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T-rump the extortionist: Called new President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25 to investigate Joe Biden

posted 5 years ago by [deleted]
55 replies | jump to latest

Damn! This story gets better and better!

According to new reports coming from the Washington Post and Wall street Journal, T-rump called newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Ukraine on July 25, one day after former special counsel Mueller testified in front of Congress about Russian interference in US elections. The reason for the phone call was to extort the President of the Ukraine into opening a corruption investigation into matters involving Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. In return, T-rump promised to release two hundred and fifty million dollars in stalled aid for Ukraine.

According to the newest reports, Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at least eight times "that he should work with [Mr. Giuliani] on Biden, and that people in Washington wanted to know"

While this story was exploding all over the media, his lawyer Rudely Ghouliani was peddling his unfounded theory that Biden himself bribed Ukrainian officials to drop a corruption investigation involving his son. Ghouliani claimed on national TV, "“It is perfectly appropriate for a President to say to a leader of a foreign country, ‘Investigate this bribe, that was paid by a former Vice-President, that our media in America is covering up.’ ”

At a press conference, T-rump told reporters "It's a partisan whistleblower. They shouldn't even have information. I've had conversations with many leaders. They're always appropriate."

Reporters wanted to know how exactly he could identify the whistleblower as 'partisan' when, in fact, he was to be anonymous - especially to T-rump, whom he was complaining about.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Trump trying to pressure other countries to help him win another election.

Why can't we impeach him again?

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Because the republicans are so afraid of him and his diminishing base.

[–] Moderator5 (1181) 5 years ago

[deleted]

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

The WSJ reported on that one call Trump specifically pressured Zelensky EIGHT times to work with Giuliani to investigate Biden. It conjures to mind a high pressure huckster winding into his pitch. YOU MUST ACT NOW, THIS IS A GREAT DEAL BUT YOU’VE GOTTA SIGN UP NOW, DON’T MISS OUT ON THIS FANTASTIC OFFER!

lolz. What a putz.

But there's still more than meets the eye here. All we're hearing right now is the sanitized-for-public-consumption version absent the quids and the pro quos. The whistle blower and IG spoke of promises (plural) made. What were they?

This is solicitation of a bribe via extortion, conspiracy, a violation of federal election laws, and obstruction wrapped up into one.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

What's really frightening about this is the fact that nothing will be done about it. Nothing at all. The only reaction I'm seeing from republicans on TV (thus far) is the 'eye roll' - no shock, no anger, nothing. I have a feeling this investigation will be road-blocked by the WH like the others.

Of course, if it were any other president before him...

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

That's to be expected of feckless republicans. Dems that ran on holding this criminal president accountable are the bigger disappointment. Pelosi remains the immovable obstacle and most insufferable culprit. It's hard to believe she's just going to sit idly by while Trump colludes and openly solicits and extorts foreign assistance to steal the next election but that's exactly what she's doing.

Warren got this right calling out congress today:

"After the Mueller report, Congress had a duty to begin impeachment. By failing to act, Congress is complicit in Trump’s latest attempt to solicit foreign interference to aid him in US elections. Do your constitutional duty and impeach the president."

I would have preferred a more pointed heat seeking missile aimed directly at Pelosi, but she's right nevertheless. Pelosi's excuse that she is not going to take this president to task because Republicans won't either is pathetic.

If there's a silver lining in all this it's that all of the do nothing Dem enablers in the House have received primary challengers for their insipid inaction. Richard Neal, the only member of the House with the authority to get Trump's tax returns and has been slow rolling and dragging his feet because, according to the word on the street, he's trying to get Republican buy-in and Trump’s signature for a retirement bill (the Secure Act) he’s pushing that would allow people to partially convert 401ks into annuities. It's hard to pin the Republicans for being out of touch when the Dems are just as bad. Can you believe he's willing to sacrifice oversight to get this trivial-by-comparison pet project of his passed? Absolutely inexcusable.

Nadler only started to push back hard against Pelosi once he received a primary challenger a few months back. The only way any of this is going to change is by voting the corrupt members out and replacing them with a congress full of AOCs and Warrens.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Wow! Thanks for the heads up on all of this. For the past month or so, Warren has slowly become my favorite- the most sensible candidate in the group.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 5 years ago

I will always be for Bernie, but he and Warren make a good tag team.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I’m not hearing anything new from Sanders since 2016. That’s why Warren has become my favorite ( though I’d vote for either of them in a heartbeat).

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

I'd be thrilled if either Warren or Sanders won the nomination. Policy wise there's really not much daylight between them. Their difference appears to be primarily in style; on how to best accomplish the radical change required to fix the systemic corruption and institutional decay that brought us the Trump presidency and has allowed it to fester unchecked.

