The tax whistleblower, meanwhile, went straight to Congress ― specifically to the House Ways and Means Committee, which had sued the Trump administration for refusing to provide copies of the president’s tax returns in response to a formal request. Democrats say they need Trump’s returns to make sure the IRS properly enforces tax laws against the president.
But Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) is far less outspoken than Schiff, and his approach to the tax case has been cautious. He decided to stay focused on the lawsuit, using the whistleblower’s material to bolster that case.
In a brief last month, the committee told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that a “federal employee” had approached them with “evidence of possible misconduct” and “inappropriate efforts” to influence an IRS audit of the president. The document provided no further detail about the whistleblower, but in a footnote, Democrats offered to tell U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden all about it in private.
The [s]First[/s] [s]Only[/s] Second Trump term
The First Trump term.
Trump may have a tax whistleblower issue, too.
It's not me, it's someone else.
The First Trump term.
Impeachment is coming, Trump is melting down.
Time to get rid of this ugly orange clown.
If you haven't got a spine, a pro-impeach vote will do
If you haven't got a vote, then God bless you.
(to the tune of Christmas is Coming... it could be better, just off the top of my head as my kid is playing piano)
Time to get rid of this ugly orange clown.
If you haven't got a spine, a pro-impeach vote will do
If you haven't got a vote, then God bless you.
(to the tune of Christmas is Coming... it could be better, just off the top of my head as my kid is playing piano)
It's not me, it's someone else.
The First Trump term.
I'm not sure why I felt that way, but I feel like Trump is already the one burning down.
It's not me, it's someone else.
The First Trump term.
Your optimism is adorable.
I think that's optimism.
Aint nothin gonna happen. I don't know why Pelosi is playing with her followers' emotions like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiKrWUoTq4s
I think that's optimism.
Aint nothin gonna happen. I don't know why Pelosi is playing with her followers' emotions like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiKrWUoTq4s
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
The First Trump term.
I dunno. I think if public opinion sways enough (less likely than more likely), the Republicans will jettison his ass, then claim they never knew who he was and he wasn't really a Republican while showing pictures of him + the Clintons together.
I'd give about a 15 to 20% chance Trump doesn't finish his first term, at best.
It's not me, it's someone else.
The First Trump term.
As shitty as the parties are, I figure whatever is bad for them is good for the american people, overall. If they both want trump gone so badly, with the MSM off the leash over it, maybe that's exactly why he should stay.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
The First Trump term.
THE FORM! WHAT ABOUT THE FORM!
Seriously, once upon a time, a President would have felt shame and embarassment at being so wrong so often.“WHO CHANGED THE LONG STANDING WHISTLEBLOWER RULES JUST BEFORE SUBMITTAL OF THE FAKE WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT? DRAIN THE SWAMP!,” Trump tweeted Monday morning.
...
The president's supporters have claimed that, in August, prior to the whistleblower filing his complaint about Trump and the July call, the intelligence community changed a rule they say required that whistleblowers provide direct, first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings.
In making the claim, Trump and his supporters referred to a change made on the “Disclosure of Urgent Concern” form, which previously had asked if the whistleblower had direct or indirect knowledge.
The intelligence community inspector's general's office released a statement Monday evening disputing any recent change in the whistleblower form.
“With respect to the whistleblower complaint received by the ICIG on August 12, 2019, the ICIG processed and reviewed the complaint in accordance with the law,” read a statement from the intelligence community inspector general's office (ICIG) dated Sept. 30. “The Disclosure of Urgent Concern form the Complainant submitted on August 12, 2019 is the same form the ICIG has had in place since May 24, 2018,” the statement said.
National security lawyers who specialize in whistleblower complaints told ABC News that whistleblowers have never been required to have direct knowledge of alleged wrongdoing in order to file a complaint.
“In no way, shape or form was anything changed as a matter of law,” said national security lawyer Brad Moss. “The law has never said that a whistleblower couldn't have second information because that would unnecessarily restrict an inordinate amount of whistleblowing allegations coming forward because most people don’t have the first-hand information.”
(MORE: Whistleblower feared Trump’s call with Ukraine constituted 'flagrant' abuse of power)
Irvin McCullough, national security analyst for Government Accountability Project, said that the change made by the intelligence community's chief watchdog Michael Atkinson, in an attempt to revamp and simplify the form, carried no legal weight and did not change any whistleblower laws or protections.
It's not me, it's someone else.
The First Trump term.
Insanity.
I secretly want Trump to beat impeachment and then win re-election because that scenario has the most comedy potential.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
The First Trump term.
I'm still on the fence about this part. I think the original reporting from one guy put it in a window between last year and the date he latched onto as to when the form was changed. Of course, Trump has the brain of a goldfish and latches on to the one that makes him the most aggrieved. I want to see this looked into and all parties to the whistleblower complaint brought before the senate and house.
To Trump's credit, he's been about as transparent about the phone call in question as one can be. Turns out he moved that phone call to the more secured server because he's been moving all his calls to heads of state to that server since two of those calls were previously leaked to the press. One of the few prudent moves I'll credit him with.
