State Department Inspector General Steve Linick is expected to provide an “urgent” briefing on Wednesday to staffers from various House and Senate Committees, ABC News reported. The briefing will be “about documents obtained from the department’s Office of the Legal Adviser related to the State Department and Ukraine.”
Linick reportedly requested the meeting. Although the reason for the briefing remains unknown, ABC News reported it may be related to a whistleblower complaint filed against President Donald Trump over a July call he made with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call Trump asked Zelensky to investigate corruption. At the time, then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, was sitting on the board of directors of a Ukrainian gas company. The vice president was overseeing foreign relations with the Ukrainians.
Specifically, ABC News reported that the briefing will detail “the State Department’s role in coordinating interactions between Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, and Ukrainian officials.”
According to CNN, a congressional staffer said the IG’s request was “highly unusual and cryptically worded.” (Read more from “State Department IG to Congress: We Need an ‘Urgent’ Ukraine Briefing” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Petro_Poroshenko_and_Donald_Trump_in_the_Oval_Office_June_2017_10.jpg695959Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2019-10-01 17:29:012019-10-01 17:27:37State Department IG to Congress: We Need an ‘Urgent’ Ukraine Briefing
By Mediaite. CBS reported a new update on the anonymous whistleblower: they are seeking further federal protection “because he or she fears for their safety.”
60 Minutes reported Sunday night that a letter from the whistleblower’s attorney Andrew Bakaj alleges “certain individuals have issued a $50,000 ‘bounty’ for ‘any information’ relating to our client’s identity.” The letter includes Trump’s leaked comments from earlier this week, saying they indicated a threat of violence against the whistleblower.
“I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information? Because that’s close to a spy,” Trump said earlier this week. “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.”
Scott Pelley also spoke with Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Kevin McCarthy and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the ongoing impeachment inquiry. The inquiry was launched following the release of a transcript that appeared to show Trump asking the Ukrainian president for political favors in exchange for military aid.
Here’s the letter to DNI Maguire. Whistleblower attorney @MarkSZaidEsq says 60 minutes “completely misinterpreted” its contents, but letter does say “we appreciate your office’s support thus far to activate appropriate resources to ensure their safety.”https://t.co/OFNtLUxq8phttps://t.co/vzdTDenZ4S
Intel Community: ‘First-Hand Information Required’ for Whistleblowers — Until Second-Hand Complaint on President Trump, That Is
By The Blaze. The Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG) has quietly removed its requirement that whistleblowers report only “first-hand information,” according to a report in The Federalist.
Coincidentally, the whistleblower who recently filed a complaint against President Donald Trump admitted that he or she was “not a direct witness” to the alleged wrongdoings, a stipulation that would have disqualified the complaint under previous versions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act (ICWPA) disclosure process.
A screenshot provided by The Federalist’s Sean Davis shows the former version of the whistleblower complaint form, or “Disclosure of Urgent Concern” form, with the following listed under a bold, underlined heading that read, “FIRST-HAND INFORMATION REQUIRED.”
In order to find an urgent concern “credible,” the [Intelligence Community Inspector General] must be in possession of reliable, first-hand information. The IC IG cannot transmit information via the ICPWA based on an employee’s second-hand knowledge of wrongdoing. This includes information received from another person, such as when an employee informs you that he/she witnessed some type of wrongdoing.
However, a new version of the form only requires would-be whistleblowers to check a box saying, “I heard about it from others.” (Read more from “Intel Community: ‘First-Hand Information Required’ for Whistleblowers — Until Second-Hand Complaint on President Trump, That Is” HERE)
A photo obtained by Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” shows former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter golfing in the Hamptons with Devon Archer, who served on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings with Hunter.
Earlier this month, Joe Biden told Fox News in Iowa that he never discussed his son’s foreign business dealings with him.
“I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,” Biden said, pointing the finger at President Trump. “I know Trump deserves to be investigated. He is violating every basic norm of a president. You should be asking him why is he on the phone with a foreign leader, trying to intimidate a foreign leader. You should be looking at Trump.” . . .
Earlier this month, Trump suggested that despite his claims, Joe Biden seemingly discussed Ukraine matters with his son. The White House has sought to point to possible corruption by the Bidens, amid the House Democrats’ formal impeachment inquiry against the president. . .
Biden has acknowledged on camera that in spring 2016, when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire top prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings — where Hunter had a lucrative role on the board despite limited relevant expertise.
Impossible to justify $50k/month for Hunter Biden serving on a Ukrainian energy board w zero expertise unless he promised to sell access.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/160714-F-AD344-081A.jpg437655Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2019-09-30 18:33:172019-09-30 18:30:13Was Biden Aware? Joe, Hunter Seen Golfing With Ukraine Gas Company Exec in Unearthed Photo
By The Daily Caller. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced Sunday that the whistleblower who filed a complaint regarding President Donald Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president has agreed to testify before the committee, adding that it will likely happen “very soon.”
