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State Dept IG To Congress: We Need To Meet About Ukraine — Urgently
Hotair ^
| 10/02/2019
| Ed Morrissey
Posted on 10/02/2019 8:08:44 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
What’s the rush? Last night, Inspector General Steve Linick requested an “urgent” meeting with the chairs of several House committees regarding issues related to Ukraine. The State Department watchdog’s request appears related to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s rebuke to House demands for testimony and threats of legal action without following formal subpoena processes. It might also involve allegations of a conflict of interest.
The Washington Post reported it last night in a passive voice:
The State Department inspector general and two former state officials agreed to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told House Democrats on Tuesday that State Department officials scheduled to appear this week for depositions before committees conducting the impeachment inquiry would not show up.
Pompeos refusal, relayed in a letter, came amid tweets from President Trump, including one questioning why he is not entitled to interview & learn everything about a whistleblower whose identity is protected by federal statute.
Axios reports it in a more active voice, claiming that Linick initiated the meeting and has significant concerns driving it:
State Department Inspector General Steve Linick has requested to meet Wednesday with a number of Senate and House committees “to discuss and provide staff with copies of documents related to the State Department and Ukraine,” according to a letter first reported by the Washington Post.
Why it matters: The details of the “urgent” briefing are unknown, but the news follows an escalating war of words between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and key House committees investigating President Trump’s alleged efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.
- On Tuesday, the chairs of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees rebuked Pompeo for attempting to block State Department officials from testifying, accusing him of “stonewalling.”
- The Wall Street Journal and others reported on Monday that Pompeo was on the now-infamous phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s president, leading the committees to label Pompeo a “fact witness” in their impeachment investigation.
- Former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, who resigned last week, confirmed Tuesday that he would appear for a deposition before the committees later this week. 4 other current or former State Department officials are scheduled to testify in the next 2 weeks, but they have not yet confirmed.
Linick will be a busy man. According to a report by CNN’s Manu Raju, Linick will meet with the House and Senate committees on foreign affairs/relations and intelligence, House Oversight, Senate Homeland Security, and, er … the appropriations committees of both chambers. If that seems odd, remember that one of the issues in this controversy is why aid to Ukraine that was approved by Congress got delayed in being delivered to Kyiv. The implication is that it was connected to Trump’s desire to dig up dirt on the Bidens, one of the topics in the Zelensky call.
Pompeo finally did confirm this morning that he was on the Zelensky call, after playing coy for the past week about it:
“I was on the phone call,” Pompeo said Wednesday during a news conference in Rome with Italy’s foreign minister.
Pompeo was asked if he heard anything on the call that gave him any concerns or raised a red flag.
“I’d been a secretary of state for coming on a year and a half. I know precisely what the American policy is with respect to Ukraine. It’s been remarkably consistent, and we will continue to try to drive those set of outcomes,” Pompeo said.
It hardly seems surprising that the Secretary of State would have been one of the people on hand monitoring a presidential call to another head of government. It would have been surprising if Pompeo hadn’t been on the call. So why play coy? The generous take: Pompeo likely wanted to steer clear of a conflict between the House and Donald Trump and conduct State business as normally as possible under the circumstances. The less-generous take: Pompeo knew the conversation was problematic (if not actionable) and wanted to avoid being put in the position he was in today in defending it.
The least-generous take would be that Pompeo has some knowledge of what Rudy Giuliani was doing in Ukraine on Trump’s behalf and some knowledge of whether that was connected to the delay in aid to Kyiv. If that’s what the IG is sharing today on Capitol Hill, then this might get ugly for Pompeo and Trump very quickly. That might also explain why Giuliani lawyered up yesterday. All of these might also be coincidences too, but if so, they’re certainly curious coincidences.
