Trump didn't openly extort Zelensky. He simply made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

Good point. That and honesty.

About the call. Or the contents of the call.... not sure which.

We have the transcript of one of the calls. And, damning as it is, I would assume they chose to release the one they thought was the least damning. If this is the one they thought was kosher... imagine the rest.

I'm not a Biden supporter. He's not among my top 10 candidates. In other words, finding something on him would benefit at least 10 Democratic contenders I prefer. However, it doesn't look like anything more than a Trump smoke screen. Anita Hill and his Iraq vote are Biden's great scandals. Not this

 

It could be game over for whoever planted a Democrat spy from the CIA in the White House. It could be game over for Schiff who had the whistle blower report since August and lied in his opening statement like a cheap toupee about Trump's words ,,, words that were well documented. It could be game over for Democrats' 2020 chances since the Trump campaign had a banner 24 hrs, reportedly scoring millions in donations.

 

We will all get over it when Trump is in jail

 

This transcript alone demonstrates so many crimes, it's mind-boggling. Extortion, of course. But also campaign finance law violations, conspiracy to affect our elections, abuse of power, obstruction of an investigation (by Congress), ...

It's so hard to keep up with this guy's crimes.... Today we found out about Trump using a protocol designed to protect national security to hide his crimes Does he really think that he's above the law?

 

From the complaint..........

II . . · Efforts to restrict access to records related to the call.

In the days following the phone call, I leamed from multiple U.S. officials that senior White House officials had intervened to "lock down" all records of the phone call, especially the official word-for-word transcript of the call that was produced-as is customary-by the White House Situation Room. This set of actions underscored to me that White House officials understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call.
• White House officials told me that they were "directed" by White House lawyers to remove the electronic transcript from the computer system in which such transcripts are typically stored for coordination, finalization, and distribution to Cabinet-level officials.

 

I often wonder how criminals watch behind closed doors deposition's like... this morning's. Are they more free to speak among themselves and say thing like "Oh... I hope he doesn't tell them about xxxx, because that would really put me in hot water..." Or do they fool themselves and scream at the TV as if they were innocent?

Do you have any insight into this?

 

Look... even if any of those you mention were the most low-down criminals in history, the fact that it's a Republican administration going after them means... they would never see the inside of a prison. They have proven how incompetent they are bringing anybody to justice. Just ask prisoner Hillary, or prisoner Mueller, or prisoners... the 24 women that accused him of sexual assault.

So let's be candid: Republicans in power are just not good at punishing criminals. They're just good at being criminals.

 

Congress is going to need to find the fastest stenographer in the country just to write down the articles of impeachment before the year is over.

 

One thing at a time... what do Trump's friends say about him behind closed doors?

 

No. I've never eavesdropped on a criminal watching a closed door deposition.

 

Is attempting to "restrict access" to records of a call from the POTUS to the chief executive of another country a high crime, a misdemeanor, or both?

 

Is it one of those "jokes"? Ok. I'll bite: What do Trump's friends say about him behind closed doors?

 

Lol, Don't lay this on me. You claimed above that people who know Trump only disagree with you when in public, implying that you have information that they share your low opinion of him when in private.

 

Is this accurate?

"Despite news reports that Mr. Trump urged an investigation of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden and his son Hunter as many as eight times on the call, the transcript shows he mentioned them only once."

The Washington Times

 

Depends on whether the shot went to the face, or just a flesh wound to a leg.

 

Trump abused his official powers "to solicit interference" from Ukraine in the upcoming 2020 election, and the White House took steps to cover it up, according to a stunning whistleblower complaint released Thursday.

Several White House officials were "deeply disturbed" by Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and tried to "lock down" all records of the phone call, especially the word-for-word transcript produced by the White House, the complaint states.

The complaint notes White House lawyers were "already in discussion" about "how to treat the call because of the likelihood, in the officials' retelling, that they had witnessed the president abuse his office for personal gain."

White House lawyers also directed officials to remove the transcript of the call from a computer system that stores them for Cabinet-level officials and instead put the transcript in a system for especially sensitive information, the whistleblower alleges.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/26/politics/whistleblower-complaint-released/index.html

 

"I am not partisan and I am not political," said Maguire.

When the I.G. turned over to him the report alleging misconduct by the President, the first thing Maguire did was turn the matter over to the President's lawyers. He acknowledged that his office consulted with the White House counsel's office and William Barr, who sometimes doubles as the U.S. attorney general.

At first, he caved to White House pressure, not following the law and not turning over a complaint that the intelligence community's inspector general deemed "urgent and credible."

That was last week. This week, Trump caved and released the transcript of the call and the whistleblower complaint.

 

Does TRUMP have ANY REAL FRIENDS????Dirty Donald NEVER says anything only once,he generally repeats just about everything several times changing the only magnification adjectives.

 

Conspiracy...Obstruction of Justice...let's start there

 

Trump said, "I would like you to find out about the other thing. There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it... It sounds horrible to me."

On Aug. 12, consistent with the procedures established in the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act, an unidentified whistleblower sent a disclosure and complaint to the inspector general for the intelligence community.

The inspector general determined upon preliminary review that the complaint was credible and that it related to a matter of “urgent concern” (a statutory classification). The inspector general then transmitted the disclosure to the director of national intelligence (DNI), as required by law.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...ligence-ig-why-is-it-being-withheld-congress/

The inspector general was appointed by Trump.

The acting DNI broke with Trump and his Republican supporters Thursday, defending a whistleblower and intelligence committee watchdog who exposed contacts with Ukraine that could help lead to the President's impeachment.

"I believe that the whistleblower and the inspector general have acted in good faith throughout. I have every reason to believe that they have done everything by the book and followed the law," said acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, testifying before the House Intelligence Committee.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/26/politics/maguire-house-intelligence-committee-testimony/index.html

The acting DNI was appointed by Trump.

The Republican-led Senate voted unanimously in favor of a resolution on Tuesday calling for a whistleblower complaint involving President Donald Trump to be turned over to congressional intelligence committees.

https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-unanimous-vote-trump-whistleblower-complaint-2019-9

 

Oh God! That has to be the worst punch line I have ever heard.

I honestly thought that the joke had something to do with the fact that Trump doesn't have friends.

 

No. "The newly released transcript of President Donald Trump's phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reveals that Trump repeatedly urged him – eight times -- to work with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to help with investigations, including into former Vice President Joe Biden and Biden’s son."

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tim...es-leader-investigate-biden/story?id=65850945

 

You're making an assumption, no matter how SAFE of an assumption you think it is. Biden is not JUST a politcal opponent to Trump. He is also a Senator to the United States of America.

 

Right, but you're NOT automatically assuming what Trump's intent was?

 

Okay. Make your case.

Was it unlawfully restricted? From whom? For how long? Did Trump direct the restriction. Did he even know about it? Who told him what about the justification for the restriction? Did he know it was unlawful? Did he have to know it was unlawful?

Get back to me when you have evidence based answers to those questions and then I'll give you some more.