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© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Trump attacks whistleblower anonymity, but won't utter name
By MARK SHERMAN and JONATHAN LEMIRE WASHINGTON©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
57 Comments
SimondB
Why would you call him a traitor? Did he try to do a deal with a foreign country that would benefit him personally? And what do you think will happen when his name is released? Are you anticipating an assassination by people unknown? Because that is a definite possibility given the background of some of Trumps supporters.
Chip Star
Hahaha! Donny having principles! That's a good one.
His name is Donald J. Trump.
Ah_so
Only if you don’t understand what a “moot point” is. Shame on you AP.
MarkX
Sure, Trump won't utter his name, so he got Don Jr. to tweet it out! These people have no shame!
Chip Star
Agreed. The whistleblower's information is a moot point as it's been superceded by the testimony of Donny's own people.
Strangerland
Donny boy: I'm president, and you MUST respect the rights I'm afforded as such.
Donny boy: This whistleblower does NOT deserve the rights he's afforded as such.
The morons: Winning! Orange man bad blah blah dems!
SuperLib
Waste of time. The whistleblower is irrelevant now. Time is better spent focusing on Pompeo.
Strangerland
Not to those who would seek to get retribution.
Ah_so
what I meant was that “moot” means a hotly debated topic, a matter of controversy. Although its unfortunate resemblance to “mute” means that it is often used to mean quite the opposite - as in irrelevant.
Anyway, I’ll go back to the pedants’ corner and leave you to the debate.
PTownsend
Laws are for peasants (har har); Trump and his fellow elite think they are above the law and their legal goons like Barr and Giuliani will protect them.
Trump and Pompeo's names are well known. Because of their close connections with 'foreign' powers and the reality they've asked those powers to intervene and 'meddle' in US affairs does put them under an umbrella of treachery, maybe even traitorism.
bass4funk
Look, everyone knows his name, Trump knows who it is, the GOP knows who it is and Rand Paul might even go to the Senate floor and say his name since he wouldn’t have to worry any political repercussions.
FizzBit
Forced out by who? Why Vice President of the US daddy Biden, that’s who.
There’s a new sheriff in town. Safe spaces with crisis puppies are still available.
CrazyJoe
It does not matter who the whistleblower is, the information they have provided is accurate. The police do not care who tipped them off about the body in the basement, only that it was there when they went looking.
PTownsend
Given Trump's close ties to Putin, does that put the whistleblower at risk of being dioxinate-d or noichok-ed? I'm sure those in Trump's faction of the deep state are also willing to do whatever it takes to protect their leader's ongoing attempts to establish a system of corporatist authoritarianism under his - and his fellow global elite - control.
Chip Star
Further evidence that Trumpophiles care nothing for the rule of law.
What Trumpophiles fail to understand is that the whistleblowers identity, politics, and motivation do not matter because the substance of the complaint had been repeatedly corroborated by Donny's own people.
Blacklabel
Trump himself has no need to release the name. Dems were not for whistleblower protection for Snowden, so this outrage seems only based on what whistle you blow against who. We do know who Chelsea Manning is too, don’t we?
Blacklabel
Oh but yes they do. Once the police know who you are they can look into your background. to see how you are involved( If at all) with the people who put the body there.
It’s called “motive” and did you benefit from the police knowing that body is there. This whistleblower highly benefits from all of this as he is a political operative. We don’t even know who he is to be able to check horns I account to see if any large deposits recently.
Blacklabel
*his bank account.
takeda.shingen.1991@gmail.com
Ahhhh.....so, we don't know who they are, but somehow you know they benefit. Riiiiigggghhhhtttt. Do you have any idea what often happens to whistleblowers?
You're so angry at this whistleblower, but tell me: what exactly do you think he fabricated? What was made up that hasn't been corroborated?
lincolnman
Talk about a dead horse...
Trump and Trumpers want to deflect from all the Trump appointees and others that have testified under oath that this was a QPQ shakedown.
The Whistle Blower said they was told that there was possibly a QPQ from two other individuals, but Donnie admitted it in the call summary, and Mulvaney said "Get over it, we do it all the time".
LTC Vindman was in the room when Sondland stated clearly that any WH Oval Office meeting was contingent on Ukraine starting an investigation of the Bidens - twice. Bolton was there for one. Sondland lied under oath the first time and had to go back and change his testimony or face joining Manafort and Cohen at Club Fed. He now says it was a QPQ.
Taylor - a Pompeo and Trump pick, says in his transcript today that there were two QPQs - they military aid and a WH Oval Office meeting - Trump withheld both until Ukraine agreed to investigate the Bidens.