Otherwise, Pompeo was correct in his letter back to Congress about their high-handed demands from State Department employees. The House certainly has the authority to demand testimony, but they do not have the authority to strip witnesses of legal counsel and the executive branch of their own prerogatives in dealing with the legislature. This controversy is escalating quickly on both sides to the detriment of credibility on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Perhaps the IG will end up providing a kind of deus ex machina intercession to restore order.
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: congress; inspectorgeneral; lawfare; pompeo; statedepartment; statedeptig; ukraine
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To: SeekAndFind
More deep-state horse $hit.
It's coming, folks... don't know when, or how it'll start, but it's coming.
2
posted on
10/02/2019 8:13:51 AM PDT
by
LIConFem
(I will no longer accept the things I cannot change. it's time to change the things I cannot accept.)
To: SeekAndFind
former state officials Really? Sounds like deep state to me.
3
posted on
10/02/2019 8:14:51 AM PDT
by
Fido969
(In!)
To: SeekAndFind
Sounds like the next setup to me. The background of this guy Linick will tell all.
4
posted on
10/02/2019 8:16:18 AM PDT
by
truthkeeper
(All Trump Has Going for Him is the Votes)
To: All
Intel chiefs altered rules about firsthand knowledge for whistleblowers AFTER complaint was filed American Thinker ^ | 10/02/2019 | Monica Showalter / FR Posted by SeekAndFind
Turns out that's an understatement as the Federalist's Sean Davis has now uncovered in a truly outrageus report. We already know that the intelligence community's inspector general (IGIC} mysteriouly changed its rules for anyone filing a whistleblower complaint, to not needing to have one's information firsthand just before the famed whistleblower filed his or her report sometime around August.
Now it comes to light that this same intelligence committee inspector general's office changed its rules after the whistleblower complaint was filed, not before. And they changed the rules to accommodate the embittered anti-Trump intelligence official, Davis reported. A brief bullet point list gives some of the flavor of how badly this 'whistleblower' report has been planned and rigged: The IGIC had sole authority to change the rules, so they were the sole influencer of the report's outcome The IGIC has since claimed that that's irrelevant since it sets the rules
The whistleblower complaint not only broke those rules, its accuser didn't even make its accusation about intelligence matters, just phone diplomacy between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, which is supposed to be protected from leaks. The whistleblower complaint also revealed a ton of made-up lies, utterly negated by President Trump's unexpected release of the transcript.
The IGIC never bothered to cross-check the two items of data - the complaint vs. the transcript -- even thought it could have seen it. IGIC just called that basic act of due diligence 'not necessary.' The IGIC is still hiding the original whistleblower report from Congress (Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com
==================================
AND THIS----VIDEO AT SOURCE
https://www.citizenfreepress.com/breaking/former-top-cia-official-calls-for-full-senate-probe-of-deep-state-cia-theyre-all-obamas-people/
Former top CIA official on Tucker Carlson show calls for full Senate probe of deep state CIA.
Theyre all Obamas people......moreover, official says CIA is at the heart of both Russia and Ukraine scandals.
CFP BLOGGER Hoping Trump now fulfills JFKs purported vow to
splinter the C.I.A. in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds.
Although we know where that got him. (as Schumer says.....they have ways)
D/S recognizes in Trump a man who truly intends to restore and protect the Constitution, and they have been going after him from before day one. Luckily, he is squeaky-clean, or they would have already succeeded. I have little doubt that they have already tried to do a Dallas on him, but he has excellent security.
Godspeed, President Donald J Trump. Smash the traitors, Restore the Republic! We are with you.
5
posted on
10/02/2019 8:17:35 AM PDT
by
Liz
(Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
To: SeekAndFind
"deus ex machina"
Meaning: God in the machine.
6
posted on
10/02/2019 8:17:43 AM PDT
by
Parmy
To: SeekAndFind
Real world military is starting to make ominous threats to the creeps
7
posted on
10/02/2019 8:24:08 AM PDT
by
DarthVader
(Not by speeches & majority decisions will the great issues of the day be decided but by Blood & Iron)
To: Fido969
well last night is was “two congress staffers for schiff’s intelligent committe.
seems to me that nobody has the real story.