A whistleblower complaint filed in August accused Trump of pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, during a July 25 phone call. Following the news, the House of Representatives opened up an impeachment inquiry into Trump.
(Read more from “WATCH: Whistleblower Has Agreed to Testify” HERE)
Pelosi Suggests Losing the House Might Be Worth the Price If Trump Is Impeached
By The Daily Caller. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Saturday night that she is willing to lose the House of Representatives to Republicans if it means ousting President Donald Trump.
“It doesn’t matter,” Pelosi said in response to a question from Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith about whether she is worried how an impeachment inquiry will impact the 2020 House elections. “Our first responsibility is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” She made the comments during an an interview at Tribune Fest, a festival in Texas highlighting newsmakers.
“People say you have to take a political risk doing that,” she added. “That doesn’t matter. That doesn’t matter. Because we cannot have a president of the United States undermining his oath of office, his loyalty to his oath of office, undermining our national security, and undermining the integrity of our elections.” (Read more from “Pelosi Suggests Losing the House Might Be Worth the Price If Trump Is Impeached” HERE)
By Vox. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) would like to obtain more of President Donald Trump’s phone calls with world leaders — especially those with Russian President Vladimir Putin, although that’s the last thing the Kremlin wants.
The White House has released a record of a phone call Trump held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to rebut a whistleblower’s allegations Trump asked a foreign leader to investigate a political opponent. The White House’s record of that call did contain Trump asking Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, and the whistleblower claims the administration placed its notes from the call in a system meant only for highly classified material in order to keep the request secret. . .
On NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Schiff, who as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is leading investigations into the Ukraine matter, said he wanted to better understand whether the White House was trying to hide any more calls with foreign leader — and if so, why.
“The paramount need here is to protect the national security of the United States and see whether, in the conversations with other world leaders and, in particular, with Putin, that the president was also undermining our security in a way that he thought would personally benefit his campaign,” Schiff said.
“If those conversations with Putin or with other world leaders are sequestered in that same electronic file that is meant for covert action, not meant for this, if there’s an effort to hide those and cover those up, yes, we’re determined to find out,” he added. (Read more from “Dems Now Eyeing Trump’s Calls With Putin” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/800px-Adam_Schiff_48010604831.jpg533800Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2019-09-30 16:05:482019-10-06 08:59:36WATCH: Pelosi-Losing The House Worth Impeaching Trump; Dems Now Eyeing Trump’s Calls With Putin; Whistleblower Has Agreed to Testify
During Friday’s episode of “The Five” on Fox News, Geraldo Rivera made an interesting prediction: he believes a group like Media Matters is behind the whistleblower complaint that has lead to the House formally announcing an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. . . .
“And that’s the issue,” Katie Pavlich replied. “If they had released the complaint that the Intelligence Committee in the House and Senate received, without the transcript, people would believe the complaint over the transcript. So you release the transcript and hope people can look at it and know exactly what was said. But the timing here now comes into question, because the complaint is dated August 12, 2019 and Adam Schiff claims he only got it this week. Elise Stefanik, who sits on the same committee in the House, saying yesterday that not only should he not be making stuff up but then pointing out, how long did he have this complaint and why didn’t he share it with the committee? Because they were only given two hours to look at the complaint, so obviously, it’s political.” . . .
“Half a dozen U.S. officials that are named in the complaint, well, who are those people? Can they bring them up and say why didn’t you file a whistleblower report if this was that important?,” Pavlich explained. “And also, who’s behind the writing of the complaint? This is not just an email that someone sent as a ‘Hey, I have information, I need to meet with you.’ It’s very clearly written by a lawyer or a team of lawyers and possibly a research team.”
“I bet this can be traced, ultimately, and I’m not accusing, but a group like Media Matters, is in the air, with their dirty hands,” Rivera said. (Read more from “Fox News Host Has an Idea of Whose Behind the Whitstleblower Complaint” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/overlay-13-1.jpeg9601280Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2019-09-30 14:44:342019-10-06 08:03:08Fox News Host Has an Idea of Whose Behind the Whistleblower Complaint
I know we’ve repeated this line, but let’s recap again. House Democrats decided to get the impeachment circus going based on an anonymous whistleblower complaint that alleged President Trump shook down the Ukrainian political leadership by withholding military aid unless they opened a corruption probe into Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden. The quid pro quo allegations spread like Ebola and the Democrats are now moving forward with their three-year-long project: impeaching President Trump for…winning the 2016 election. Did the person, who is reportedly a CIA agent, listen in on the July call where this mob-like shakedown occurred? No. He heard it from second and third-hand sources, hence why it’s loaded with errors. The media reporting drummed it up as Watergate 5.0. It was another nothing burger. There was no quid pro quo. There was nothing illegal.
