Section: TPM (USA)
In Bid For Biden Dirt, Giuliani Dove Deep Into Ukrainian Political Muck
Like a grotesque buddy comedy, the story of Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to extract beneficial political information from Ukraine is equal parts absurd and horrifying. And the story only gets weirder following a look at the details of the whistleblower complaint released by the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday,...
CNN: WH Admits Ukraine Call Record Was Moved To Special Classified System
The White House acknowledged Friday that Trump administration lawyers moved a record of President Donald Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president to a separate system for classified documents, CNN first reported. An unnamed senior White House official told CNN: “NSC [National Security Council] lawyers directed that the classified document...
GOP Rep: Dems ‘Overreacting, But Ukraine Call ‘Probably Worthy Of Investigating’
A House Republican admitted twice during an interview with CNN Friday morning that various aspects of President Trump’s call with Ukraine and the White House’s handling of the situation should “probably” be investigated further. But he was quick to go after Democrats for “overreacting” and also pushed for a similar investigation into...
Now That The Impeachment Probe Is Official, House Dems Must Ramp Up Other Oversight
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. In soliciting election interference from Ukraine’s president, Trump did what had long seemed impossible; he committed an offense that even the most impeachment-phobic lawmakers couldn’t ignore. You don’t have to agree that this behavior is...
Kremlin Expresses ‘Hope’ That Trump Admin Won’t Publish Calls With Russia
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed “hope” Friday that the U.S. would not publish calls between Putin and President Donald Trump like it did with the call memo of Trump’s conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “We would like to hope that it wouldn’t come to that in our relations, which are...
Pence Initially Advised Trump Not To Release Zelensky Call Memo
Vice President Mike Pence initially counseled President Donald Trump not to release the memo of his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, fretting about the precedent it would set. According to the Wall Street Journal, Pence got on board with the memo’s release when Trump made up his mind that the optics of holding it back...
Trump Reignites Calls For Schiff’s Resignation Over ‘Parody’ Opening Statement
President Trump is again calling for House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) to resign for, as Trump claims, lying to Congress with his parody opening statement during the hearing with the acting director of national intelligence on Thursday. In tweets on Friday morning, Trump bellyached about Schiff’s opening testimony in...
Concerned That CIA Was Not Taking Allegations Seriously, Whistleblower Filed IG Complaint
The intelligence community whistleblower, identified as a CIA officer by the New York Times, initially took his allegations to the agency’s general counsel, only deciding to lodge his now-famous complaint when he realized that the general counsel had alerted the White House. According to the Times, when the CIA officer went to general...
Report: Fox News Flails Amid Multiple Bombshells From Trump’s Ukraine Scandal
It’s been quite a turbulent week for President Donald Trump, and now his favorite cable news network is reportedly in a tailspin. According to a Vanity Fair report on Thursday, the right-wing network is divided over whether to stay loyal to Trump or to jump ship amid the Ukraine scandal and the House’s impeachment inquiry. An unnamed...
Former DNI Clapper Impressed By Quality Of Whistleblower Complaint
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday that the whistleblower’s complaint that prompted the House of Representatives to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s actions was the best documented he had ever seen. “I’ve seen a lot of whistleblower complaints during the time I was...
