There can be no doubt the Trump presidency is now endangered. The whistleblower report has incited the Democrats to go for the President’s jugular. And the media is only too happy to join them.
The whistleblower, who is thought to be a CIA agent, alleges that Trump and many of his aides engaged in a months-long effort of pressuring the Ukraine government to discredit Joe Biden and then covered up their wrongdoing. His report states that the Ukraine government was made aware that US military aid was dependent on its compliance with the request to investigate Biden’s son Hunter. The whistleblower said:
“In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election. This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President’s main domestic political rivals. I am also concerned that these actions pose risks to U.S. national security and undermine the U.S. Government’s efforts to deter and counter foreign interference in U.S. elections.”
At the center of the whistleblower’s report is the phone call Trump made to Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. That call was not the ‘lovely’ call Trump made it out to be. It was improper and the dumbest thing Trump has done since he became President.
As usual, when attacked, Trump responds with a furious counterattack. In a closed-door meeting with U.S. diplomats, the President raged:
“We’re at war. These people are sick. They’re sick. I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistle-blower the information? Because that’s close to a spy. You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”
And, of course, there were the usual barrage of Trump tweets belittling this whole brouhaha.
Even though all of the allegations made by the whistleblower were second-hand, acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire told the House Intelligence Committee: “I believe that the whistleblower and the inspector general have acted in good faith throughout. I have every reason to believe that they have done everything by the book and followed the law.”
Dumb and improper, yes, but was the call to Zelensky an impeachable offense? Adam Schitt (oops, typo) calls it a “classic mafia like shakedown.” Jerry Nadler, with Houston’s Sheila Jackson Lee at his side, makes it clear he wants Trump impeached. AOC and Rashida Tlaib are screaming for impeachment and Nancy Pelosi has caved in to their demands.
Pelosi also accused AG William Barr of “The cover up of a cover up,” while Tlaib announced she is selling T-shirts imprinted with the slogan: Impeach the Motherfu**er.
It’s hard to tell how all this will play out. It’s a foregone conclusion that Trump will be impeached by the Democratic controlled House and then not convicted by the Republican controlled Senate. That could backfire on the Democrats. However, when all the House investigations are over and done with, there may be enough evidence to persuade some Republican senators to abandon the leaky ship. If that happens, there might be 60 votes in the Senate to convict Trump.
Joe Biden does not come out of this mess squeaky clean either. When he was vice president, Biden threatened to withhold a $1 billion U.S. loan from Ukraine if Viktor Shokin, that country’s chief prosecutor, was not fired. At the time, Shokin was widely rumored to be investigating Hunter Biden’s appointment to the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma. And the vice president’s threat was a direct threat, unlike the implied threat in Trump’s phone call.
The media is playing the Goebbels tune. Ever since he became President, The New York Times, the Washington Post, MSNBC and, except for Fox, the other TV networks have taken every opportunity to smear Trump because he defeated their beloved Hillary.
Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels is credited with saying: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Let me paraphrase that to show how Trump could lose the 2020 election. If you smear Trump big enough and keep on smearing him, people will eventually come to believe it. And that’s what the Democrats and the Trump-hating media are counting on.
Although Trump implies that the leakers in his administration are spies who should be hanged or shot, he has not been able to learn the identity of the numerous White House staffers who have been feeding the media, and now the whistleblower, with damaging information about the President.
It’s mainly the leaks that have enabled the media to mount their blitzkrieg against the president. If Trump loses in 2020, he can thank members of his own staff for his defeat.
Tom says
Howie: Think about what you’re saying when you say in your headline that Trump’s White House staff has damaged him and in the body of your piece that White House staffers and others in the administration are leaking to damage the president.
With the exception of a few career employees in the Executive Office of the President who do routine things and remain from administration-to-administration, the White House staff is Trump’s picks. He hired them or he hired the people who hired them.The president ran as a businessman. Yet, if you’re correct he has zero talent in picking subordinates. Those are his people. It the president of Exxon hired a bunch of people who leaked information to hurt the company, he’s be on his way out the door so fast you wouldn’t believe it. Because he did a lousy job in his most important duty: hiring competent, trustworthy, honest people.