Warren has been at the forefront of calling for impeachment since the release of the Mueller Report. The rest of the candidates only came around to the position belatedly, probably affected by the opinion polls of the overwhelming majority of Dems who support it.

I think Pelosi should be looking at Warren's rise with some trepidation. Warren's ascent over the last 5 months began by her leading this call for accountability through impeachment. She is viewed as willing to change how the Democrats deal with the GOP in a performative sense. She'd be more inclined to throw Lewandowski in jail via inherent contempt or just find him in contempt. How effective that would be is a different question, but she strikes people as wanting to fight on her terms unlike the milquetoast congressional Dems like Pelosi and Schumer.

Warren appears to understand that you need to fight the GOP by putting them on the defensive especially when you have a clear, moral and legal case to highlight like we've had regarding Trump. If Pelosi's #1 priority is what it appears to be (preventing a progressive takeover of the party) her smart play would be to impeach. When Bush failed to get comprehensive immigration reform through, that weakened the establishment’s hold on the party, and they went further right after McCain was defeated.

I think Warren and Sanders get that about what needs to change to make the system more accountable. I was disappointed to see Sanders late in getting behind impeachment, but these latest revelations leave no doubt the moral imperative. Any Dem still vacillating now is deeply corrupt or an idiot. Pelosi is both.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

When Warren first came forward to impeach after the Mueller report came out is when she really captured my attention ( and apparently everyone else’s) and became my favorite. All these others who are taking baby steps no longer hold my interest.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 5 years ago

Pelosi and the Dems need to stop dancing around. Its time for impeachment.

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

The obstinacy she showed in her NPR interview was pretty revealing in its incoherency. It's insulting for her to say that we should pass a law that a sitting POTUS can be indicted knowing fully well the Senate would never pass and Trump would never sign, and is probably unconstitutional (separation of powers issue) anyway. If passing legislation in the House that ends up dead on the Senate floor is ok, but impeachment (which actually provides value even if there is no conviction in the Senate) is not, then it's clear she can't be taken seriously. She's just throwing out whatever bullshit rationale she thinks people will buy and hoping it will stick.

There is nothing admirable in making the Democratic Party look like a bunch of asses who can’t get their act together, and can't even decide whether an impeachment inquiry is really going on. That’s on Pelosi – she could have shut it down at the beginning of the break by making clear that the House has not delegated impeachment powers to Nadler and his committee even though they had.

But she decided to play coy and now everyone involved looks completely ineffectual.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I'm really surprised and disappointed in her. I thought she had a coherent game plan back in December; alas, it doesn't look like she does.

As you said - impeachment provides value, even if it gets knocked down in the Senate. Why she is avoiding this is beyond me.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 5 years ago

I suspect its her donors. She is the queen of getting them to pony up to support the establishment and some of them support republicans as well. They could be telling her to pump the brakes on all the impeachment talk.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Very, very disappointing - to say the least.

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/dam-could-break-impeachment-week-n1057741

Gives me a modicum of hope even though I've been getting sick and tired of Schiff's bogus "threats". You don't make threats unless you're willing to follow through on them if your demands are not met. Otherwise you just look weak and Schiff has been doing a lot of that lately like his bogus threat to withhold funding from the DNI when everyone and their mom knows he could never get a budget stripped of DNI funding through the Senate and a presidential veto.

I understand he's being hamstrung by Nancy, but I still put it on him for being a loyal soldier to Nancy's tone deaf and corrupt intransigence. At least Nadler hasn't been so obedient nor compliant.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Of the 3, Nadler has impressed me the most this summer. He really stepped up (IMO) more than the others.

I think Thursday is the true test - if they don't handover the WB complaint, Pelosi promises there will be tough consequences. We'll see if she backs down.

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

I also really hope Dems don't fall for the bait and switch being pushed by Republicans right now that a lot of MSM seems to be falling for.

Republicans like Lindsey and Mitt this morning are calling for the facts of Trump’s conversation with the Ukrainian President to come out. Trump has even said he'd consider releasing a transcript of the call.

This is the Distraction Display. This is the part they want us to focus on. Notice how they’re not calling for the whistleblower report to be delivered to the House and Senate, as required by law. Nope, they just want to know the details of this one conversation. But we've already been told it's not just one conversation the whistleblower report was addressing. They know that if they misdirect on just this one conversation it will lack the big picture context to make it easier to defend and misrepresent.

Watch for this. Expect the details of the conversation to be released in order to set this bait and switch in motion. Republicans are great a deflection plays like this. There's something far bigger being covered up here in the whistleblower report or else they wouldn't be hiding it.

