\nThe recent scandal in which President Trump was caught soliciting, in\nfact coercing, the Ukrainian government to investigate former Vice President Biden\nhas led to the House of Representatives beginning an impeachment inquiry that\nis likely to result in articles of impeachment against Trump. It began with a courageous whistleblower performing\ntheir patriotic duty. In response, the\nTrump administration, and the President personally, has revealed and admitted\nto sufficient information to support the serious allegation. Consequently, the administration is in\ncomplete spin and survival mode to deflect attention and public opinion away\nfrom this serious criminality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIronically, Trump now claims his interest was corruption, not campaign\npolitics. If Trump was at all interested\nin corruption, he would begin by looking at his administration, the most\ncorrupt in history. He would finally\nrelease his taxes to disprove well-founded concerns that he laundered money for\nRussian oligarchs and other foreign interests. \nIf he were interested in corruption, he would not be surreptitiously dispatching\nhis private attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to make unofficial visits with leaders in multiple\ncountries. Giuliani\u2019s missions were\nentirely unnecessary to address any issues of corruption, but the President availed\nhimself of Giuliani\u2019s services to dig up and even manufacture dirt on political\nopponents, coerce foreign governments to capitulate to Trump\u2019s personal demands\nto investigate his political opponents, and encourage foreign governments to\ninterfere in the 2020 Election. All of\nthis violates U.S. law, none of this is in our national interest, and the\nAmerican people need to be greatly concerned. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThis is not about politics; this is about our democracy and again Trump poses\nan existential threat. The President has\nrecently asserted his interest was corruption, at least the third version of what\nhe claims he was trying to accomplish. This\nis a blatant attempt to fool the American people by trying to hide behind what\nPresident Obama and Biden were actually trying to do in the first place. Under Obama, U.S. policy was to firmly stand with\nUkraine against illegal and unwarranted Russian aggression, albeit to avoid a\nmajor war. As a developing democracy,\nUkraine was experiencing significant challenges fighting corruption, specifically\nconcerning oligarchs and organized crime, but also with corporate payoffs. That is why Vice President Biden went to Ukraine\n\u2013 to support the leaders in combatting corruption and representing the\nfrustration of not only the U.S., but also many other western nations as well\nas the IMF, with the slow pace of reform. \nBiden\u2019s visit and message to Ukraine were all very public, official, and\ntransparent, not a secret visit on behalf of personal interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe facts here are well known. Biden\nat all times acted on behalf of U.S. and allied interests, not at all to\nprotect his son Hunter. His duty was to convince\nthe Ukrainian leadership to remove the chief anti-corruption prosecutor because\nthat individual he had been demonstrably failing to perform his duties and\nprosecute corruption. The U.S., et al, pushed\nUkraine to install a more aggressive and focused prosecutor who would intensify\nthe fight against corruption and finally take significant action. Hunter Biden was at the time a member of the board\nof Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas company, that had been investigated for\ncertain financial dealings of which Hunter Biden was not a part. If Burisma (or Hunter Biden) had engaged in corruption,\nthis new prosecutor would have acted AGAINST them, not protect them. Thus, Biden was clearly not acting to protect\nhis son or Burisma in any way. However, all\ninvestigation to date has determined that Hunter Biden had not been involved in\nany legal impropriety and that Joe Biden\u2019s actions were all transparent and\nlegitimate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nUnfortunately, as we have come to learn day after day, truth means\nlittle to the Trump machine and especially not to the liar-in-chief. Trump\u2019s interest in this matter has nothing\nto do with fighting corruption. That is\nlaughable coming from Trump. His interest\nis wholly personal – to use foreign governments to stage bogus investigations\nand dig up \u201cdirt\u201d on his political opponents as well as to interfere in the\n20202 election. Trump\u2019s phone call with\nthe Ukrainian president at issue took place the day after Robert Mueller\ntestified, laying out the case that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and\nthe overtures to the Trump campaign. One\nday later\u2026 Once again, Trump acted out of pure\nself-interest with complete disregard for the country. His primary interest with Ukraine was to\ngenerate a bogus scandal he could use to weaken Biden. It mattered not to Trump that the story was\nentirely false, just that he could use his minions to perpetuate it to the point\npeople were overpowered into accepting it. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nPutin\u2019s Russia inexcusably invaded Ukraine to steal territory and\nintimidate the Ukrainian people into capitulation. They illegally annexed Crimea and occupy\nportions of eastern Ukraine. Although\nTrump was highly critical of President Obama\u2019s handling of the matter, Trump\nhas continually failed Ukraine and American national security. Knowing the immense and perpetual threat\nRussia poses to Ukraine and Ukraine\u2019s desperate need for the long-promised military\nassistance package from the U.S., Trump held it hostage to compel Ukrainian\ncapitulation to his efforts to force them to investigate Biden and interfere in\nthe 2020 election. Ukraine also wanted a\nWhite House visit and Trump similarly withheld that to force their hand. Although Congress mandated the aid package,\nTrump without authority delayed it for quite some time while his minions\nintimidated and coerced Ukrainian officials into a corner from which they would\nhave no choice but to accede to Trump\u2019s demands in order for their very survival. The law does not require a stated quid pro\nquo, nor does impeachment. The issue is\nthat Trump made demands of a foreign power, forced them to act on his personal\nbehalf, forced them to interfere in the upcoming election, and abused his\noffice for personal gain. None of this\nis official U.S. business or in our national security interest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThis is not just about creating false controversy for his political\nopponent and the 2020 election. This is\nalso about Russia and Trump\u2019s inexplicable affection for Putin. We have yet another example of how Trump is\ncompelled to do Putin\u2019s bidding. Trump continues\nto seek to exonerate Russia for Russia\u2019s incontrovertible efforts to interfere\nin the 2016 election. Shortly after\ntaking office, Trump was forced to impose significant sanctions on Russia by a near\nunanimous vote in Congress that he could not ignore. While Congress was defending our national\nsecurity, Trump was already plotting to violate it. He held an unprecedented, secret, and bizarre\nmeeting in the Oval Office with the then Russian Foreign Minister and Russian\nAmbassador. We later learned that among\nthe multiple improper topics they discussed, including Trump inexplicably passing\ntop secret intelligence, Trump traitorously invited Russia to continue\ninterfering in our elections. The\nAmerican people cannot accept serious threat to our security and future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nTrump is sending henchman including Giuliani and AG Barr around the\nworld to discredit the career professionals throughout our intelligence\nagencies. Let that set it – the President\nis actively attacking the dedicated professionals who spend, and often risk,\ntheir lives keeping us safe. This is all\npart of his orchestrated plan to unjustifiably exonerate Russia from election\ninterference and remove the sanctions. \nTrump is also trying to pressure Ukraine into accepting an awful deal that\nsupposedly ends Russian aggression. The\ndeal allows Russia to keep Crimea, maintain a presence in eastern Ukraine, and\nprovide for certain autonomy in eastern Ukraine. These terms would be devastating to Ukraine\nand likely to lead to Ukraine failing to be an independent and democratic\nnation. However, without U.S. support,\nUkraine may have no choice but to accept Russia\u2019s terms. If Trump can assert, albeit disingenuously,\nthat Russia and Ukraine made peace and Russia did not interfere in the 2016\nelection, he could argue there is no need to maintain the sanctions regime. This is Putin\u2019s primary objective and Trump\nis pushing diligently to deliver it to him, despite being wholly contrary to\nour national interests and contrary to the facts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n The President engaging for three\nyears in a war against our law enforcement and intelligence agencies is as\nreprehensible as it is dangerous. His\ncontinuous attacks on the FBI, CIA, and other crucial agencies directly\njeopardizes our national security and greatly diminishes the ability of the law\nenforcement and intelligence communities to perform their essential duties for\nthe good of the nation. Trump weakens\nthe agencies, the dedicated, capable public servants therein, and the\ncountry. What is even worse, he relies\nentirely on completely false narratives that he knows to be untrue. Yet he, and those who actively support him on\ntelevision shows, have no hesitation about lying to the American people and embarrass\nour country around the world. We need\nour law enforcement and intelligence professionals, perhaps