Trump and his supporters discredited the whistleblower's accusations because, they said, it was second hand information.
Well Lt.Col. Vindman was there during the infamous telephone conversation where Trump extorted a foreign government for information on his political rival, Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
This is not hearsay, it's first-hand eyewitness testimony to Trump's crimes.
Bravo to a real American hero, Lt.Col. Vindman:
Via New York Times:
WASHINGTON — A White House national security official who is a decorated Iraq war veteran plans to tell House impeachment investigators on Tuesday that he heard President Trump appeal to Ukraine’s president to investigate one of his leading political rivals, a request the aide considered so damaging to American interests that he reported it to a superior.
Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman of the Army, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, twice registered internal objections about how Mr. Trump and his inner circle were treating Ukraine, out of what he called a “sense of duty,” he plans to tell the inquiry, according to a draft of his opening statement obtained by The New York Times.
He will be the first White House official to testify who listened in on the July 25 telephone call between Mr. Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine that is at the center of the impeachment inquiry, in which Mr. Trump asked Mr. Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine,” Colonel Vindman said in his statement. “I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained.”
25 comments:
Is it that trump asked for the investigation or is it that uncle joe used his position to have someone fired who was investigating his son.
If you look at it from a rational position, something that is rarely possible today, trump was wrong to ask for a "favor' uncle joe was wrong for holding back funds to get someone fired. Do you really believe biden's son, with zero experience, was worth 50k a month. This was a buy influence scheme that backfired. Biden will get away with it just like willy and -H- clinton got away with pay for play. Should trump be castigated for "asking a favor" and using his position to request it, No. Should clinton and biden get away with using their office to get favors, No.
GOP Lawyer John "Torture is Good" Yoo calls what Vindman testified to "espionage."
A decorated war veteran, he was slammed by others as speaking, wait for it, Ukraine. I'm shocked that an actual expert on Ukraine might speak the language of that country.
Now just ask yourself this...
Are all of these people, soldiers, ambassadors, intelligence officers and other former White House officials, some appointed by the president himself, all lying? All of them?
Because that's what FOX, the GOP and a great majority of passengers on the USS Mother Ship would have us believe.
Seriously, now the GOP partisans can slam US war vets with impunity.
For the 1000th time, just imagine if the Dems had done this to a decorated, still serving vet who ratted out bad actions by either the Clinton or Obama admin. They'd rightfully be screaming bloody murder.
Why the silence and obfuscation now?
Dave wrote: "Why the silence and obfuscation now?"
Because Trump supporters have crossed over into being Trump Cultists, and cultists will never see their cult leader for the fraud that he is.
The Trump Cultists are disrespectful to people who serve in the military if they don't worship their leader as they do. Look at what they did to John McCain. I didn't agree with John McCain on many things and didn't vote for him, but I certainly salute him for the sacrifices he made in service to America. Trump cultists disregard all of that because McCain criticized the Liar, Cheat, and Con man they admire. Look at what Trump did to the Gold Star family, and now we'll see Trump Cultists slander a military hero, Lt.Col. Vindman, who received a Purple Heart the same way they slandered John Kerry.
Trump cultists have been studied and studied and found to be insecure, easily duped people who crave authoritarian figures to tell them what to do, who to hate, and to look the other way when that authoritarian commits crimes. Trump is the GOP's Big Brother they've always craved.
Just read skud's comment above and see how he faithfully follows the Tump cultist narrative by ignoring the crimes Trump is accused of and pivoting to accusing the Bidens, Hillary and Obama of things Trump does all the time.
I've given up on people like the folks on the Mother Ship and at AOW because as I've said many times, they're irredeemable lost souls. They've hitched their identity to a criminal and buffoon.
Their choice. They can live with it. A majority of Americans refuse to.
Skud... you said it. President Trump was wrong!
Now ask yourself this... what should the punishment be for a sitting US President to ask a foreign government to investigate a political rival in the US Presidential election?
Nothing? Censure? Impeachment? Removal from office?
You said yourself, he was wrong. Should he be punished?
Here's the relevant question for folks like Skud and GOP US Senators...
Is it okay for political candidates in the U.S. to ask for assistance from a foreign government to help them win an election?
A simple yes or no question.
If you say no, what remedy is appropriate. If you say yes... well, that will explain a lot.
Yeah. The usual Trump suck-up blogs are beginning to understand that Trump's fked, so instead of talking about the inevitable, they're telling jokes and bashing the media and Democrats.
I almost feel sorry for them. Almost. Trump is in impeachable shit up to his fat orange ears and they know it. With impeccable witness Lt.Col. Vindman's first hand testimony corroborated by Taylor, and others, Trump's impeachment is a sure thing.
But they'll never, never believe Trump is the corrupt imbecile that he is.
IMPEACH THE BASTARD!
Ray... I think there are a few of those folks who, in private, would admit Trump did wrong and if Obama did 20% of what Trump has done, would call for impeachment and jail time.
Except now, as those "reasonable" extremists have said, he's still an R, so he's better than a D.
PERIOD. That's their argument.