It was no coincidence that Moscow Mitch relented on election security funding the day the existence of the whistleblower complaint was made public. I won't be surprised to learn Trump's solicitation of foreign meddling goes far beyond Ukraine and extends to the dictators he loves cuddling up to and McConnell (much like the rest of Trump's cabinet who was fully aware of Trump's power play on the newly elected Ukrainian president) knew of this and was playing his part by withholding security funds until he sensed the greater plot being uncovered by the whistleblower complaint.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Thanks for this.

I'm interested in what Thursday and Friday bring this week.

Rep Joaquin Castro says 'impeachment'.

https://moviechat.org/bd0000082/Politics/5d89659a3722955277f6fb77/Rep-Joaquin-Castro-of-the-Intelligence-Committee-Impeachment-can-come-as-early-as-Friday

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

Moscow Mitch has hotlined a resolution calling for the release of the whistleblower report. Schumer asking for unanimous consent for its passage.

Hotlining is the practice of bypassing regular Senate procedures and moving legislation through to a vote with little or no floor debate in an attempt to pass the legislation through the unanimous consent of all Senators.

I'm guessing Moscow Mitch's sudden urgency is a last ditch attempt to head off Pelosi announcing an impeachment inquiry.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

My God, what a week this has been - and it's only Tuesday.

I guess Pelosi has been reading this thread (LOL).

Seriously - it seems #MoscowMitch doesn't want Pelosi to move further ahead in this chess match.

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

As I predicted, Trump and his enablers think the transcript will exonerate him because suddenly he’s more than happy to release it. We need the whistleblower in the flesh testifying. Schiff has indicated that said whistleblower is reaching out to the committee through his lawyer to do just that. However, the DNI is involved with the negotiations. Hold onto your seat, is going to get very messy.

On the other hand, it's really looking like it's on. This is Impeachment Motherfucker, muaahaha!

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

"This is Impeachment Motherfucker, muaahaha!"

Democrats are cheering!

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

But yeah, talk about warp speed. That's what happens when the dam finally breaks. Watching Republicans in the Senate finally recognize the oncoming train wreck as unstoppable and pretend like they suddenly care about the rule of law by demanding to see the whistleblower report made me throw up in my mouth a little.

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

Looks like Republicans are all in on the bait and switch gambit today as White House lawyers prepare a worthless redacted version of the whistleblower report for release.

Lets see how Dems respond this time. They are so inferior at politics I say the chances of them getting the wool pulled over their eyes by settling for the redacted bullshit again is about a 50/50 coin flip.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

That's why they have to get the Whistleblower testifying in front of them in the next week or so.

Suddenly the White House is very cooperative with the WB report and phone call at the threat of impeachment. Isn't that funny?

[–] LordBAElish (2015) 5 years ago

The issue here, and it amazes me the liberals totally ignore this, is Biden. While Joe Biden was VP he told Ukraine they would not get their billion dollars if they didn't fire the prosecutor who was looking into the corrupt activities of Biden's son. Joe has admitted this and laughs about it. Why isn't he under fire for this? He should be the one getting heat not Trump.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

That's not the 'issue' at all. It's the conservative tactic to turn the spotlight away from T-rump's high crime and misdemeanor.

Here is the TRUTH about Biden and his son, and Ukraine. I dare republicans to read this :

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/23/20879611/joe-biden-hunter-biden-ukraine-corruption-prosecutor-burisma-donald-trump-whistleblower-complaint?et_rid=690150885&s_campaign=fastforward:newsletter

[–] LordBAElish (2015) 5 years ago

This isn't a "bogus" claim by Republicans....its true. Joe Biden spoke and laughed about the incident. "If you don't fire the prosecutor (who was investigating his son) you aren't getting your billion." Its out there. Its true.

There is no Quid Pro Quo, Trump never said he would withhold aid if they didn't investigate Biden. Joe should be investigated for these actions. Trump is doing a great service to the country by asking for help to look into it.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

So Biden then pushes for a much more reputable prosecutor, who could do more damage to his son, because.....

Your bogus conspiracy just doesn't float.

[–] LordBAElish (2015) 5 years ago

Biden pushed for a more "reputable" prosecutor because he wasn't investigating his son like the one got fired was

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

That's why your conspiracy theory makes no sense. By getting Shokin removed, Biden in fact made it more rather than less likely that the oligarch who employed his son would be subject to prosecution for corruption.

Shokin was fired because he was clearly looking the other way and NOT initiating prosecutions against companies he was taking bribes from.

Shokin was NOT investigating Burisma, the company Hunter Biden was on the board of. He should have been.

The 2014 case against Zlochevsky, the oligarch that owned Burisma, "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."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-07/timeline-in-ukraine-probe-casts-doubt-on-giuliani-s-biden-claim

[–] LordBAElish (2015) 5 years ago

Bloomberg is Fake News

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

Prove it.

