Thu Sep 19, 2019, 09:40 AM

Donald Trump Whistleblower Complaint: Likely Evidence of 'Gross Abuse of Power'

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Yonnie3 (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Newsweek

A Supreme Court lawyer has predicted that the reported whistleblower complaint made in response to President Donald Trump's discussions with an unnamed foreign leader will likely produce evidence of "gross" abuse of power.

Neal Katyal, who formerly served as acting solicitor general of the U.S., said on Twitter Tuesday that the nascent scandal could turn out to be "huge," given the apparent efforts of the Department of Justice and White House to squash the issue.

The Washington Post first reported the complaint on Tuesday. Citing two former U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter, the newspaper said an anonymous intelligence official reported a conversation between the president and a foreign leader that included a troubling "promise."

House Intelligence Committee Chairman and California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff said in a statement Wednesday that the Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson deemed the complaint "both credible and urgent."

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-whistleblower-complaint-likely-evidence-gross-abuse-power-claims-supreme-court-1460144

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48 replies	Author	Time	Post
Donald Trump Whistleblower Complaint: Likely Evidence of 'Gross Abuse of Power' (Original post)	emmaverybo	Sep 2019	OP
"When you think you have seen it all, there is more."	Stuart G	Sep 2019	#1
Can't remember if it was Rachel or Lawrence,	Bayard	Sep 2019	#2
Gross abuse of power in many things from Day One	bucolic_frolic	Sep 2019	#3
we haven't seen a baby resus monkey yet, let alone king kong..	pangaia	Sep 2019	#13
+ 100 n/t	MBS	Sep 2019	#29
Selling off our national secrets for fun and profit?	Farmer-Rick	Sep 2019	#4
Something that shocked the conscience of a spook.	dalton99a	Sep 2019	#5
Time for a leaker to open the faucet a bit.	jeffreyi	Sep 2019	#6
"bottom feeders"?	saidsimplesimon	Sep 2019	#38
I think he was promising..	RightiswrongTn	Sep 2019	#7
Putin is vindictive...	RightiswrongTn	Sep 2019	#8
Message deleted by the DU Administrators	RightiswrongTn	Sep 2019	#10
not shot... jailed for life...... max security....	pangaia	Sep 2019	#14
Jared Kushner... accessory to Murder	RightiswrongTn	Sep 2019	#15
And it's fixing to happen again...	RightiswrongTn	Sep 2019	#17
this sounds all too plausible.	MBS	Sep 2019	#26
Seems very likely	lagomorph777	Sep 2019	#46
This seems like the end	ScratchCat	Sep 2019	#9
Oh, they will.	bearsfootball516	Sep 2019	#11
Amen	Wednesdays	Sep 2019	#18
..."We do spy swaps all the time!"	lagomorph777	Sep 2019	#47
really? 7..6...5....4...	pangaia	Sep 2019	#16
Short of shooting somebody on 5th Avenue in Manhattan in broad daylight.....	Paladin	Sep 2019	#22
ou underestimate them...	handmade34	Sep 2019	#24
Sadly true	pandr32	Sep 2019	#28
OH, he could do that too	Bettie	Sep 2019	#35
Gotta love the mindset we've gotten into, regarding trump.	Paladin	Sep 2019	#40
What else can we think?	Bettie	Sep 2019	#41
I can't give you any comfort or hope.	Paladin	Sep 2019	#42
It also helps to know I'm not alone	Bettie	Sep 2019	#43
This too shall pass. Hang in there.	Paladin	Sep 2019	#45
Not just impeachment-worthy, but impeachment-demanding	RockRaven	Sep 2019	#12
+ 100 n/t	MBS	Sep 2019	#27
King me in checkers.	Kid Berwyn	Sep 2019	#19
Thing is, unless we somehow have a transcript of the call, we'll have no idea what was said	bearsfootball516	Sep 2019	#23
Will This Wind Up Being Much Ado About Nothing......	global1	Sep 2019	#20
as mentioned above, unless there is solid proof this will just be another nothing burger.	yaesu	Sep 2019	#25
I hope intelligence has the good sense to record all his calls, given his reputation.	Meadowoak	Sep 2019	#31
I'm more than sure	DENVERPOPS	Sep 2019	#37
Not to at all brush aside the seriousness of this	The Liberal Lion	Sep 2019	#21
As president Trump can de-classify classified material at his whim. Scenario: if he did tell intel	in2herbs	Sep 2019	#30
Apparently this is actually worse	NastyRiffraff	Sep 2019	#33
Let's get Robert Mueller on it! That way we can spend the next two years waiting in hopeful	jalan48	Sep 2019	#32
If Faux News hasn't figured out how they intend to spin it	Dr. T	Sep 2019	#34
This message was self-deleted by its author	Chin music	Sep 2019	#36
"Let's roll"!	saidsimplesimon	Sep 2019	#39
If this is garden-variety graft, I doubt it would move the Congressional Trump Humpers one iota.	LudwigPastorius	Sep 2019	#44
Locking ...	Yonnie3	Sep 2019	#48

Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 09:50 AM

Stuart G (36,607 posts)

1. "When you think you have seen it all, there is more."

..The Trump story gets more bizarre each day. I need more popcorn..

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 09:50 AM

Bayard (18,166 posts)

2. Can't remember if it was Rachel or Lawrence,

Said last night, that soon after this happened was when tRump started talking about taking funds away from Ukraine.

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:00 AM

bucolic_frolic (36,113 posts)

3. Gross abuse of power in many things from Day One

THIS must be the King Kong of gross abuses

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Response to bucolic_frolic (Reply #3)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:45 AM

pangaia (24,324 posts)

13. we haven't seen a baby resus monkey yet, let alone king kong..

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Response to bucolic_frolic (Reply #3)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:54 AM

MBS (9,688 posts)

29. + 100 n/t

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:14 AM

Farmer-Rick (8,352 posts)

4. Selling off our national secrets for fun and profit?

Come on now, does anyone believe Traitor Trump doesn't tell all our secrets to the tiny man in Moscow?

If Traitor Trump knows it, he's told it to little man Putin.

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:18 AM

dalton99a (74,377 posts)

5. Something that shocked the conscience of a spook.

Trump offered to turn over an American to Russian agents

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:24 AM

jeffreyi (1,796 posts)

6. Time for a leaker to open the faucet a bit.

Enlighten all of us bottom feeders.

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Response to jeffreyi (Reply #6)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 12:48 PM

saidsimplesimon (7,881 posts)

38. "bottom feeders"?

"You can't handle the truth." A great line for a response to your insult to DU members. The truth has been hidden in plain sight, drip, drip, drip. imo

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:31 AM

RightiswrongTn (92 posts)

7. I think he was promising..

To rat out the spy that's under US protection..we gotta protect him from Putin and Traitor Tot!!!!!!!

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Response to RightiswrongTn (Reply #7)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:36 AM

RightiswrongTn (92 posts)

8. Putin is vindictive...

As is Traitor Tot..This struck me like Lightning. Hope I'm wrong. Got a friggin strong feeling that this is the deal. Traitorous Bastard

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Response to RightiswrongTn (Reply #8)

RightiswrongTn Message deleted by the DU Administrators

Response to RightiswrongTn (Reply #10)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:48 AM

pangaia (24,324 posts)

14. not shot... jailed for life...... max security....

nunes, jordon, grassley, lindsey, lindsey, devos, all of them...

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Response to RightiswrongTn (Reply #10)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:48 AM

RightiswrongTn (92 posts)

15. Jared Kushner... accessory to Murder

Guarantee you kushner is complicit in the murder of Jamal khashoggi

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Response to RightiswrongTn (Reply #15)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:50 AM

RightiswrongTn (92 posts)

17. And it's fixing to happen again...

I know I don't post the whole lot but my hair is on fire this morning

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Response to RightiswrongTn (Reply #7)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:52 AM

MBS (9,688 posts)

26. this sounds all too plausible.

and also is an action that would spook the spooks right in the gut.