Trump and Trumpers are grabbing at straws as the mountain of evidence gets higher. They'll attack and try to destroy the reputation of the Whistle Blower, all to distract from their own people confirming all that he/she alleged.
arrestpaul
Except that they haven't been substantially proven to be true. Sherman and Lemire are simply reciting the talking points supplied to them by elected Democrats.
bass4funk
Oh, yes it does, especially now that we know he’s a partisan that was fired in the Obama Administration and that he worked for the CIA as an analyst and who worked for John Brennan, now it’s interesting given the disdain the man has for the President this joker is tied to him. Like I said, I hope Rand Paul shouts his name on the Senate floor and expose this partisan political hack for the scum he is.
Says who? Schiff or Ciaramilla?
That’s what Jeff Zucker wants you to believe.
arrestpaul
I can hardly wait to hear the whistleblower testify under oath about how he, or she, were collaborating with team Schiff before the whistleblower filed his, or her, complaint. I want to hear just how much team Schiff coaxed/coached this witness.
lincolnman
Some folks have spent too much time listening to Hannity's drivel...
I bet you can't wait to hear from Bolton either when he testifies under oath that he was in the room when Sondland brought up the White House Oval Office meeting QPQ and immediately shut the meeting down. Or that he told everyone that Rudy's smear campaign was "drug deal" and that Rudy was a "Hand Grenade" that would take everyone out (boy, he nailed that one).
I hope Rand does too - to be led immediately off in cuffs for violation of the Whistle Blower Protection Act.
Duh, Dimwit Donnie, Crazy Rudy, Moron Mick, Sondland, Taylor, Vindman, Yovanovich,...didn't you read Sondland's amendment yesterday?
He originally told investigators he took Trump at his word that there was never a quid pro quo attaching aid or a White House visit to investigations. But as additional witnesses testified and more information became public, Sondland appeared to have a change of heart. The week after his deposition, Sondland returned with lawyers to Capitol Hill to “review” his testimony. In the updated statement, Sondland said withholding the aid was “ill-advised” and added: “By the beginning of September 2019, and in the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid, I presumed that the aid suspension had become linked to the proposed anti-corruption statement.”
And this is Donnie's buddy...
Yep, keep beating that dead Whistle Blower horse Trumpers - it makes Fox News money...but nothing else...
bass4funk
So they should listen to Maddow’s drivel?
Bolton is going in kicking and screaming which indicates to me a hostile potential witness, in that case the President has nothing to worry about.
Nope, not one the Senate floor, so he should do it.
Yes, but I saw nothing at least from an impeachable standpoint. But Ciaramilla though...
lincolnman
If you say so...
He's smart, he's ensuring it's lawful for him to testify - and you never answered my question; what do you think Donnie would do if Bolton called him a "disaster"?
Your legal advice is as good as Rudy's...go for it Rand! Say hello to Manafort for me....
Saw nothing - that's what happens when you close your eyes...too painful I assume...
Laguna
Typical cowardly Trump. His MI is to leave no fingerprints, to have others break the law at his wink-wink type direction. That's why so many of his underlings are in prison.
quercetum
I found this interesting that they tried to remove the hold up on the military aid to Ukraine but couldn’t because Trump was out shopping for real estate.
bass4funk
He’s not a a backstabber and won’t play the Dems sinister game.
No, it’s the Senate rules
Democrats should know.
lincolnman
Uh-huh - he really likes being called a "disaster" - and dodged the question again I see...
Sure, go for it Rand - and the Senate Sgt of Arms will frog-march you out for all to see. They'll sure be plenty of witnesses...
Your words - and you closed your eyes to Sondland's own admission of a QPQ above...
Laguna
I'm still confused about what law allows a president to put his own personal lawyer, unappointed and uncomfirmed by congress, into such a powerful position.
bass4funk
Not really.
Not on the Senate floor, now if he’s foolish outside of the chambers, then yes.
I didn’t, no reason to. It’s just laughable that the Dems are willing to risk their careers over this, but hey, it’s a free world.
lincolnman
Point out for us where you answered; What would Donnie do if Bolton called him a "disaster"?
Or once again, you were wrong...
*“By the beginning of September 2019, and in the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid, I presumed that the aid suspension had become linked to the proposed anti-corruption statement.”*
QPQ - read it and weep...
Blacklabel
that Trump brought up Biden EIGHT times in the call, for one. Remember that?
Blacklabel
Should be fine if the Attorney General of the USA can be the "wingman" of a specific President. Ride or die.
Blacklabel
you bolded the wrong word. He never talked to Trump, never asked and was never told this. He heard from someone else that this might be what would make Rudy Giuliani happy. thats why he presumed.
“By the beginning of September 2019, and in the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid, I **presumed that the aid suspension had become **linked to the proposed anti-corruption statement.”
lincolnman
Keep spinning....just don't get too dizzy...