8
posted on
10/02/2019 8:30:19 AM PDT
by
redshawk
(Willie's Whore was bused......oh my...lying pig)
To: SeekAndFind
There is a reason why area around DC is one of the highest income area in the country. The deep state is making a grand living. Trump is a disrupter, and the deep state uniparty is pulling out all stops to dislodge him from presidency.
9
posted on
10/02/2019 8:31:33 AM PDT
by
entropy12
(You are either free enterprise or government control. Can't be for both as convenient.)
To: LIConFem
It could be very close. Seems to me Barr could shut it all down if he were to start making arrests.
10
posted on
10/02/2019 8:33:07 AM PDT
by
wastoute
(Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
To: Parmy
“Deus ex machina, (Latin: god from the machine) a person or thing that appears or is introduced into a situation suddenly and unexpectedly and provides an artificial or contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty.”
11
posted on
10/02/2019 8:39:24 AM PDT
by
aquila48
(Do not let them make you care!)
To: SeekAndFind
The State Department watchdogs request... *************
The agency IG's are NOT watchdogs. They are guard dogs that protect their respective agencies.
To: entropy12
There is a reason why area around DC is one of the highest income area in the country. The deep state is making a grand living.
*************
That is a fact. There is huge trough of money continuously flowing through the DC Swamp that enriches the Deep State. Controlling access to this wellspring of money is what Spygate is really all about.
To: SeekAndFind
> “The Wall Street Journal and others reported on Monday that Pompeo was on the now-infamous phone call between Trump and Ukraines president, leading the committees to label Pompeo a fact witness in their impeachment investigation.”
Axios says it matters that news media outlets are saying Pompeo is a ‘fact witness’.
News media matters.
Uh-huh.
14
posted on
10/02/2019 9:47:41 AM PDT
by
Hostage
(Article V)
To: Liz
In war, truth is the first casualty.
― Aeschylus
15
posted on
10/02/2019 9:52:20 AM PDT
by
Hostage
(Article V)
To: Hostage
And why should the Secretary of State NOT be on a phone call with a foreign leader?
16
posted on
10/02/2019 10:00:20 AM PDT
by
SeekAndFind
(look at Michigan, it will)
To: wastoute
Mass arrests will only help spin the lie that Trump is acting dictatorial beyond his powers.
What will happen is Barr will release some evidence gathered, unseal some indictments, cast the entire matter into a court of law against some notable persons and let the court be the third party for the latest coup conspirators to shake their sticks at.
The key thing is to seize control of the news cycle with facts and events that work to squelch reports of whistleblowers and lying snitches.
17
posted on
10/02/2019 10:04:12 AM PDT
by
Hostage
(Article V)
To: SeekAndFind
No reason, but Schiff-Nadler-Pelosi want him hauled before House committees so that their news dogs can portray him as they want, not as he is.
The key is control of the news cycle. The facts, the truth be damned. They are writing the narrative and acting it out just as Schiff read bald faced lies into the Congressional Record before realizing the President would indeed release the transcript. They’re making it up and having their news machine validate it as if it was fact.
18
posted on
10/02/2019 10:10:20 AM PDT
by
Hostage
(Article V)
To: Liz
“Intel chiefs altered rules about firsthand knowledge for whistleblowers AFTER complaint was filed”
Even though this is shocking - it is not unexpected given what they are trying to do to President Trump.
The demrats are truly crazy!
19
posted on
10/02/2019 10:19:43 AM PDT
by
Faith65
(Isaiah 40:31)
To: SeekAndFind
I think the IG nitwit is the so-called “whistleblower” (aka...spy). The guy should be arrested and waterboarded.
20
posted on
10/02/2019 12:04:43 PM PDT
by
hal ogen
(First Amendment or Reeducation Camp???)
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