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Response to RightiswrongTn (Reply #7)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 02:20 PM

lagomorph777 (30,613 posts)

46. Seems very likely

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:38 AM

ScratchCat (1,831 posts)

9. This seems like the end

I know, I know.... but I don't see the GOP defending Trump's "right" to sell out spies or make treasonous promises to foreign dictators.

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Response to ScratchCat (Reply #9)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:43 AM

bearsfootball516 (6,345 posts)

11. Oh, they will.

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Response to bearsfootball516 (Reply #11)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:52 AM

Wednesdays (15,971 posts)

18. Amen

They'll come up with a mixture of "the spy is not really a spy" and "the spy is a liberal Democrat" and "the spy had it coming" and "so what's the big deal."

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Response to Wednesdays (Reply #18)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 02:21 PM

lagomorph777 (30,613 posts)

47. ..."We do spy swaps all the time!"

Yeah, not swaps to let the other side kill them.

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Response to ScratchCat (Reply #9)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:48 AM

pangaia (24,324 posts)

16. really? 7..6...5....4...

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Response to ScratchCat (Reply #9)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:07 AM

Paladin (26,566 posts)

22. Short of shooting somebody on 5th Avenue in Manhattan in broad daylight.....

….today's GOP will let trump do anything he wants. Anything.

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Response to Paladin (Reply #22)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:32 AM

handmade34 (22,277 posts)

24. ou underestimate them...

shooting someone (in broad daylight) will be glossed over as well...

or is it overestimate

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Response to Paladin (Reply #22)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:53 AM

pandr32 (9,965 posts)

28. Sadly true

Republicans will spin it and attack Democrats for their partisan attack using fake news/liberal media. Meanwhile, the real fake news, Fox, won't inform their viewers of the incident. Fox so-called "News" viewers have no idea what is really going on and the station is broadcast into every nook and cranny of our country.

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Response to Paladin (Reply #22)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 12:35 PM

Bettie (14,725 posts)

35. OH, he could do that too

and the GOP would say "Well, the guy had it comin', he totally deserved it!"

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Response to Bettie (Reply #35)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 01:06 PM

Paladin (26,566 posts)

40. Gotta love the mindset we've gotten into, regarding trump.

He's a complete psycho and scofflaw, far-and-away the worst "president" we've ever had.....

And we the opposition now view him as invincible.

Wonderful world we're living in, these days.....

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Response to Paladin (Reply #40)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 01:10 PM

Bettie (14,725 posts)

41. What else can we think?

Please, I'm actually begging you, give me one small piece of hope that something will stick to this piece of garbage some day.

That there is one decent Republican out there who will not enable him.

That there is any chance of our side ever holding him accountable for anything.

It is despair, because we went through a mild version of this with W and nothing happened. No one was held accountable for anything.

It is happening again, but this time it is far worse. The despair comes from wondering how much worse the next one will be.

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Response to Bettie (Reply #41)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 01:20 PM

Paladin (26,566 posts)

42. I can't give you any comfort or hope.

By and large, I think we're fucked. The worst aspect of trump's reign is discovering just how many malignantly stupid people there are in this country. I always knew there were some of them; I never dreamed there were enough of them to send this country down the toilet, with the help of a timid and inept Democratic leadership. Sorry for the lack of good cheer.

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Response to Paladin (Reply #42)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 01:22 PM

Bettie (14,725 posts)

43. It also helps to know I'm not alone

in my feelings.

If our leadership wasn't so timid, I'd feel a lot more hopeful.

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Response to Bettie (Reply #43)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 01:51 PM

Paladin (26,566 posts)

45. This too shall pass. Hang in there.

Something will bring trump down, probably something unexpected and initially underestimated. I'm still hoping for a massive, coast-to-coast, multiple-day victory party, once we're rid of him. I have a good bottle of scotch set aside for the occasion---maybe that's what constitutes hope, these days.....

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:43 AM

RockRaven (12,358 posts)

12. Not just impeachment-worthy, but impeachment-demanding

If we ever find out (prediction: we will), that will be the final assessment.