these days more\nthan ever. Republican leaders, it is\nwell past the time for you to own up to your obligations and duty to the nation\nabove all else. If you cannot stand true\nnow, you are unfit to hold office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWhistleblowers have been an integral part of checking government power\nand performance for generations. As with\nnumerous preceding cases, the whistleblowers involved in these issues were\nheroic and patriotic. They have done\nnothing but provide essential information through proper channels to ensure\naccountability in government and prevent gross abuse of power. When a\nwhistleblower comes forward, the agency Inspector General opens an investigation\nthat may in turn lead to a larger investigation. In other words, there is a process to ascertain\nthe facts while also protecting the whistleblower from retaliation, harassment,\netc. In this particular case, there\nappear to be multiple whistleblowers, adding to the credibility of the concerns\nthey raised. This whistleblower followed\nall proper procedures and has acted in good faith. The Trump-appointed Inspector General has\nsaid so and so even have some Republican Senators, including Charles Grassley\nof Iowa. This is incredibly serious\nstuff and we all must act accordingly, without political blinders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe White House and AG Barr actively sought to prevent disclosure in\ncomplete violation of their duties, federal law, and the public trust. Only through the commitment and\nprofessionalism of the Inspector General and the whistleblower did Congress receive\nthe complaint and gain the opportunity to investigate. This whistleblower here performed an\nincredible service. The country learned\nof a diabolical practice of concealing evidence of Trump\u2019s calls with international\nleaders behind the firewall of the highest level of security clearance, thus\neffectively preventing disclosure or scrutiny. \nThis illegal practice was designed to protect the President by ensuring\nnobody was ever able to review all of the impropriety his advisors knew he\ncommitted during these calls. Similarly,\nWhite House staff continually provided knowingly inaccurate summaries of Trump communications\nwith foreign leaders to agency career professionals who were required to\nreceive the information. These\nprofessionals in state and intelligence billets knew the documents contained\nfalse or misleading information and were increasingly frustrated in trying to perform\ntheir duties on behalf of the country. Congress\nmust now compel the administration to unseal the vault and provide the hidden\nphone call materials. It is safe to\nbelieve there will be additional issues. \n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of this is contained within the ongoing Congressional impeachment inquiry. Wherever the facts take the investigation, it clearly includes critical national security interests and serious criminal behavior by the Trump administration. We deserve to know the truth and anyone who acted unlawfully must be held accountable. Instead, Trump, Giuliani, Secretary of State Pompeo, AG Barr, et al, are fervently obstructing justice and preventing disclosure of significant misconduct and national security violations. They are actively engaged in Trump\u2019s fallacious quest against our intelligence community and in support of dangerous continued Russian interference. They refuse to comply with lawful subpoenas issued by Congress to provide documents and testimony. Congress not only has the right, but the obligation to investigate matters like these. Trump, his minions, and members of the administration have no justification to withhold everything from Congress or refuse to appear. This is per se obstruction of justice and a presumption of their collective guilt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is ample evidence that Trump has used and abused multiple aspects of national power and government to do his personal business to discredit political opponents for the 2020 election. This may be a very different matter if the focus of all of this activity was a legitimate national security interest. Instead, it is unfortunately much the opposite. This is about Trump\u2019s reelection. Congressional Republicans are going to great lengths to try and protect the President rather than do their sworn duty to uphold and defend the Constitution. Even this extreme misconduct by the President has not convinced Republicans to do the right thing. They are not simply remaining quiet and allowing the process to run. They are actively repeating the President\u2019s talking points, no matter how ridiculous or false. Members of the rabid Trump political base have been making death threats against witnesses and members of Congress. This must stop and Republicans must speak out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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