Impeachment Is Trump’s Punishment for Questioning the Intelligence Community
It’s difficult not to question every assumption that went into the Russia collusion hoax. If the Russians did attempt to interfere in the 2016 election, then the intelligence community totally undermined public confidence in their assessment by tying that interference to false allegations accusing Trump of conspiring with that effort.
According to John Brennan, the former CIA chief, I am about to commit a public act of treason. I’ll write quickly before he can summon his allies to kick in my door and arrest me. Here goes: We’re still not sure that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election.
Brennan similarly accused the president of “treason” when Trump refused to buy into the Intelligence Community’s consensus that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election. Brennan tweeted, “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???”
On “Morning Joe,” Brennan said: “And that’s why I use the term that this was ‘nothing short of treasonous.’ Because it is betrayal of the nation. He’s giving aid and comfort to the enemy. It needs to stop. And Mr. Trump needs to understand there will be consequences for him, too.”
The assumption that the Russians hacked the election is bipartisan and universally accepted. But that might just be a product of the echo chamber in which questions are crushed with derision and ridicule.
Democrats recently revived that technique to shut down debate over whether Donald Trump might have been on to something when he asked about Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election. Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press,” all but accused Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) of being a Russian agent for daring to suggest that Ukraine may have interfered in the 2016 election.
Let’s return to what was actually said in the supposedly inappropriate phone call between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart.
Trump asked, “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike . . . I guess you have one of your wealthy people . . . The server, they say Ukraine has it.” The Intelligence Community has largely relied upon Crowdstrike in reaching the conclusion that the Russians hacked the DNC servers in the 2016 election.
Whatever peril the Russians pose to American democracy, it’s nothing compared to the danger posed by the permanent Washington bureaucracy attempting to nullify the 2016 and now the 2020 elections.
Week after week.... everyone is accused of being a Russian agent or spreading "Putin's propaganda...." this week it was Cruz' turn.... (video is embedded at link)
Quote Todd, meanwhile, pressed forward and asked the conservative senator whether or not he believed that Ukraine meddled in the election—a talking point that has gained more traction among Republicans lately.
“I do. And I think there is considerable evidence,” Cruz replied.
They simply MUST stick with this inane bullshit RUSSIAN narrative..... it is pretty much the only way that they can collectively fend off discussions and investigation of the real crimes and corruption....
Quote: austingirl wrote in post #4I am sick at heart watching the damage a narrow democommie majority in the House and their comrades in the press are inflicting on our country.
It is truly disgusting....... words fail at describing the depths of this evil....
Senator Cruz, is absolutely correct; Ukraine DID interfere in the 2016 elections. Politico, hardly a right wing publication, spilled these beans with some detail back in January 2017 Here, again, is the article:
Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfire Kiev officials are scrambling to make amends with the president-elect after quietly working to boost Clinton. Politico, Jan 11, 2017
Ukrainian government officials tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump by publicly questioning his fitness for office. They also disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they helped Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers, a Politico investigation found.
A Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee met with top officials in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in an effort to expose ties between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.
[...]
The Ukrainian antipathy for Trump’s team — and alignment with Clinton’s — can be traced back to late 2013. That’s when the country’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, whom Manafort had been advising, abruptly backed out of a European Union pact linked to anti-corruption reforms. Instead, Yanukovych entered into a multibillion-dollar bailout agreement with Russia, sparking protests across Ukraine and prompting Yanukovych to flee the country to Russia under Putin’s protection.
In the ensuing crisis, Russian troops moved into the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, and Manafort dropped off the radar.
Manafort’s work for Yanukovych caught the attention of a veteran Democratic operative named Alexandra Chalupa, who had worked in the White House Office of Public Liaison during the Clinton administration. Chalupa went on to work as a staffer, then as a consultant, for Democratic National Committee. The DNC paid her $412,000 from 2004 to June 2016, according to Federal Election Commission records, though she also was paid by other clients during that time, including Democratic campaigns and the DNC’s arm for engaging expatriate Democrats around the world.
Quote: austingirl wrote in post #4I am sick at heart watching the damage a narrow democommie majority in the House and their comrades in the press are inflicting on our country.
I am, too. And I'm furious that these SOBs are getting away with it.
Donald J. Trump Verified account @realDonaldTrump
.@SenTedCruz “The Democrats are now admitting that they can’t prove a crime, they can’t prove a law was violated, and here’s why. Any president, any administration, is justified in investigating corruption, and there was serious evidence of real corruption concerning Hunter....
....Biden on the board of the largest natural gas company in Ukraine, getting paid $83,000 a month, 10 times as much as a board member of @exxonmobil.” Thank you Ted. He also made a fortune from China and others, but zero before his father became V.P. @MeetThePress
Donald J. Trump Verified account @realDonaldTrump
“Any president has the authority to investigate corruption. The President himself released the transcript of the call. Now the Democrats have no evidence of a crime and no evidence of violating the law. This is a kangaroo court in the House, but it’s going to go to the Senate,...
....it’s going to go nowhere. They are going to impeach not because they have the evidence, but because they hate the president. I think the American people know that this is a waste of time, this is Democrats putting on a circus. @SenTedCruz interviewed by Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd
Quote: EdJames wrote in post #3Week after week.... everyone is accused of being a Russian agent or spreading "Putin's propaganda...." this week it was Cruz' turn.... (video is embedded at link)
Quote Todd, meanwhile, pressed forward and asked the conservative senator whether or not he believed that Ukraine meddled in the election—a talking point that has gained more traction among Republicans lately.
“I do. And I think there is considerable evidence,” Cruz replied.
They simply MUST stick with this inane bullshit RUSSIAN narrative..... it is pretty much the only way that they can collectively fend off discussions and investigation of the real crimes and corruption....
Whatever peril the Russians pose to American democracy, it’s nothing compared to the danger posed by the permanent Washington bureaucracy attempting to nullify the 2016 and now the 2020 elections.