DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Trump Impeachment Official Inquiry

? What does this treaty prove in your mind? Do you think it somehow allows Trump to hold aid money hostage for personal favors to help with his re-election? lmao

Didn't read it, huh?

Yeah, what Trump asked for did not involve a "criminal matter". He asked for a fishing expedition against an opponent. He also asked for another fishing expedition on Hillary. Trump has HDS. Hillary derangement syndrome.

Over 300 former national security professionals call out Trump for "unconscionable abuse of power"

More than 300 former national security officials — from the Bush administration to the Obama White House — have urged Congress to hold President Trump accountable for his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a conversation in which he pressured the foreign leader to investigate a political opponent. They wrote in a letter published by the group National Security Action on Friday that they consider the president's actions during that call to be a "profound national security concern."

"President Trump appears to have leveraged the authority and resources of the highest office in the land to invite additional foreign interference into our democratic processes. That would constitute an unconscionable abuse of power. It also would represent an effort to subordinate America's national interests -- and those of our closest allies and partners -- to the president's personal political interest," the bipartisan group wrote.

The group suggested that any effort to thwart U.S. interests on the global stage based on personal gain could make the country "more vulnerable to threats, and sends a message to leaders around the world that America's foreign policy can be dangerously corrupted by catering to a single individual."

They added, "If we fail to speak up — and act — now our foreign policy and national security will officially be on offer to those who can most effectively fulfill the President's personal prerogatives."

The group also encouraged Congress' efforts in pursuing an impeachment inquiry against the president in light of the White House's efforts to squash details of the call.

"All of us recognize the imperative of formal impeachment proceedings to ascertain additional facts and weigh the consequences of what we have learned and what may still emerge. We applaud those Members of Congress, including Speaker Pelosi, who have now started us down that necessary path," they wrote.

They warned, " There is no escaping that what we already know is serious enough to merit impeachment proceedings. From there, the facts -- and nothing but the facts -- should dictate how Congress holds the president to account and signals to the world that our foreign policy and national security are not for sale."

The letter comes just one day after Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified that an intelligence whistleblower "did the right thing" by filing a complaint against the president.

In a detailed, nine-page complaint, the whistleblower said "senior White House officials" worked to "lock down" all records of the presidential phone call this summer, out of fear that "they had witnessed the president abuse his office for personal gain."

A link to the actual letter is provided in the source posted.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trum...6oOva86Gj_08Mr4

I bet they're all democtats. Weren't there 17 agencies that knew he colluded? Is the same scam in a new package. The dems aren't waiting on an investigation this time.

Wow. The crooked fake President thrust upon the nation by MAGA hatters got caught with his hand in the cookie jar mid crime and going to be legally impeached, possibly removed... Now look at these Trumpian tears from all those that are cool with a criminal POTUS. smh

Fox News’ Chris Wallace: Whistleblower Spin From Donald Trump Defenders “Astonishing” And “Misleading”

Fox News host Chris Wallace said on America’s Newsroom on Friday that the way President Donald Trump’s defenders have been spinning the whistleblower complaint is “astonishing” and “deeply misleading.”

“The spinning is not surprising, but it is astonishing and I think deeply misleading,” Wallace said. A source close to Wallace said he was not referring to his colleagues.

Wallace also noted that attacks on the whistleblower as a political hack are countered by what Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire said at a Thursday hearing. He said that the whistleblower “exactly followed the procedure that a whistleblower is supposed to follow,” Wallace said.

Wallace was appearing with anchor Sandra Smith. She tried to ask Wallace about “major inconsistencies” between the whistleblower complaint and the transcript memo of Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president. For instance, she said that the complaint claimed there was some kind of “quid pro quo” involved in Trump’s conversation, but that did not appear in the transcript memo.

“You don’t think that dirt on Joe Biden and Joe Biden’s son would be of value?” Wallace asked her.

Smith, though, said that Ukrainian foreign aid was never brought up on the call, according to the transcript memo.

Wallace said that “To dismiss this as a political hack seems to be an effort by the president’s defenders to try to make nothing out of something, and there is something here.”

He called it a “credible complaint.” He said that he was not saying that there was a “hot solid case” and Trump should be impeached, but that the whistleblower complaint was a “serious allegation” and a “lot has been borne out already.”

“For all of the efforts of a lot of people defending the president pretending this is nothing, it isn’t nothing. It’s something,” Wallace said.




https://deadline.com/2019/09/chris-wallace-whistleblower-fox-news-trump-1202746716/

Not sure why you're putting up Chris Wallace. He's been anti Trump all along. He's one of the reasons I stopped watching fox.