A lot of others involved in the investigation also are Trump picks. The inspector general of the director of national intelligence was appointed by President Trump. So was the DNI. What does that say about the president’s ability to do one of the most important jobs in government, select the right people for policy positions?
As for the whistleblowers allegations being second hand, that is a talking point that won’t hold water. First, according to the press the whistleblower is a CIA officer. I’d bet he’s an analyst. Every day CIA analysts write reports that to to top decision makers in government and none of the analysts has first hand knowledge about anything.
They rely on and evaluate intelligence from spies, friendly intelligence agencies, spy satellites, wiretaps and code breakers and even the press. Presidents make war and peace decisions based on those reports which are all hearsay. And, so far, his information has checked out. Go to the National Security Archive on the internet. They have posted lots of copies of the declassified daily intelligence brief sent all over the government.
Law enforcement agencies initiate investigations based solely on hearsay every day. I’ll bet when you were a cop at least once you started an investigation because Mrs. Cravitz told you heard that so and so was selling drugs. Then the investigation starts and gathers first hand facts to present in court.
You don’t know and I don’t know all of the facts but what I’ve heard is, in a word, disturbing. Now is the time to drag witnesses before congressional committees, put them under oath and get first hand facts. If the president abused his office or committed a crime, shame on him. If not, let’s clear his name.
Howie Katz says
Tom, except for the times you have misinterpreted case law, you make a compelling argument. Of course I have initiated investigations based on hearsay, but any arrests I made were based on hard evidence.
There are 377 employees in the West Wing of the White House. Yes, many of them do only routine work – sweep the floors, wash the dishes, clean the crappers – and continually serve from administration to administration. But for those that do the work of the executive office, there are so many of them that Trump obviously did not pick many of them. He probably still doesn’t know some of them. However, you should not underestimate the ability of the routine employees to come across the kind of information that is being leaked to the media. We used to say that if you wanted to know what is going on in the front office, just ask the janitor or the elevator operator. There may not be anymore elevator operators, but there are still janitors.
But most of the leaks must be coming from the executive staff. Some have probably been pissed off by the President, others may think Trump is unhinged. Whatever the reason, they are damaging and endangering the presidency.
So my friend, I don’t see where your extensive comment changes anything I said.
Bob Walsh says
This whole mess is just another part of the attack on the legitimacy of Trump as President. By naming the names that were specified in the “whistle-blower complaint” an attempt is being made to paint any person who might support Trump in this matter as a corrupt conspirator REGARDLESS OF THE ACTUAL FACTS IN THE MATTER. Trump is evil. The people who voted for Trump are both evil and stupid. The people who defend or support Trump are evil and conspiring with other evil people to keep Trump’s boot on the neck of poor, honest, illegal aliens, dope smugglers, welfare cheats, criminals and anybody who isn’t a well-off White person. They must all be attacked. They must all be destroyed BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. The end justifies the means. The mainstream media really believe this shit so they help willingly. (Useful idiots.) They parrot it night after night on what used to be the 5 O’Clock news but is now the nightly propaganda broadcast from the DNC. This truly is turning into a fight for our country. They are pissed that Trump actually won. They can’t imagine that Trump actually won. Therefore Trump DIDN’T actually win. He cheated. He MUST have cheated. He is illegitimate. He MUST BE DESTROYED. There is your big lie. Dr. Goebbels would be proud.
Ross says
Trump is the legitimate President, but he’s a dangerous, narcissistic fool, who is so enamored of himself that he refuses to listen to the wise counsel of his advisers. Any leader who thinks he’s smarter than his entire staff put together is a poor leader and Trump has crowed about how is gut is smarter than most people.
Trump is a disgusting human being. He treats women like objects, thinks there’s nothing wrong with not paying suppliers, pretends not to be racist while egging on racists, and thinks nothing of making allies look bad. Surely the Republicans can do better(by better I don’t mean Ted Cruz, who is pretty awful in a less bad way). I won’t be voting for him. I won’t be voting for the Democrat either.
Shannon says
There is no whistleblower.
This was done by a committee from the Dark Side.
Oh, sure, some predetermined person might take the hit if necessary, but there is no single whistleblower.