Edit: On the "first hand knowledge" part... that's confusing. There is no requirement for there to be first hand knowledge for a whistleblower to make a complaint. There was a requirement of more than "second-hand or unsubstantiated assertion" for ICIG to find a credible urgent concern. So that explains why ICIG didn't move forward with the complaint to congress.
To Trump's credit, he's been about as transparent about the phone call in question as one can be. Turns out he moved that phone call to the more secured server because he's been moving all his calls to heads of state to that server since two of those calls were previously leaked to the press. One of the few prudent moves I'll credit him with.
Edit: On the "first hand knowledge" part... that's confusing. There is no requirement for there to be first hand knowledge for a whistleblower to make a complaint. There was a requirement of more than "second-hand or unsubstantiated assertion" for ICIG to find a credible urgent concern. So that explains why ICIG didn't move forward with the complaint to congress.
"... and then I was forced to walk the Trail of Tears." - Elizabeth Warren
The First Trump term.
People call him racist.
I think he's truly just an idiot.
I think he's truly just an idiot.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
The First Trump term.
I'll take a well-meaning idiot over a smart person full of guile any day.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
The First Trump term.
I don't think he means well, though. He's definitely an idiot.
It's not me, it's someone else.
The First Trump term.
I both agree and disagree with that.
He definitely is doing favors for people for personal gain. I also believe his entire run was based upon a self-serving agenda. However, I think he genuinely wants people to like him, and to that end he does try to do some good things.
He's just too egotistical and stupid to be truly evil or good.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
The First Trump term.
A Republican Senator makes a reasonable comment on the whistleblower. That shouldn't be news, but it is in 2019.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said in a statement that the whistleblower “appears to have followed the whistleblower protection laws and ought to be heard out and protected.”
"No one should be making judgments or pronouncements without hearing from the whistleblower first and carefully following up on the facts. Uninformed speculation wielded by politicians or media commentators as a partisan weapon is counterproductive and doesn’t serve the country," he said.
Grassley is the chairman of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus and has authored and co-authored many of the whistleblower protection laws.
He appeared to push back on President Trump's questioning of the whistleblower's legitimacy, stating that “when it comes to whether someone qualifies as a whistleblower, the distinctions being drawn between first- and second-hand knowledge aren’t legal ones."
Grassley added: "Complaints based on second-hand information should not be rejected out of hand, but they do require additional leg work to get at the facts and evaluate the claim’s credibility."
It's not me, it's someone else.
The First Trump term.
Interesting how a couple of weeks before the house intel committee even had access to the whistle blower report that Schiff made the exact same claims as the whistle blower with no outside sourcing. I don't think it's fair to make a judgement simply on speculation, but this certainly appears that coordination might have occurred.Adam Schiff
@RepAdamSchiff
Trump is withholding vital military aid to Ukraine, while his personal lawyer seeks help from the Ukraine government to investigate his political opponent.
It doesn’t take a stable genius to see the magnitude of this conflict.
Or how destructive it is to our national security.
"... and then I was forced to walk the Trail of Tears." - Elizabeth Warren
The First Trump term.
Your perspective on the facts are odd. Giuliani had already been gunning for Biden for months prior to all of this. Schiff was putting that together with the aid request, the end, since they both involved Ukraine. A very easy thing to have done.Vince wrote: Interesting how a couple of weeks before the house intel committee even had access to the whistle blower report that Schiff made the exact same claims as the whistle blower with no outside sourcing. I don't think it's fair to make a judgement simply on speculation, but this certainly appears that coordination might have occurred.
The whistleblower's complaints are more numerous.
But, Fox News wants to hear from you...
It's not me, it's someone else.
The First Trump term.
Are there any news articles dated prior to the whistle blower report that indicate this about Giuliani? And Schiff lied for months about having classified information that was going to show that Trump did in fact collude with the Russians in 2016. The guy is a bigger sleazebag than Trump (and that's saying something).TheCatt wrote: Your perspective on the facts are odd. Giuliani had already been gunning for Biden for months prior to all of this. Schiff was putting that together with the aid request, the end, since they both involved Ukraine. A very easy thing to have done.
The whistleblower's complaints are more numerous.
But, Fox News wants to hear from you...
Also, three Democrat senators reached out to the Ukraine last year insisting that they aid in the investigation against Trump with Mueller. So there's that.
Do I think it's great Trump did this with Biden? No. Does the record of the phone call indicate that Trump was threatening to withhold aide from them if they didn't help him? No. Is this impeachable? Not unless they have another shoe somewhere to drop.
What else did the whistle blower complain about? All I've seen is that the conversation was moved to the more secure server. As it turns out all his conversations with foreign leaders have been since he had two of them leaked to the press early in his administration.
This is a big nothing. Like I said... not good, but certainly not impeachable. It's TDS.
"... and then I was forced to walk the Trail of Tears." - Elizabeth Warren
The First Trump term.
Yes, google it.
His obstruction was impeachable, and they didn't bother then for some reason. I say goodbye, Trump. It's all good enough for me.
It's not me, it's someone else.