company's business, albeit 2 years after it was being investigated for corruption, is what many are focusing on. When Joe was VP he was asked about it and he said "the prosecutor should be fired" and many took that as Joe abusing his power as VP to demand an official of another country be sacked. At the time, he (Joe) wasn't the only US official who thought that. He's just on tape saying it and now it sounds like he did it to protect his son.
5
@Mary Ann Agreed! I have heard the Bidens were cleared, but would love the details.
4
One has to wonder how many records of other phone calls have been similarly secreted away.
I’m sure thus is not the first time he’s acted in unlawful and inappropriate ways in other phone calls.
The RICO act has stopped other thugs. Why not him?
266
This just shows a continuous pattern of shady behavior by Mr. Trump. And this call took place with other White House staff present. I can’t imagine what Mr. Trump must have said during his Helsinki meeting with Mr. Putin when no others were present. An just as a reminder, after their meeting in Hamburg, Mr. Trump took his interpreters notes. Who will be the brave White House staffers that defend the Constitution and not their own hide?
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As I type this I'm seeing the "president" completely losing it on Twitter. Looks like this is the straw that broke the very stable genius' back.
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This is how Trump has done business his whole life. You can easily imagine him having almost identical conversations with public officials in NYC, making "subtle" remarks about the "things" they might get, somehow, if they "help him out" with his condo developments, shopping centers, etc.
It's very hard to imagine he hasn't carefully crafted this language to avoid specific mention of illegal activity -- bribery, extortion, illegal campaign contributions. Everyone in the room knows what is being discussed, but there is never enough detail to convict. His language is the language of another type of Don -- Don Corleone, aka the Godfather.
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@Paul
This "carefully crafted language" is present in the letter several Democratic senators sent to Ukraine when they believed that the Mueller investigation was impeded there.
You can read it on their own website. Look at how much money we supported Ukraine's effort to fight corruption. Oh, by the way, we heard rumors that you're directing people not to cooperate with Mueller. If you could stop doing that, it would be great.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/09/25/democrats-pressed-ukrainians-to-cooperate-with-mueller-investigation/
@Paul
Well yes, and yesterday he openly and explicitly expressed his wish that he could conduct his Presidential (sic) business matters in the manner of an organized crime boss, and his apparent admiration of that m.o.
It’s always the coverup. The Trump bomb went off and got all over them.
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@John
You'd think they know by now: It's always the cover up. How many times have we seen this in the last 50 years?
1
I miss Nixon.
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@Phyliss Dalmatian At least Nixon had a proposal for a national health care system.
7
@Phyliss Dalmatian
Oh, you'll get over that feeling. Remember, Nixon betrayed his promise to Pres. Johnson that he would not tamper with the Paris peace talks with the North Vietnamese.
Nixon and Kissinger used the CIA to assassinate Chile's legally and democratically elected president, Salvador Allende.
Then, of course, there was Watergate. Yes, the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts happened under Nixon's watch and that is a good thing.
At least Nixon knew he was betraying his moral compass with the coverup. Trump has no moral compass.
3
@Phyliss Dalmatian Best comment yet. Thank you for the chuckle at this tense time.
3
“Why does this text and date render the hearsay so-called whistleblower useless and not credible? If you get even one reason I might recommend you for Law School. Two and it’s LawReview.” Rudy Giuliani
Is Giuliani looking for free legal advice? Do these people know anything but quid pro quo?
The House Judicial Committee should subpoena Rudy. He just cast himself in the role of an “unwitting” John Dean in the upcoming saga — Watergate II: The Redux.”
37
@Dunn Arceneaux He also apparently never took Evidence. Hearsay is only relevant as an objection in trial court testimony and even then has many, many exceptions where it is admissible. The fact that the whistleblower's report may not be first-hand doesn't mean that first-hand witnesses (e.g., the transcript) aren't available to corroborate the report - and apparently there are many.
5
If there are any other people in the Trump administration with something to share with rest of us and/or some evidence to back it up now is the time to come forward. We’ve reached the tipping point. It’s time decide where you will land.
382
@CCW
Yes. What happened in July with the trade talks with China? Why the sudden unexplained escalation of the trade war during July? Did China refuse to investigate Biden?
29
Suspension of aid for getting an “ask” from a foreign gov’t is not an issue in and of itself. It depends on the “ask”. Even a allusion, subtle or direct, to have a foreign play an investigative role in a US election is the big problem, along with the effort to hide that request.
