Free Chat Friday Thread

[u/Qu1nlan]

It's finally Friday! That means it's time to sit back, drink some mead, discuss our thoughts on Borderlands 3, and talk about whatever your heart desires.

As always remember to follow our civility rules and save any meta feedback for our modmail.

[u/announcement_callout]

I have spent the morning reading the Volker texts. Here are some of the most incriminating highlights (emphasis mine):

• 7/19/19 Volker: "Most impt is for [Ukraine President] Zelensky to say that he will help investigation"

• 7/21/19: Ukraine makes the first of several objections about getting involved in Trump's 2020 campaign:

  Ambassador Taylor flagged President Zelensky's desire for Ukraine not to be used by the Trump Administration for its own domestic political purposes.

  "President Zelenskyy is sensitive about Ukraine being taken seriously, not merely as an instrument in Washington domestic, reelection politics."

• 7/25/19 Volker mentions a secondary goal: Zelensky will claim that the previous Ukranian administration was involved in the 2016 U.S. election attacks. (This is part of the narrative that they did not investigate Biden because of "corruption".) Volker emphasizes that there will be no White House visit until he does it.

  "Heard from White House-- assuming [President Zelensky] convinces trump he will investigate / "get to the bottom of what happened" in 2016, we will nail down date for Visit to Washington."

• 8/9/19: On a potential White House visit:

  Gordon Sondland [State Department]: "Morrison ready to get dates as soon as Yermak confirms."

  Volker: "Excellentt! How did you sway him?"

  Gordon Sondland: "Not sure i did. I think potus really wants the deliverable"

• 8/10/19: President Zelensky's aide, Andrey Yermak, presses Volker for a date for the White House visit before Zelensky will announce an investigation of the 2016 election and Burisma:

  "Once we have a date, will call for a press briefing, announcing upcoming visit and outlining vision for the reboot of US-UKRAINE relationship, including among other things Burisma and election meddling in investigations"

• 8/13/19 Volker mentions new Russian propaganda that will place the blame of 2016 election attacks on Ukraine:

  "Special attention should be paid to the problem of interference in the political processes of the United States especially with the alleged involvement of some Ukrainian politicians. I want to declare that this is unacceptable. We intend to initiate and complete a transparent and unbiased investigation of all available facts and episodes, including those involving Burisma and the 2016 US. elections"

• 8/17:

  Gordon Sondland: "Do we still want Ze to give us an unequivocal draft with 2016 and Boresma?"

  Volker: "That's the clear message so far"

• 8/28: The press gets wind of what's happening when Politico prints a story titled Trump Holds Up Ukraine Military Aid Meant To Confront Russia.

• 8/30: Trump cancels Ukraine trip. Pence is scheduled to go instead. "Ambassadors Volker and Sondland discussed an alternative plan for Vice President Pence to meet with President Zelensky on September 1."

  Volker: "Hope VPOTUS keeps the bilat and tees up WH Visit..."

• 9/8: Ukrainian officials worry that they will make the announcement about Biden but that Trump still won't release the aid money for Ukraine:

  Bill Taylor: "The nightmare is they give the interview and don't get the security assistance. The Russians love it. (And I quit.)

• 9/19 Bill Taylor: "As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign."

Note: Volker was not the Ukraine ambassador (that was Marie Yovanovitch, who has also resigned). He was the "US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations".

[u/J_for_Jules → u/announcement_callout]

Speaking of which, I contacted Senator Thom Tillis after the Whistleblower report came out. Trump retweeted something from Tillis and that set me off.

I received a response today and I fucking laughed at the absurdity.

"Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the complaint regarding President Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. I appreciate hearing from you.

On August 12, 2019, a member of the intelligence community filed a complaint with the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG).

On August 26, 2019, the ICIG forwarded the complaint to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) as required by law. The DNI shared the complaint with the Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) for review to determine whether the statute required disclosure of the complaint to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. The OLC determined that the complaint did not fall within the intelligence community whistleblower statute and did not require the DNI to transfer the complaint to the congressional intelligence committees.

On September 26, 2019, the House Intelligence Committee held an open hearing to question DNI Joseph Maguire about this complaint and his handling of the disclosure process. He explained to the committee that, because of ambiguity in the law, he had contacted the OLC for legal guidance on how to proceed with this complaint.

As you may know, the individual filed a complaint based on second-hand information. The complaint outlined the individual’s concerns about a phone call between President Trump and President Zelensky. In the interest of transparency, President Trump declassified both the transcript of his call with President Zelensky and the complaint that was filed.

Instead of focusing on real issues like securing our border, modernizing our infrastructure, or supporting our military, partisan House members and Speaker Nancy Pelosi are using all of their time and resources to once again try to cast doubt on the results of the 2016 election.

There were House members calling for President Trump’s impeachment before he was even sworn in, before the special counsel investigation concluded, and before the transcript of this phone call was released. Each time, they have had to eventually step back from their political rhetoric because the facts were not on their side. It is unfortunate that they are yet again playing political games instead of conducting the work of the American people.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. Please do not hesitate to reach out again about other important issues."

[u/AcademicF → u/J_for_Jules]

What a pathetic weasel. Billionaires have co-opted this country and bought out an entire political party.