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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49800181
(Note: emphasis in original.)
Why is this important?
Mr Trump's most ardent critics accuse him of using the powers of the presidency to bully Ukraine into digging up damaging information on a political rival, Democrat Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump and his supporters the former vice-president abused his power to pressure Ukraine to back away from a criminal investigation that could implicate his son, Hunter.
Mr Biden is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to take on Mr Trump next year.
In other words, it is nothing less than the White House at stake.
[...] What happened to the whistleblower's complaint?
After receiving the [whistleblower] complaint, the inspector general informed Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, and said the matter was "urgent". The intelligence community whistleblower law says the director has seven days to pass the complaint along to congressional intelligence committees.
That didn't happen.
Instead, Mr Maguire spoke to a lawyer who told him the issue was not "urgent", at least according to legal standards, according to [T]he New York Times.
As a result, Mr Maguire decided that the members of the congressional oversight committees did not need to see it.
On 9 September, the inspector general informed Congress about the complaint's existence, but not the details. Democrats in Congress have since clamoured for more information - including a transcript of Mr Trump's call - but the administration has refused to co-operate.
And that's where things currently stand.
[...] Did Mr Trump commit an impeachable offence?
The constitutional process for handling a president who committed illegal and-or unethical acts is impeachment by a majority of the House of Representatives and conviction and removal by a two-thirds majority of the US Senate.
The US constitution outlines the grounds for impeachment as "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors". When it comes down to it, an "impeachable offense" is whatever a majority of the House says it is.
Inspector General of the Intelligence Community Letters to Congressional Intelligence Committees
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 24 2019, @06:13AM (2 children)
> people who write stories like that probably actually BELIEVE it
Did you read that? I did. It doesn't mean rank and file Republicans when it specifically lists Republican presidencies. It means the Republican party. The author quotes Republican policy, not R-on-the-street, eg.:
The piece is flamebait for sure, but if one looks past the scare-raising, what is there to debate? I guess the meaning of "patriotic" but that's a stupid road to go down. The Republican political party is well documented for doing nasty political things for political gain. Calling those out is the right thing to do and would be the right thing regardless of perpetrator. In this case a pendulum has swung and it happens to be one camp, and so of course an opposing camp would be the only opposing force able to fight in the same field, and try to improve things. Doensn't make D>R, just means right now D can help with R's failings.
Oh yeah? The Republicans I know include a "burn the world down please" prepper, guys who literally say whole-heartedly "Hillary should be shot", and others. I know childlike Democrats too but most of them grow out of the ideological hate-fight by their mid-20s. I don't think your sample is representative of a nation.
(Score: 5, Funny) by EJ on Tuesday September 24 2019, @07:30AM (1 child)
You must not know a lot of Republicans then. The Democrats I know are in their 40s and 50s. They act like they're 12. Each day they come into work after some "breaking story" the previous night, they have this "I just ate a lemon" look on their face as they start yapping at each other about whatever random thing Rachel Maddow was blabbering about, then go off on how they think Trump should be tossed in prison along with all of his supporters (i.e. Republican voters).
That's why I think politics is completely ridiculous. No politician cares about anyone beyond what is necessary to get a vote. They are ALL bought and paid for.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 24 2019, @03:31PM
It is almost like you can't grasp that we have the most criminal president ever and people are upset about it. You are so brainwashed and ignorant you thinks it is all TDS. Ah well, just more rock solid evidence of how damaged most of the SN community is. Trying to pretend they are the reasonable centrists while being far to the right.
From an outside perspectice it is pretty amazing to watch people deny reality and spew so much hate because of it.