Trump raises $13M after Pelosi announces impeachment inquiry

By BRIAN SLODYSKO




WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s repeated trashing of a Democratic impeachment inquiry has helped prompt a $13 million flood of campaign cash to bolster his reelection effort.

House Speaker “Nancy (Pelosi) just called for Impeachment. WITCH HUNT!” his campaign said in one fundraising text message sent Tuesday. “I need you on my Impeachment Defense Team.”

In the 24 hours that followed Pelosi’s Tuesday announcement, Trump and the Republican National Committee raised $5 million from online donors in all 50 states, campaign manager Brad Parscale said. In addition to the online money, he was expected to have raised $5 million for his reelection from a Wednesday night fundraiser, followed by an additional $3 million from a Thursday morning breakfast, according to an RNC official.

“Huge groundswell of support leading to Trump landslide in 2020!” Parscale tweeted Wednesday.

The swell of contributions comes right before next week’s third-quarter fundraising reporting deadline and will further pad what is already expected to be a massive haul.

More than a year out from the November 2020 contest, his campaign and the RNC have already reported pulling in more than $210 million since the start of 2019, Federal Election Commission records show. That’s more than all the current Democrats seeking to replace him raised combined during that period.

https://www.apnews.com/3f52ecedad1f40e98356da2b72372ed7

Adam Pencil-neck Shift says he parodied Trump's phone conversation????....Hilarious!

Another lie put upon the American people.

Dims are So desperate!

You lost the election of 2016 and this is how you deal with it??

Parodies, Lying, hurting innocent people, keeping the country stressed in this Silent Coup 3.0.

When all else fails, call them democrats. Typical playbook from his fuhrer, complete with spelling errors and all.

Man your brain must be running on an outdated OS because your logic is definitely flawed.

Well of course he is...

Schiff's actual words:

And what is the President’s response — well it reads like a classic organized crime shake down. In essence, what the President Trump communicates is this: We’ve been very good to your country. Very good. No other country has done as much as we have. But you know what, I don’t see much reciprocity here. You know what I mean? I hear what you want. I have a favor I want from you though. And I’m going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good. I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? Lots of dirt, on this and on that. I’m going to put you in touch with people, and not just any people. I’m going to put you in touch with the Attorney General of the United States — my Attorney General, Bill Barr — he’s got the whole weight of American law enforcement behind him. And I’m going to put you in touch with Rudy, you’re going to love him. Trust me. You know what I’m asking, so I’m only going to say this a few more times, in a few more ways. And don’t call me again. I’ll call you when you’ve done what I asked.

He must have forgotten the transcript was released, or he's counting on the willful ignorance of democrats.

Wasn't this GREAT! I loved it. lol

Not really, I knew GOPers would spin and try to make something of this like Fox News' Chris Wallace said...

BUT it definitely captured the gist of Trump's call.

They were all democrats or Trump haters in the list of former prosecutors you guys put up. "Look! 500 former prosecutors are saying Trump colluded." The boy who cried wolf only got 3 lies before he was ignored. I guess you guys are a bit thicker than simple villagers.

Bro you sound like Alex Jones right now lmfao

If you ignore that is a lie in formal proceedings, yeah. Was schiff trying out for snl?

You're so much closer to a dem version of jones. Hasn't the past 3 years taught you anything? Some people never learn.

Was Trump trying out for mafia don? lol Give it a rest and accept the L.

Trump supporters are like 'we had to eat crap before Trump came along' and now they gobble down the crap Trump feeds them because it's better crap covered in hate & lies.

You do realize that schiff retracted and apologized for his statement, right. Well, rationalized more than apologized.

House Committees Subpoena Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for Documents Related to Trump Impeachment Inquiry

(WASHINGTON) — Three House committees have jointly issued a subpoena to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for documents related to the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

The chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees set an Oct. 4 deadline for Pompeo to produce the documents, including many that the lawmakers have been seeking for weeks.

The committees are investigating Trump’s actions repeatedly pressing Ukraine leaders to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. Democrats say Trump interfered with the 2020 election and risked national security and are pursuing his impeachment.

The committees also sent a separate letter notifying Pompeo that they have scheduled depositions for five State Department officials over the next two weeks, including former ambassadors Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch and Kurt Volker.

https://time.com/5688485/house-committee-subpoena-mike-pompeo/

Rudy Giuliani says he won't testify without consulting Trump

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/27/politics/giuliani-testimony-protected-interview/index.html

Oh, Rudy. Bless your heart. We’re waaaaaay past attorney client privilege here.

Not according to law.

Doesn't apply.

Intel committee is working through the congressional break.

Since when? Just because it's Trump doesn't mean the dems get to suspend laws.

Bodies dropping already

The contents of the whistle blower complaint keeps getting more and more confirmed by the day.