Provide proof that the fired prosecutor was fired for investigating Biden's son.

You can't because your conspiracy theory is an unsupportable crock of shit. That prosecutor was renown for NOT prosecuting corruption cases of companies after getting paid off.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

That's why your conspiracy theory makes no sense. By getting Shokin removed, Biden in fact made it more rather than less likely that the oligarch who employed his son would be subject to prosecution for corruption.

Shokin was fired because he was clearly looking the other way and NOT initiating prosecutions against companies he was taking bribes from.

Shokin was NOT investigating Burisma, the company Hunter Biden was on the board of. He should have been.

And this is the most important part that Republicans ignore. WHY? Because Sean Hannity is ignoring this.

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

Pelosi just now walked out of the secure room having read the whistleblower report. She looked overwhelmed and fled from reporters.

This is an acid reflux sort of day for trump because based just on the stuff the White House has provided today on that now infamous phone call, trump has convicted himself out of his own mouth and he did so in a way he cannot spin his way out of.

Edit: Now Schumer:

SCHUMER after reading the whistleblower complaint: “Having read the documents in there I’m even more worried about what happened than I was when I read the memorandum of the conversation. There are so many facts have to be examined.”

Now Swalwell:

Eric Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, has read the whistleblower complaint. He tells CNN the complaint "is a five-alarm concern for me." The complaint was "laid out in a professional way" and gives the Committee further evidence to seek other witnesses.

Nutshell: There are fact witnesses to the whistleblower's allegations. Go get 'em.

Now Castro: Just read the Whistleblower report. This thing is bigger than I thought.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

She still claims there’s not enough evidence for a slam- dunk impeachment. ( Schiff seems to agree). Do they not see what everyone else sees?

[–] dteam6 (5073) 5 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 5 years ago

I don't know either. I just can't help but think there are deals being made behind the scenes.

[–] eYeDEF (5050) 5 years ago

LoL, so is that Nancy's latest excuse that there's not enough evidence for a "slam dunk" even though that's about the 40th time she's moved the goal posts? I've lost count. I guess she just forgot that it's her job to go get that evidence. Trump isn't just going to fork it over, he's denying he ever threatened to withhold aid, but we know it exists because of the whistleblower complaint. The only way to fast track access to that evidence in the courts is through an impeachment inquiry. A whistleblower would not have risked his or her career if Trump had just made a sales pitch.

I'd like to see an internal revolt against Pelosi, she clearly either doesn't recognize the fierce urgency of this moment or does and doesn't care. If she's not willing to do her job she needs to be usurped and replaced with someone that can. She's proving to be as corrupt as her politician father. Sadly, backroom deals and alliances is her singular talent and that would probably prevent any successful Dem coalition from successfully ousting her.

We now know his entire cabinet was aware of the scheme and Pence was personally sent to give Ukraine the message too. Trump is actively plotting to subvert the 2020 election using his powers as commander-in-chief and head of state to force a desperate ally to intervene in the 2020 election on his behalf. Such an abuse of power is so total that any attempt to brand it as anything less than criminal and unacceptable in the American system cannot be justified. It is a conspiracy to subvert the American people's one chance to end his tenure in office and undermine the one last failsafe in the constitutional system that empowers citizenry to hold their leaders accountable; facing voters in a free and fair election.

If Pelosi doesn't get the stakes then she needs to be forcibly removed.

[–] elcamino (15540) 5 years ago

Why would anyone pass on information they read in the post. Oh wait this is from a democrat so I can see why they are conned.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Do tell - why are they conned?

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Sill waiting - why are they conned ?

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 5 years ago

elc has never given a reply to me that was connected to my question or related to his previous statement. He goes off on tangents based on whatever passes through his brain at the time he replies, which is usually something about Nikki Haley in 2024.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

There's something definitely wrong with him. Not 'wrapped too tightly' or just easily manipulated by the right.

[–] elcamino (15540) 5 years ago

Well someone is real but.hurt about Donald getting reelected in 2020.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

What does 'Nikki' have to do with this? I'm curious as to your revelation that the Dems ae conned - how are they conned?

[–] elcamino (15540) 5 years ago

I didn't bring up Nikki that was Violet.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 5 years ago

I did say "usually" and not always. But I was correct about you going off on a tangent which is exactly what your "but.hurt" statement was.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I thought you were referring to Nikki as the one being butt-hurt. I was just following your logic.

[–] JoWilli (15087) 5 years ago

Trump is pretty much guaranteed to win now...its a lock...

[–] elcamino (15540) 5 years ago

Calling it now. Warren/Sanders vs Trump/Pence in 2020

[–] slimone (7996) 5 years ago

When is the government going to investigate t-Rump????? He is despicable.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Immediately.