Impeachment Today: It’s Out the Whistleblower Wednesday
Former EU Ambassador Gordon Soundland’s decision to amend his testimony to include a criminal act by the President has left Trumptown in shambles.
It’s likely he’ll be returning to the House for further revisions, given that the lawyer for Fiona Hill, the White House's former top Russia adviser, has gone public with further examples of what appear to be perjurious statements by Soundland.
Since they are unable to find any witnesses to say anything supportive of Donald Trump’s extortion attempt of the Ukraine and have blocked others who might unwittingly confirm earlier testimony, the President’s defenders have decided it’s time to shoot the messenger.
The whistleblower is just the guy who called the cops. They did not claim direct knowledge of anything. A bunch of witnesses with first hand information have come forward to testify about the crime. So this “outing” is nothing more than an attempt to distract the media and send a not-subtle message to any would-be snitches.
Joshua Holland, writing at Alternet, makes a convincing case that the wrong person is being named. I’m not going to repeat the name of the person in this column, though it is significant that he/she quit the National Security Council following death threats generated by Steve Bannon allies seeking to purge the White House of Deep State Operatives.
Following Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s call to publicize the name of the whistleblower, three sources have repeated and publicized the name of an individual they claim is the one who dared to follow the rules and was promised protection in return.
Drumroll… Those leading the charge are assorted right wing media, Donald Trump, Jr. (who’s promoting a ghostwritten book) retweeting those outlets, and pro-Putin media in Russia.
The story on Breitbart (sorry, I don’t link to garbage) is full of conspiracy theories of the sort usually found in QAnon chats. They didn’t, however, accuse the individual of being part of the Illuminati. So there’s that.
Charles P. Pierce at Esquire rolls downhill from Don Jr’s bleating:
This, coupled with the story over the weekend of the Republican intention possibly to move Jim Jordan and some of the House Judiciary hooligans onto the Intelligence Committee, demonstrates what the Republican strategy will be when the open hearings begin in a couple of weeks. It is going to be to wreck the process with as much clowning as heaven—or Adam Schiff—will allow. There's even a report that Republicans might attempt to subpoena Joe and Hunter Biden in order to explore the debunked conspiracy theory that got the White House in all this trouble in the first place. If you can't control the process, wreck the process—on television, if possible.
It will go far beyond mere political opposition. It will be outright nihilistic vandalism perpetrated in defense of a presidency* that doesn't even deserve that much. The wreckage will be vast and encompassing, the collateral damage immeasurable. And, at the end of it all, the president* will still be guilty as hell. The trick will be finding a way for that not to matter.
And the Russia stuff is just over the top. From Julia Davis at The Daily Beast:
As if on cue, the Kremlin-controlled heavy hitters—TASS, RT, Rossiya-1—disseminated the same information. But unlike Rand Paul, one of the Russian state media outlets didn’t seem to find the source—Real Clear Investigations—to be particularly impressive, and claimed falsely that the material was published originally by The Washington Post.
This was the most egregious, but certainly not the only example of Kremlin-funded media cheerleading for Trump’s fight against impeachment as proceedings against him unfold with growing speed. As a chorus of talking heads on Fox News have picked up on Trump’s talking points, which is predictable—they’ve also been echoed across the pond, albeit with a tinge of irony.
“Have you lost your minds that you want to remove our Donald Ivanovych?” asked Vladimir Soloviev, the host of the television show Evening with Vladimir Soloviev.
Senate Republicans aren’t thrilled with Rand Paul’s antics, fearing the blowback will have the effect of sullying their institution (more than MoscowMitch already has?)
From Politico:
Senior Senate Republicans are worried about the precedent it would set, fearing government sources would be less likely to reveal wrongdoing in future presidencies.
They also have a simpler concern: not breaking the law.
“We should follow the law. And I believe the law protects whistleblowers,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).
“The whistleblower statute is there for a reason. And I think we need to respect the law where whistleblowers are concerned. Eventually that person may decide to come forward voluntarily,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who added that senators like Paul are frustrated with the lack of transparency from the House.
Whistleblower attorney Mark Zaid responded to Don Jr’s tweet of a pro-Trump website allegedly naming the whistleblower:
Identifying any name for the whistleblower will simply place that individual and their family at risk of serious harm..
We will not confirm or deny any name that is published but we will note publication does nothing other than show the desperation of a partisan crowd to deflect from the substance of the whistleblower complaint…
It most certainly will not relieve the President of the need to address the substantive allegations, all of which have been substantially proven to be true.”
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Another shoe drops...
https://twitter.com/DevlinBarrett/status/1192132867620589568?s=20
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In case you haven’t heard... Impeachment did not help Republicans fire up conservatives in rural areas
https://twitter.com/Marmel/status/1191902436979593217?s=20
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