You see, when you believe that all Dems hate America and are evil, what other argument can you have?
Biden along with virtually EVERY other world leader was asking for the dismissal of this prosecutor because he was NOT being active enough in rooting out corruption in the Ukraine. I notice how willing Trumpers are to call out Hunter Biden for earning a nice salary for, in their words, "doing nothing", but they remain quiet as church mice about the entire Trump family taking up office in the White House with ZERO experience. Hypocrisy, thy name is Conservative...
skud,
Your deflections don’t matter. Donald did it. He will be impeached, and if senate republicans are Americans, he will be convicted and thrown out of office.
Blue... I have no issues with what you posted. I would however question why the Biden's didn't see this as a potential issue?
A Vice President's son get a job in a foreign country making 600K a year? And no one thought to ask how would that look back home? Or if would look like there was an attempt to curry favor with the US Government?
It doesn't have to be illegal to look bad.
Biden's inability to see that, as well as his frequent stretching of the truth, and noted plagiarism, in my opinion, disqualify him from the White House.
But, and this is where a lot of the GOP extremist partisans don't get it. Biden did nothing wrong and beyond that, even if he did, we're talking about President Trump asking a foreign government to aid a sitting US President in an election.
How is that ever okay?
David, If a sitting president is proven to use his office to threaten a foreign government to affect an election he should be removed from office. The proven is the key point and that is still in the works. I would like to see the conservatives advance another candidate because I am not ready to go with the socialist party that the democrats have turned into. If the DNC would have a candidate that is not bat s--t crazy they would win and uncle joe can't remember what day it is so he is unacceptable. As was the case in the last election, the DNC could not produce a viable candidate and they are following the same script.
Rev, when you say biden did nothing wrong you can't be serious and he was the VP so he did have clout.
Well Skud, regarding Biden, again, at least at some level, he's already been investigated and found to have not acted illegally. I would argue unethically, but not illegally.
Are you going to argue that unethical behavior is wrong and worthy of punishment? Because if you are, you'll be a minority on the conservative side of the ledger.
I agree, the Dems have not one stand out in their crowd, much like the GOP had no real winners in their 2016 class. Both parties, in my opinion, have done a good job of making politics so horrible that good, smart, honorable people are choosing other professions. We're not getting statesmen any longer.
Can you, Les, Shaw or any other readers give me examples of anyone in politics in the last 30 years who approaches that level?
But returning to Biden, you, like the rest of the GOP partisans, avoid the obvious. Pres Trump made the phone call. His COS admitted it was a "Quid pro quo". Other diplomats, who were in the room, have said the same thing. Pres Trump worked not to curb corruption, as he claimed, but to get foreign influence in US Elections.
The evidence is clear to see and admitted to by members of his administration. Civilian members, diplomatic staff, military veterans/heroes and Ambassadors. Your if, has been proven. Pres Trump should, in your words, therefore, be removed from office.
Period.
But it will never happen.
I guess the transparent investigation will show what the truth really is. Anyone who thinks trump is above board in anything are delusional and anyone who thinks biden didn't use his position to demand firing of the prosecutor suffers from the same condition. Trump is his own worst enemy and the press will hold him to task over everything, not the same treatment for biden. They are going soft pedal information on lying lizzy. At this point the Bern seems to be the most honest candidate but he is scary.
For the democrats to say there is any transparency in the investigation of trump is a joke. Of course they took the lead from the last president who stated he has a transparent administration. They are all out for them and you and I are just pawns in the grand fleecing of America. This will drag on until next year and trump will not be removed from office and he certainly will not resign so. Other than trying to change the results of the -H- being disgraced what is the point.
skud: "who thinks biden didn't use his position to demand firing of the prosecutor suffers from the same condition."
That statement is a lie. Period. That you repeat this falsehood shows you're not interested in having a factual discussion on this matter. Anyone who cares about facts, truth has looked into that lie you repeated and found it to be what I said it is. I'm sorry you continue to repeat false talking points by the Goopers. Biden did nothing wrong. Even the Ukrainians have said so.
I'll refute it here, since I know you're too lazy to find out the truth yourself:
See Below:
"Biden was discuss[ed] his efforts on behalf of the Obama administration to pressure Ukraine into to prosecuting corruption and firing Viktor Shokin, an ineffective prosecutor. That effort by Biden has been used by Trump supporters to argue, inaccurately, that Biden single-handedly had Shokin fired because Shokin was investigating Burisma, a Ukrainian group of energy exploration and production companies of which Biden’s son Hunter was a board member.
However, Shokin was not fired for investigating Burisma, but for his failure to pursue corruption investigations — including investigations connected to Burisma. And Biden wasn’t alone in the effort to push Shokin out, but rather was spearheading the Obama administration’s policy, which represented a consensus among diplomats, officials from various European countries, and the International Monetary Fund that Shokin was an impediment to rooting out corruption in his country, according to Bloomberg:
Shokin became prosecutor general in February 2015. Over the next year, the U.S. and the International Monetary Fund criticized officials for not doing enough to fight corruption in Ukraine …
The U.S. plan to push for Shokin’s dismissal didn’t initially come from Biden, but rather filtered up from officials at the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation. Embassy personnel had called for U.S. loan guarantees to Ukraine to be tied to broader anti-corruption efforts, including Shokin’s dismissal, this person said.