Barnum was right.
So was Mencken.

Putin trying to help Trump or crapping his pants too?

Russia says it hopes US wouldn't release Trump-Putin calls

A spokesman for the Kremlin expressed concern that the U.S. could publish transcripts of calls between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin following the publication this week of a readout of a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Associated Press reported that a Kremlin spokesman told reporters on a press call that such an action could harm already "troubled" U.S.-Russia relations.

“We would like to hope that it wouldn’t come to that in our relations, which are already troubled by a lot of problems," said Dmitry Peskov.

“The materials related to conversations between heads of states are usually classified according to normal international practice,” he added.

A spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry also reportedly ripped into Democrats including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), accusing them of turning the U.S. into a laughingstock.

“Is it the Democrats’ job to make a laughingstock of the United States?” she asked, according to the AP. “It’s exactly what Ms. Pelosi has done to Congress, the White House and other state institutions.”

The publication of the readout of Trump's call with Zelensky has added fuel to Democrats' pressing for impeachment proceedings, which Pelosi announced on Tuesday.

Democrats have accused Trump of improperly pressuring Zelensky to launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden after bringing up military aid during his call with the Ukrainian leader.

Republicans and allies of the White House have denied that Trump was involved in any wrongdoing, and argue that no language exists in the readout indicating that Trump exerted pressure on Zelensky to launch the probe.

Biden remains the top contender in the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential primary and has accused Trump of abusing the office of the presidency to attack his family while denying any wrongdoing himself.

https://thehill.com/policy/international...ump-putin-calls

He really doesn't want the info from those private meetings to come out.

Seem like more of the same everyday

GOP Rep. Mark Amodei comes out in support of impeachment inquiry

Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) became the sole House Republican to back an impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

In a conference call with reporters, Amodei made it clear he wouldn’t necessarily vote to impeach Trump, but expressed concern over the president’s dealings with Ukraine and that the House should “put it through the process and see what happens.”

“I’m a big fan of oversight, so let’s let the committees get to work and see where it goes,” he said, according to audio of the call released by The Nevada Independent.

“Using government agencies to, if it’s proven, to put your finger on the scale of an election, I don’t think that’s right,” he added. “If it turns out that it’s something along those lines, then there’s a problem.”

Amodei later pushed back on The Independent’s piece following the call, saying in a statement “In no way, shape, or form, did I indicate support for impeachment."

He echoed a statement from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) in which she said “we have to follow the facts and figure out what happened here.”

The comments came amid an uproar on Capitol Hill over a July conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump suggested Kiev launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the president’s chief political rivals.

“There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great," Trump said on the call, according to a memorandum. "Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it... It sounds horrible to me.”

A declassified version of a whistleblower complaint regarding the conversation says “multiple White House officials with direct knowledge” of the call expressed concern that Trump was using his office for his personal political gain. The complaint also revealed the White House sought to conceal a transcript of the call and that a future phone call or meeting with Ukraine “would depend on whether Zelensky showed willingness to ‘play ball.’”

Trump has accused Biden of misconduct over his efforts to convince Ukraine to dismiss a prosecutor who was investigating a natural gas company on whose board his son sat. Biden says he wanted the prosecutor dismissed over insufficient efforts to tackle corruption, and no evidence has emerged to suggest Biden acted to benefit his son.

Amodei said Trump’s phrasing was inartful, but that it was not proof of any wrongdoing.

“If it was my statement and I had the ability to do it over, I would probably phrase it differently,” Amodei said of Trump’s phone call with Zelensky, adding, “I don’t know that it’s a smoking gun.”

“I think that’s why we have the committee process,” he continued. “Part of what the committees will do is try to find some context for that and then based on what a fair reading of the context is, they’ll go forward from there.”

Rep. Justin Amash, an independent from Michigan, left the Republican Party months after he said special counsel Robert Mueller's report showed Trump "engaged in impeachable conduct."

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/46347...achment-inquiry

GOPer shield starting to crumble.

Jeff Flake says 'at least 35' Republican senators would privately vote to impeach Trump

Former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake made a bold claim on Thursday when he said "at least 35" GOP senators would privately vote for President Trump's impeachment.

Appearing at the 2019 Texas Tribune Festival, Flake, a frequent critic of the president, offered his own reaction and predicted that close to three dozen Republican senators would back impeachment.

"I heard someone say if there were a private vote there would be 30 Republican votes. That's not true," Flake said during a Q&A. "There would be at least 35."



Flake appeared to be reacting to longtime GOP political consultant Mike Murphy, who appeared on MSNBC Wednesday and suggested many Republican lawmakers in the Senate would support impeachment with a "secret ballot."