At a minimum, the complaint contains numerous factual errors, which is unsurprising since it was not first-hand information. https://t.co/FZ4zPMF2bU
Well, you’d think that actual witnesses to activities that deem unethical would be the benchmark for reports like this, especially ones that will be used to impeach a president, right? A first-hand account is one thing, but this complaint is certainly not that. And it seems like the intelligence community secretly removed the direct, first-hand knowledge of wrongdoing requirement. Sean Davis of The Federalist has more:
Between May 2018 and August 2019, the intelligence community secretly eliminated a requirement that whistleblowers provide direct, first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings. This raises questions about the intelligence community’s behavior regarding the August submission of a whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump. The new complaint document no longer requires potential whistleblowers who wish to have their concerns expedited to Congress to have direct, first-hand knowledge of the alleged wrongdoing that they are reporting.
The brand new version of the whistleblower complaint form, which was not made public until after the transcript of Trump’s July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and the complaint addressed to Congress were made public, eliminates the first-hand knowledge requirement and allows employees to file whistleblower complaints even if they have zero direct knowledge of underlying evidence and only “heard about [wrongdoing] from others.”
If this isn't a giveaway about the operation that was being run, I don't know what is. https://t.co/cRTaMEwr5h
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/32295251244_f540913634_b-2.jpg6831024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2019-09-27 21:38:412019-09-27 21:35:30The Intelligence Community Secretly Removed the First-Hand Knowledge of Wrongdoing Requirement for Whistleblower Reports
By Daily Wire. Less than 24 hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) formally ordered an impeachment inquiry amid reports that President Trump “pressured” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden for his role in the removal of a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating his son, the Trump administration released the partial transcript of the phone call at the center of the latest scandal. Shortly after releasing the transcript, Trump made televised comments taunting the “fake news media” for overhyping the “call from hell,” which prompted an outcry from some reporters in the room.
“It’s the single greatest witch hunt in American history,” said Trump, adding that the current scandal is “a disgraceful thing.” Referencing “the letter,” by which he clarifies that he means the transcript of the call, Trump says its release was done “at the insistence of myself and other people that read it.”
“It was a friendly letter, there was no pressure,” he said. “The way you had that built up, that call, it was going to be the call from hell. It turned out to be a nothing call — other than a lot of people said, ‘I never knew you could be so nice.’”
“So, part of the problem you have is you have the fake news, you have a lot of corrupt reporting,” the president opined. “You have some very fine reporters and journalists, but you have a lot of corrupt reporters, a lot of corrupt journalists.”
“I would rake you right in there, by the way,” he said, gesturing to some in the room, a move that sparked loud pushback from reporters. (Read more from “Watch: Trump Taunts Media Over Released Transcript” HERE)
Ukraine Call Transcript Shows Trump Sought Biden Probe, Asked About DNC Server – but Made No Mention of U.S. Aid
By Fox News. The White House on Wednesday released a transcript of President Trump’s July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showing he sought a review of Biden family dealings in the country — but the document does not show Trump explicitly leveraging military aid as part of a quid pro quo, as Democrats have suggested in pressing forward with impeachment.
The document, declassified by Trump a day earlier, indicates that the call – which Trump made from the White House residence — took place July 25 from 9:03 a.m. to 9:33 a.m. A notation on the memo says it does not represent a “verbatim transcript” but is based on “notes and recollections” of those listening and memorializing the call. It is still presented in transcript form.
The memo begins with the president congratulating Zelensky on his election victory, before Trump eventually broaches the subject former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. . .
On Monday, it was reported that Trump had even ordered his staff to freeze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine a few days before the phone call with Zelensky, a detail that fueled impeachment calls and led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to announce a formal impeachment inquiry Tuesday. But the call transcript does not show Trump explicitly mentioning the aid as a bargaining chip or otherwise — though Zelensky did appear to reference military aid early in the call, when he thanked Trump for “great support in the area of defense.” . . .
The transcript shows Zelensky eventually suggesting to Trump the Biden matter would be looked into by a new prosecutor. “He or she will look into the situation specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue, the issue of the investigation of the case is actually the issue to restore the honesty so we will take care of that and we will work on the investigation of the case.” (Read more from “Ukraine Call Transcript Shows Trump Sought Biden Probe, Asked About Dnc Server – but Made No Mention of U.S. Aid” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/30291415497_79d852de6f_b-2.jpg6831024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2019-09-25 20:44:482019-09-28 23:10:53WATCH: Trump Taunts Media Over Released Transcript; Here’s What the Ukraine Call Transcript Revealed
Investigative reporter John Solomon said on Wednesday night that he has obtained over 450 pages of legal documents that could spell serious problems for Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden regarding the ongoing Ukraine scandal.
