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posted by martyb on Tuesday September 24 2019, @01:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the Watergate-or-TeapotTempest dept.

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


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 24 2019, @12:58PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 24 2019, @12:58PM (#898083)

    Its not all lefties, it's progressives. When you meet one on the internet or in real life you can tell. Religion of woke. Where I live, I don't see many who base their whole identity around politics. Plus a large portion of the "send the republicans to the gulag" types don't have the balls to say it in meat space. It's a majority democrat area and even so it doesn't come up in my day to day interactions.

    That said, go out and wear a maga hat and the cult followers will harass or assault you. Doing the reverse in a republican area will get you some comments but not beat up. Sad to say, this loud minority is steering the ship and acting out. Not having a normal democrat as an option means you get 4 more years of trump. It is what it is.