"I can tell you this ... one Republican senator told me if it was a secret vote, 30 Republican senators would vote to impeach Trump," Murphy said.

Flake retired from the Senate in 2019. He has frequently criticized Trump, as well as the Republican Party, since 2016. Earlier this year, he called on others in his party to condemn the president’s recent controversial comments about several Democratic congresswomen.

He has also previously backed the idea of a Republican challenging Trump in 2020.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/jeff-flake-35-gop-senators-impeach-trump

What's this? Another Bombshell? Congress will need to find all these hidden communications...

Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn’t concerned about Moscow’s interference in U.S. election

President Trump told two senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the U.S. election because the United States did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed White House officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people, according to three former officials with knowledge of the matter.

The comments, which have not been previously reported, were part of a now-infamous meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a source of intelligence on the Islamic State. He also said during the meeting that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the day before had relieved “great pressure” on him.

A memorandum summarizing the meeting was limited to all but a few officials with the highest security clearances in an attempt to keep the president’s comments from being disclosed publicly, according to the former officials, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The White House’s classification of records about Trump’s communications with foreign officials is now a central part of the impeachment inquiry launched this week by House Democrats. An intelligence community whistleblower has alleged that the White House placed a record of Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine’s president, in which he offered U.S. assistance investigating his political opponents, into a code-word classified system reserved for the most sensitive intelligence information.

The White House did not provide a comment Friday.

It is not clear if a memo documenting the May 10, 2017, meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak was placed into that system, but the three former officials said it was restricted to a very small number of people. At the time, the White House had recently begun limiting the records of Trump’s calls after remarks he made to the leaders of Mexico and Australia appeared in news reports. The Lavrov memo was restricted to an even smaller group, the former officials said.

A fourth former official, who did not recall the president’s remarks to the Russian officials, said that memos were restricted only to people who needed to know their contents.

“It was more about learning how can we restrict this in a way that still informs the policy process and the principals who need to engage with these heads of state,” the fourth former official said.

But the three former officials with knowledge of the remarks said some memos of the president’s communications were kept from people who might ordinarily have access to them. The Lavrov memo fit that description, they said.

White House officials were particularly distressed by Trump’s election remarks because it appeared the president was forgiving Russia for an attack that had been designed to help elect him, the three former officials said. Trump also seemed to invite Russia to interfere in other countries’ elections, they said.

The previous day, Trump had fired Comey amid the FBI’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign had coordinated with Russia. White House aides worried about the political ramifications if Trump’s comments to the Russian officials became public.

Trump had publicly ridiculed the Russia investigation as politically motivated and said he doubted that Moscow had intervened in the election. By the time he met with Lavrov and Kislyak, Trump had been briefed by the most senior U.S. intelligence officials about the Russian operation, which was directed by Russian President Vladi­mir Putin and included the theft and publication of Democratic emails and the seeded of propaganda in social-media, according to the findings of the U.S. intelligence community.

Trump’s firing of Comey touched off an investigation into whether the president had tried to obstruct the FBI’s probe. His comments about Comey’s dismissal being a relief, which were first reported the same month by the New York Times, reinforced suspicions that Trump dismissed Comey because the FBI was investigating him.

According to the fourth former official, Trump lamented to Lavrov “all this Russia stuff” was detrimental to good relations. Trump also complained, “I could have a great relationship with you guys, but you know, our press,” this former official said, characterizing Trump’s remarks.

H.R. McMaster, the president’s then-national security adviser, repeatedly told Trump that he could not trust the Russians, according to two former officials.

On some areas, Trump conveyed U.S. policy in a constructive way, for instance, telling the Russians that their aggression in Ukraine was not good, one of those former officials said.

“What was difficult to understand was how they got a free pass on a lot of things — election security and so forth,” this former official said. “He was just very accommodating to them.”

The former official observed that Trump has “that streak of moral equivalency,” recalling how he once dismissed a question about the assassination of journalists and dissidents in Putin’s Russia by telling Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”

Another former official said that Trump wasn’t the only one to conflate Russia’s interference in the U.S. elections with U.S. efforts to promote democracy and good governance abroad.

The president and his top aides seemed not to understand the difference between Voice of America, a U.S.-supported news organization that airs in foreign countries, with Russian efforts to persuade American voters by surreptitiously planting ads in social media, this person said.

One former senior official said Trump regularly defended Russia’s actions, even in private, saying no country is pure. “He was always defensive of Russia,” this person said, adding the president had never made such a specific remark about interference in their presence.

“He thought the whole interference thing was ridiculous. He never bought into it.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-...340f_story.html

Washington Post.

I should have know you would have posted for that rag of a paper.

No different than the National Enquirer.

Trump 2020!