“Listen there were three attempts in 2016 by the Democratic Party, in the Democratic establishment, to get Ukraine involved in our elections so Democrats were for Ukraine interference in our election before they were against it, that is an irrefutable fact that documents and the statements on the record have been reported in my column,” Solomon began. “You can download the documents, don’t trust me, go read them yourselves.”
Solomon then transitioned into talking about the big development in the story: the hundreds of pages of legal documents that he obtained that he claims show that the story that Biden has told the American public is not true.
“Here’s the most important thing: Joe Biden has staked out a very specific story now and with impeachment proceedings, that story is fair game to investigate,” Solomon continued. “He says when he fired the Ukraine general prosecutor … he did so solely because he believed that prosecutor was corrupt and not because that prosecutor was investigating his son’s company and making plans to hunt interview Hunter Biden at the very moment he was fired. That’s his story, that has to hold up.”
“I can tell you tonight that I have obtained more than 450 pages of documents from inside Hunter Biden’s legal team, from inside the State Department, from inside the Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office, all on the record,” Solomon continued. “There are documents from Hunter Biden’s legal team, the legal team from America, trying to assist Burisma to get out of this investigation. They show unequivocally that legal team told the prosecutors as soon as [the prosecutor] was fired, in fact, the day that [the prosecutor] was fired, the Biden team was trying to reach the new prosecutor.”
(Read more from “Report: New Documents Reveal Serious Problems for Biden in Ukraine Scandal” HERE)
By Townhall. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is formally signing off on an impeachment inquiry into President Donald J. Trump after he spoke to the Ukrainians, reportedly trying to coerce the political leadership there to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden on corruption charges. This was dredged up after a whistleblower came forward to the intelligence community inspector general, though it’s based on anonymous second-hand sources. The whistleblower didn’t even listen in on the calls, and it’s not the intelligence community’s job to snitch on the president. The president can say whatever he wants to another foreign leader. Period. And now, before anyone has read the transcript of the call, the House Democrats are launching a full-blown impeachment push. It’s not shocking. This was going to happen eventually. They had to do this; this is why the Democrats retook the House in 2018. So, fix bayonets, everyone. This is going to get bloody[.]
PELOSI in the closed dem caucus meeting: this is a “moment of truth”
It’s a great idea to plunge the country into the impeachment abyss without even first having seen the transcript of the alleged impeachable conduct. This will go really well
By CBS News. Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the House is launching a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump, setting up a dramatic constitutional clash just over a year before the presidential election.
“Today I’m announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry,” Pelosi said at the Capitol late Tuesday afternoon. The inquiry marks just the fourth time in American history a president has faced a viable threat of impeachment. . .
“This week, the president has admitted to asking the president of Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically,” Pelosi said. “The actions of the Trump presidency revealed dishonorable facts of the president’s betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.” (Read more from “Pelosi Launches Formal Trump Impeachment Inquiry” HERE)
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it is releasing an inspector general report on the whistleblower complaint that is at the center of Democrats’ push to impeach the president which reportedly found that the whistleblower had a bias in favor of one of Trump’s political rivals.
“A senior Trump administration official told Fox News late Tuesday that the administration will release a document showing the intelligence community inspector general found the whistleblower who leveled an explosive accusation against President Trump concerning his talks with Ukraine had ‘political bias’ in favor of ‘a rival candidate’ of the president,” Fox News reported. “The official did not identify the name of the rival candidate. Separately, a senior administration official told Fox News the White House has been working as quickly as it can to release to Congress the whistleblower complaint involving President Trump’s conversations with the leader of Ukraine, as long as it’s legally possible.”
The development comes hours after Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that Democrats were launching a formal impeachment inquiry into the president over a phone call that he had with Ukraine.
“Therefore today, I’m announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry,” Pelosi said. “I’m directing our six committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella of impeachment inquiry. The President must be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
In response to the Democrats push for impeachment, the administration announced that it would release the full unredacted transcript of the phone call, the whistleblower complaint, the inspector general report on the whistleblower complaint, and it would allow the whistleblower to testify in front of Congress.
Secretary of State Pompeo recieved permission from Ukraine Government to release the transcript of the telephone call I had with their President. They don’t know either what the big deal is. A total Witch Hunt Scam by the Democrats!
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/president_donald_j_trump-2.jpg324540Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2019-09-24 18:45:492019-09-24 18:43:15BOMBSHELL: Intel Inspector General Found Whistleblower Had ‘Bias’ In Favor Of ‘Rival Candidate’ Of Trump
