Visit the CNN web post below to read the embedded letter from the Intelligence Inspector General regarding the legitimacy of the Ukraine whistleblower complaint.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/26/politics/read-icig-report-dni-whistleblower-complaint/index.html
A whistleblower complaint released by the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday alleges that President Trump sought to enlist Ukraine’s help in the 2020 election by mounting a corruption investigation against former Vice President Joe Biden.
The declassified version of the whistleblower complaint details the government insider’s worries about Trump’s contacts with Ukraine’s leader, revelations of which on Tuesday triggered a formal impeachment inquiry against the president.
The complainant said “multiple White House officials with direct knowledge” described to the whistleblower the details of the July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, including that “the President used the remainder of the call to advance his personal interests. Namely, he sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President’s 2020 reelection bid.”
The Director of National Intelligence and the intelligence community’s inspector general both sent the whistleblower’s complaint against President Donald Trump to the U.S. Dept. of Justice, suggesting a criminal investigation be opened. The DOJ, under Attorney General Bill Barr, refused to prosecute the president.
“The department’s criminal division reviewed the matters and concluded that there was no basis for a criminal investigation into Mr. Trump’s behavior,” The New York Times reports. “Law enforcement officials determined that the transcript of the call did not show that Mr. Trump had violated campaign finance laws by soliciting from a foreign national a contribution, donation or thing of value.”
In fact, many legal experts believe the opposite.
President Trump is facing an escalating controversy surrounding a whistleblower complaint said to be centered on his communications with Ukraine’s leader.
Congress has not seen the complaint, even though Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson determined that the allegations were credible and of “urgent concern.”
Here are five things to know about the complaint and the whistleblower process:
View the complete September 23 article by Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.
President Trump pressed the leader of Ukraine to investigate the son of former vice president Joe Biden in a call between the two leaders that is at the center of an extraordinary whistleblower complaint, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Trump used the July 25 conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to pressure the recently elected leader to pursue an investigation that Trump thought would deliver potential political dirt on one of his possible challengers in 2020, the people said.
The descriptions of the call provide the clearest indication to date that Trump sought to use the influence of his office to prod the leader of a country seeking American financial and diplomatic support to provide material that could aid the president’s reelection. After spending much of his presidency fending off allegations that he welcomed 2016 campaign help from Russia, Trump now stands accused of soliciting political ammunition from a country next door to Russia.
View the complete September 20 article by Matt Zapotosky, Greg Miller, Ellen Nakashim and Carol D. Leonnig on The Washington Post website here.