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Response to RockRaven (Reply #12)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:53 AM

MBS (9,688 posts)

27. + 100 n/t

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 10:56 AM

Kid Berwyn (11,514 posts)

19. King me in checkers.

Vs checkmate in chess.

Looks like Agent Orange got toasted.

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Response to Kid Berwyn (Reply #19)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:08 AM

bearsfootball516 (6,345 posts)

23. Thing is, unless we somehow have a transcript of the call, we'll have no idea what was said

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:00 AM

global1 (24,457 posts)

20. Will This Wind Up Being Much Ado About Nothing......

Will this wind up a 'he said, he said' exercise? Will Trump deny he promised anything? Will Trump say this is fake news and that the intelligence people are out to get him and they are making up stories? Will this whole incident fade away in a few days because Trump will lie his way out of it?

I'm not getting too excited about this incident. We've been down these types of situations before and somehow Trump finds his way to wiggle out of any wrong doing. The Repugs will circle their wagons around Trump and protect him.

Then on to the next scandal.

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Response to global1 (Reply #20)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:48 AM

yaesu (7,764 posts)

25. as mentioned above, unless there is solid proof this will just be another nothing burger.

there are so many accusations against the orange nazi by now, and we know most if not all are true, but the GOP crime faimly owns the courts and the justice system so I'm not getting excited about any prospect of taking this traitor down. We need to take the whole fascist party down.

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Response to yaesu (Reply #25)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 12:04 PM

Meadowoak (4,305 posts)

31. I hope intelligence has the good sense to record all his calls, given his reputation.

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Response to Meadowoak (Reply #31)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 12:42 PM

DENVERPOPS (7,590 posts)

37. I'm more than sure

I am more than sure at this point, Trump, with Putin's help, has long ago established some secret "back Channel" that he and Putin communicate on.............

Trump would just tell the world that the operative was a "double agent" and needed to be taken out........

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:06 AM

The Liberal Lion (1,414 posts)

21. Not to at all brush aside the seriousness of this

But trump's gross abuse of power is evident for the naked eye to see everyday.

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 11:56 AM

in2herbs (2,829 posts)

30. As president Trump can de-classify classified material at his whim. Scenario: if he did tell intel

secrets to a foreign country can't Trump claim in his defense that he had de-classified that material and thus escape any consequence for his treasonous behavior? I mean, Trump has gotten away with everything else, he will probably get away with this as well.

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Response to in2herbs (Reply #30)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 12:29 PM

NastyRiffraff (12,448 posts)

33. Apparently this is actually worse

than when he blurted out code-level secrets to the Russians. It's true that a president can de-classify at will, so the level of concern from the whistleblower AND the IG tells us that whatever this "promise" is, it's very, very dangerous. It's not a declassification that's the concern; it's the "promise".

As an aside, perhaps the rule that a president can unilaterally de-classify should be changed. Call it the "Trump Rule."

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 12:29 PM

jalan48 (13,692 posts)

32. Let's get Robert Mueller on it! That way we can spend the next two years waiting in hopeful

anticipation for the big shoe to drop. It will also give Rachel, et al, the opportunity to up their ratings with nightly, breathless bombshells.

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 12:34 PM

Dr. T (75 posts)

34. If Faux News hasn't figured out how they intend to spin it

and they haven't said anything yet, Doofus Donny might not be aware.

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.

Response to Chin music (Reply #36)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 12:50 PM

saidsimplesimon (7,881 posts)

39. "Let's roll"!

Thank you Chin

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 01:30 PM

LudwigPastorius (6,407 posts)

44. If this is garden-variety graft, I doubt it would move the Congressional Trump Humpers one iota.

If it's a quid pro quo with Trump using the national security of the nation as a bargaining chip, it may actually begin to erode his support and make the outcome of an impeachment trial...interesting.

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Response to emmaverybo (Original post)

Thu Sep 19, 2019, 06:04 PM

Yonnie3 (15,040 posts)

48. Locking ...

The predictions of a lawyer are opinion.

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