Spin this one from Trump and Pompeo's hand-picked guy Taylor...
As NBC News reported in October after he first testified, Taylor stated in plain and clear language that he felt the military aid to Ukraine had been directly tied to Ukraine opening investigations into the Burisma energy company — the Ukrainian gas company whose board of directors Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden joined in 2014 — as well as a conspiracy theory about alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.
"That was my clear understanding, security assistance money would not come until the president [of Ukraine] committed to pursue the investigation," Taylor said, according to the transcript.
He was then asked if he was "aware that quid pro quo literally means this for that?"
"I am," Taylor replied.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/top-diplomat-in-ukraine-directly-ties-trump-to-quid-pro-quo/ar-AAJXs9b
lincolnman
This is exactly what LTC Vindman testified to. No wonder Sondland had to go back and "review" his previous testimony. But he's not out of the woods when it comes to lying under oath.
Taylor, Sondland - these are all Trump appointees - his guys - yet they all say it was a QPQ...
And it will only get worse when Bolton testifies...
And in other news, we see Roger Stone roasted for lying under oath five times to try to protect Trump...
With friends like these, Donnie doesn't need any enemies...
Chip Star
Nobody knows how many time Donny brought up Biden in the call be says nobody has seen an actual transcript of the call; we've seen a partial summary. Accuracy continues to elude up.
Chip Star
*you
bass4funk
Actually, I’m not, especially on this issue.
Well, if Obama didn’t get impeached for talking to his buddy Medvedev, then Trump should be in good stand with that phone call. Now Biden on the other hand...
https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-gas-company-burisma-holdings-joe-bidens-son-hunter-explained-2019-9
QPQ - read it and weep, in full detail, gleaming dentures and bragging and proud of it.
Blacklabel
Love how the the goal posts move. Whistleblower testimony is the end of Drumpf! (Won’t testify). Russia is the end! (Oops Ukraine). Comey is the end! Cohen is the end! Manafort is the end! Mueller is the end! (Now Bolton?)
Blacklabel
so if The NY Times announces the name who goes to jail for the supposed criminal offense?
whistleblower is to protect people from losing their job. Not to allow anonymous prosecution of others.
whattabout Eric’s lawyer? Coup had started from January 2017 and CNN will be a part of it.
Numan
The law says a whistleblower must be protected. There shouldn't be any debate. It is the law.
At this point, trying to discredit the whistleblower won't work. After the other witnesses plus Vindiman and Taylor's detailed testimony, Sondland changed his testimony because he was caught lying for Trump.
The president's personal lawyer/Attorney General also refused to say Trump was innocent.
Blacklabel
Your partisan resistance hero Vindman does. He said a few words were missing. Not 6 more times of mentioning Biden. weren’t all of these dozen “witnesses” on the call too? They would know, right?
bass4funk
Not really, he’s very strong in key battleground States, has way more money on hand than all the Democrats did more outreach in cyberspace, 53% of voters in key swing states don’t want him impeached, strong economy, record low unemployment, and the Dems have......impeachment on their record. Trump is holding steady and going up and if he can win the EC again, it’s over for the Democrats big time.
bass4funk
can’t wait until they cross examine him.
Biden has his own mounting problems to worry about.
bass4funk
He does, that’s why he’s slipping a bit in the polls, now that can change, but with the circus that surrounding his son ans the apparent coverup that the media has...oh, kinda like how they were covering up for Epstein and trying to squash every negative story on him. Biden will never be the nominee. Warren will, but she’ll get wasted by Trump and besides she won’t get any minority voters as well as Wall St. hates her, Sanders is out, he doesn’t know that yet, but he’s done. But hey, there’s always 2024.....maybe....
takeda.shingen.1991@gmail.com
There was no coverup. This conspiracy theory has been disproven time and time again.
WilliB
To utter the name would be the job of the media, but trust the fake corporate news organizations not to do that.
You have to go to dissident media to read up on the background of CIA operative and Schiff associate Eric Ciaramella.
WilliB
takeda shingen:
Corruption and abuse of office is not a "conspiracy theory".
bass4funk
Gee, Anderson Cooper made that assessment without even remotely knowing the facts, he lied and covered for Biden on National TV, wow! But basically, if liberals or their media lemming surrogates say it’s disproven, we just have to take their words face value? Like with the Mueller report or the 2016 polls? ROFL!!
Ciaramella has a very long history of hatred for Republicans as well as deep contempt for Trump, add the Brennan component as well as him being a Democrat and a Biden supporter and partisan, it’s clear he has a long history in the State Department as an Obama holdover to be highly partisan.
This is going to blow up so badly in the Dems faces.
Chop Chop
Read from this link,
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/11/06/dianne-feinstein-rages-whistleblower-identity-testimony-irrelevant/