It is clearly an abuse of Presidential power with the desire to achieve findings that could damage a potential candidate. Domestic dirt digging is one thing, asking Ukraine to do the digging is unacceptable.
We will find out whether the GOP is truly interested in preventing foreign interfere and acting like the patriots they claim to be.
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@Paul
Yes, and he didn't just "ask" for Ukraine to dig up dirt on the Bidens - trump was holding hostage the financial aid set aside for Ukraine to continue its fight against 'boots on the ground' russian aggression. Zelensky, who was running and won on the platform of ending corruption, now had to compromise his morality to help save his country.
6
When Trump was not held responsible by his staff and base of support for accepting help from Russia to win the 2016 election the stage was set for this next attempt by the now president to use a foreign power to win the next one.
Please tell me why Mr. Trump's staff could see this coming but Trump himself saw no problem. Its as if he never took the oath office as president and was just continuing his shady business dealings where stiffing your opponent was just business as usual. A president takes responsibility for his actions. something it seems our so called president does not understand. Our presidents have always been called upon to hold high standards, but Trump seems only to remember the way of the gutter. Will an impeachment change any of this. Did Tony Soprano learn anything from his therapist?
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@just Robert
David Gerson of WaPo, "He has spent so many years in the trash heap of corruption that he can no longer recognize the stench."
5
After reading the whistle-blower complaint and the transcript of the call, I can see why the intelligence community never knows about anything going on in the world. These guys/gals are a joke.
13
@Eduardo What are you saying that leads you to your conclusion? If you have intel that is better, by all means, share it. Lastly, isn't it un-American to question our intelligence and law enforcement without just cause?
6
@Eduardo
Please elaborate Eduardo. Would love to hear how this behavior isn’t impeachable on its face.
5
@Robert Mac
And also what makes these men and women a joke
1
Talk about a bunch of people who not only brought this upon themselves but seemingly invite the hostility of their workplace. They know the only way they keep their jobs is by lying. This disgrace is compounded by every Trump supporter who can not maintain their course without misrepresentations and more lies.
167
What's the old addage: you will reap what you sow? Trump has been sowing chaos, hate, irresponsibility for most of his life. Comeuppance would be justice.
217
@Henry
trump hears the voice of God in the whirlwind, and delights in the recognition that it is his own.
1
Is it lost on folks that Joe Biden used a straight up threat to withhold one $billion from Ukraine, to lever their government into firing a prosecutor? And then he rather gleefully bragged about it at a Council of Foreign Relations meeting for which the video is easily available? The reporting on this family of topics (admin conversations with Ukraine) is not exactly either full or even handed, it seems.
Is "The Hill" not a reputable enough source to merit some notice? https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/436816-joe-bidens-2020-ukrainian-nightmare-a-closed-probe-is-revived
6
@CK The Hill is a reputable source, but what you have put forward is the very same John Solomon opinion article that is the source of a lot of the misinformation surrounding this case. Many of the most damaging assertions of this opinion piecehave been walked back by the other and others outright discredited by other more trustworthy sources. The prosecutor in question (Shokin) resigned under a cloud of corruption. The investigation of Burisma had been dormant for sometime and was not being actively pursued when Biden called for his removal. There was broad international agreement within the diplomatic community that Shokin needed to be removed and was, in fact, a major source of corruption within the Ukraine and not making any efforts to combat it. The Hill is a reputable source. A discredited John Solomon opinion piece is not.
8
@CK
Biden withheld funding from Ukraine because Shokin, the Prosecutor General, was appointed to weed out corruption and failed spectacularly. The U.S. wanted to see an effective prosecutor in that role. That is not illegal.
In fact, the U.S. was not alone in wanting Shokin’s ouster. Both the EU and the UN’s financial arm wanted him gone,as well, and used the same inducements.
At this point, all Biden can be accused of is hubris, since it wasn’t Biden alone who caused Shokin’s downfall. And if hubris was a crime, Trump would have been jailed for life.
Should the Biden’s be investigated, again? If Trump thought so, he should have gone to the FBI, not Ukraine or Rudy Giuliani.
6
@CK
Biden's threat to withhold funding for Ukraine in regard to a corrupt prosecutor was consistent with bipartisan U.S. policy, and that of our allies, and in our national interest. And it was out in the open.
Trump's threat to withhold funding was in opposition to U.S. policy, the will of Congress, and was in Mr. Trump's personal interest. And it was covered up.
10