Biden’s threat to withhold $1 billion [in U.S. loan guarantees] if Ukraine didn’t crack down on corruption reportedly came in March [2016]. That same month, hundreds of Ukrainians demonstrated outside President Petro Poroshenko’s office demanding Shokin’s resignation, and he was dismissed.
Moreover, among the reasons the U.S. and others sought Shokin’s ouster was his failure to assist with or pursue an investigation of Burisma Holdings’ owner:
Hunter Biden joined [Burisma’s] board in April 2014, two months after U.K. authorities requested information from Ukraine as part of a probe against [Burisma Holdings owner Mykola] Zlochevsky related to money laundering allegations. Zlochevsky had been minister of environmental protection under then-President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia in February 2014 after mass protests.
After the U.K. request, Ukrainian prosecutors opened their own case, accusing Zlochevsky of embezzling public funds. Burisma and Zlochevsky have denied the allegations.
The case against Zlochevsky and his Burisma Holdings was assigned to Shokin, then a deputy prosecutor. But Shokin and others weren’t pursuing it, according to the internal reports from the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office reviewed by Bloomberg.
(cont.)
In a December 2014 letter, U.S. officials warned Ukrainian prosecutors of negative consequences for Ukraine over its failure to assist the U.K., which had seized Zlochevsky’s assets, according to the documents.
Shokin took no action to pursue cases against Zlochevsky throughout 2015, said [Vitaliy] Kasko, who was Shokin’s deputy overseeing international cooperation and helping in asset-recovery investigations. Kasko said he had urged Shokin to pursue the investigations.
“There was no pressure from anyone from the U.S. to close cases against Zlochevsky,” Kasko said in an interview. “It was shelved by Ukrainian prosecutors in 2014 and through 2015.”
That’s not to say the former vice president’s 2018 commentary at the Council on Foreign Relations meeting was worded well. Before his remarks morphed into “evidence” for claims that Biden ordered Ukraine to fire Shokin for investigating Burisma, they were picked up by Russian government-controlled outlets such as RT and Sputnik to levy accusations that the Obama administration was engaged in heavy-handed meddling in Ukraine’s affairs."
skud, I made a mistake in thinking that you cared about facts, truth. Apparently you don't, otherwise you wouldn't have repeated the lie that Biden did anything wrong.
You critized Trump and then trashed Biden with a lie. I guess it was to much for you to wander off from the Trump Tribe and critize him so you had to smear Biden.
SAD!
Now now Ms.Shaw, it's not a smear if it's true....dont you know
Anonymous @1:57 AM is as clueless and immune to facts as skudrunner.
Neither of you provided evidence. And that's because you prefer lies to truth, and that's how Trump got you to vote for him.
Nuremburg style rally's come to America. Along with other such nefarious government activities. All complements of America's FAKE president.
I am just following the leftist doctrine that if it is a rumor it is true. For someone who believes lying lizzy tells the truth you should look inward. Native American, Mother had to leave town because of prejudice, fired because she was pregnant and now her latest will not raise middle class taxes to pay for medicare for all.
I'm am not sure uncle joe knowingly did anything wrong but the rumor is he did and that should be fact enough until he proves otherwise.
Welp, I believe Warren because unlike Trump, she doesn't have a long history of lying, cheating and conning people out of their money. And she certainly never extorted a foreign government in order to get that foreign government to interfere in American elections while secretly having a personal lawyer conduct State Department business and deals without having been elected or vetted to do so. Trump using the presidency to enrich himself and his grifter children is a whole other thing.
Meanwhile, as is your usual habit, you post rumors and lies and make statement without a shred of evidence. You're using the same tactic that the liar, cheat, and conman president that belongs to the GOP does.
Also, there's this:
Warren releases Medicare for All financing plan, without middle class tax hikes
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has expanded, dramatically, on the initial healthcare page her campaign released with a full-blown, carefully considered, expert-vetted Medicare for All plan, with financing that doesn't require a middle-class tax increase. She created a big task for herself: "Under my plan, Medicare for All will cover the full list of benefits outlined in the Medicare for All Act, including long-term care, audio, vision, and dental benefits. My plan will cover every single person in the U.S., and includes common-sense payment reforms that make Medicare for All possible without spending any more money overall than we spend now."
On paper, she succeeds. That's an important factor to note—there are a lot of unknowns in future spending, but working with the current system and with an expansive knowledge of what's working and what's broken within it, she's created a plan with financing that is grounded in today's reality.
And you can keep you doctor.
Most of what politicians put on paper looks good Shaw. Funny thing is, things generally don't work out as the paper shows it will. I guess that's the problem with projections. That and generally politicians prefer profligate spending as opposed to fiscal responsibility.
And the best goes on...
52 trillion in 10 years...there aren't enough rich people to pay that bill
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