Tag: Trump impeachment

Trump pal warns election losses prove how much voters hate the president: ‘Bad omen for impeachment’

AlterNet logoElection losses in Kentucky and Virginia should serve as a warning to Republicans, according to a person close to President Donald Trump.

Democrats won control of the Virginia legislature for the first time in decades, and Democrat Andy Beshear apparently defeated Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin — who tied himself closely to the president in his re-election campaign.

“Totally bad,” said a GOP source who speaks regularly to the president. “Kentucky and Virginia signal to GOP they are underestimating voter intensity against Trump, and it could be terrible for them next year.”

View the complete November 6 article by Travis Gettys from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

AP sources: State Dept. worried about defending ambassador

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department’s third-ranking official is expected to tell House impeachment investigators on Wednesday that political considerations were behind the agency’s refusal to deliver a robust defense of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

People familiar with the matter say the highest-ranking career diplomat in the foreign service, David Hale, plans to say that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other senior officials determined that publicly defending ousted Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch would hurt the effort to free up U.S. military assistance to Ukraine.

Hale, who arrived Wednesday morning to testify behind closed doors, will also say that the State Department worried about the reaction from President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who was one of the strongest advocates for removing the ambassador, according to the people. Several State Department officials have told lawmakers they opposed the dismissal of Yovanovitch in May, a personnel change that came at Trump’s direction.

View the complete November 6 article by Matthew Lee on the Associated Press website here.

Transcripts show Republicans’ scattershot strategy in early days of impeachment inquiry

Washington Post logoRepublicans have complained for weeks about the secret House impeachment inquiry, accusing Democrats of rigging the process and interviewing witnesses behind closed doors — at one point storming the hearing room and chanting, “Let us in!”

But inside the secure room in the Capitol basement where the proceedings are taking place, Republicans have used their time to complain that testimony has become public, going after their colleagues who were quoted in media reports commenting on witness appearances, and quizzing witnesses themselves on how their statements had been released.

The efforts by GOP lawmakers to shape the Democrats’ inquiry emerged in full view for the first time Monday with the release of hundreds of pages of transcripts from two early witnesses: Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and Michael McKinley, a former senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

View the complete November 4 article by Rachael Bade and Karoun Demirjian on The Washington Post website here.

Wondering What the Federal Whistleblower Law Is?

Here’s a link to a website that contains information on what the federal whistleblower act does (and doesn’t) do:

https://www.cpsc.gov/About-CPSC/Inspector-General/Whistleblower-Protection-Act-WPA

Trump rallied for Kentucky governor but impeachment was on his mind

The president’s speech in Lexington on behalf of Gov. Matt Bevin continually circled back to his own grievances.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — President Donald Trump came here Monday night to rally for Kentucky’s vulnerable Republican governor, but the impeachment inquiry in Washington was foremost on his mind.

In a rambling speech lasting 1 hour and 20 minutes, the president railed against his political rivals, ramping up the invective. Democrats are “trying to tear our country apart,” he told a raucous crowd, “trying to nullify the ballots” of the 63 million Americans who voted for him in the 2016 election.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Trump’s onetime rival for the Republican nomination who has become a close ally, angrily defended the president from the stage. Addressing the genesis of the impeachment investigation, which centers on a pressure campaign involving Ukraine, Paul said, “We also now know the identity of the whistleblower,” and he urged the media to out the individual and Congress to issue a subpoena, despite the legal protections guaranteed to government whistleblowers.

View the complete November 4 article by Steven Shepard and Matthew Choi on the Politico website here.

Ex-Ukraine Ambassador Testified She Felt Threatened by Trump

New York Times logoHouse impeachment investigators released the first transcripts of their private interviews, revealing crucial details as the inquiry enters its public phase.

WASHINGTON — The former United States ambassador to Ukraine told impeachment investigators last month that she felt “threatened” by President Trump after it emerged that he told the Ukrainian president she would “go through some things,” adding that she still feared retaliation.

That was just one detail that emerged Monday as the House released hundreds of pages of testimony from Marie L. Yovanovitch, who was abruptly recalled in May and remains a State Department employee, and Michael McKinley, a top diplomat who advised Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and has since retired.

The transcripts also revealed multiple attempts by Mr. McKinley — all unsuccessful — to get Mr. Pompeo to come to Ms. Yovanovitch’s defense in a public statement as she was being publicly discredited by Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, and other Republicans. That testimony contradicted Mr. Pompeo himself, who has publicly denied having heard any concerns from Mr. McKinley about the treatment of Ms. Yovanovitch.

View the complete November 4 article by Nicholas Fandos and Michael S. Schmidt on The New York Times website here.

Former federal prosecutor: Trump’s demand to know whistleblower’s identity amounts to ‘witness intimidation’ and ‘retaliation’

AlterNet logoThe identity of the federal government whistleblower who made a formal complaint about President Donald Trump’s now-infamous July 25 phone conservation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remains unknown to the general public. Trump continues to demand to know the person’s identity, inspiring former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah to accuse the president of “witness intimidation” and “retaliation.”

Because of the whistleblower’s complaint, an impeachment inquiry against Trump is now being conducted in the U.S. House of Representatives. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, previously the Democratic Party’s most prominent impeachment skeptic, came out in support of an impeachment inquiry after learning that on July 25, Trump tried to pressure Zelensky into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

Trump railed against the whistleblower on Sunday, tweeting, “the Whistleblower got it sooo wrong that HE must come forward. The Fake News Media knows who he is but, being an arm of the Democrat Party, don’t want to reveal him because there would be hell to pay. Reveal the Whistleblower and end the Impeachment Hoax!”

View the complete November 4 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

Yovanovitch says she felt threatened by Trump raising her on call with Ukraine

The Hill logoFormer Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch told House investigators that she felt shocked and threatened when she saw that President Trump had criticized her during a July 25 phone call with Ukraine’s president.

Yovanovitch was asked during her closed-door deposition on Oct. 11 what she thought about Trump calling her “bad news” during the call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“I hate to be repetitive, but I was shocked. I mean, I was very surprised that President Trump would — first of all, that I would feature repeatedly in a presidential phone call, but secondly, that the president would speak about me or any ambassador in that way to a foreign counterpart,” Yovanovitch told three House committees, according to a transcript of her closed-door testimony released Monday.

View the complete November 4 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

House Intel releases transcript of interview with ousted Ukraine ambassador

Axios logoThe House Intelligence Committee on Monday released the transcripts of its interview with former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, a key witness in the impeachment inquiry.

Why it matters: Yovanovitch, who was removed from her post in May, testified that President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani led a campaign to oust her as ambassador over unsubstantiated allegations that she badmouthed the president and was seeking to stop Ukraine from opening an investigation into Joe Biden and his son.

Key excerpts:

  • Yovanovitch testified that she learned about Giuliani’s plan to target her from Ukrainian officials in late 2018. She said she learned that Giuliani had met with Ukraine prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko, who wanted to “hurt” her “in the U.S.”

View the complete November 4 article by Zachary Basu on the Axios website here.

House Intel releases transcript of interview with ex-Pompeo aide

Axios logoThe House Intelligence Committee on Monday released the transcript of its interview with Michael McKinley, a career diplomat and former senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who resigned last month.

Why it matters: McKinley testified to impeachment investigators, “The timing of my resignation was the result of two overriding concerns: the failure, in my view, of the State Department to offer support to Foreign Service employees caught up in the impeachment inquiry; and, second, by what appears to be the utilization of our ambassadors overseas to advance domestic political objectives.”

Key excerpts:

  • McKinley testified that he asked former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who alleges that Rudy Giuliani led a campaign to oust her from her position, if she would welcome a statement of support from the State Department.

View the complete November 4 article by Zachary Basu on the Axios website here.