RUMORBLOWER NOT WHISTLEBLOWER by Larry C Johnson

Now that we have seen the whistleblower complaint filed by a CIA officer against President Trump, there should be little doubt that it is a fraud and represents an abuse of the whistleblower process. I know genuine whistleblowers (e.g., Bill Binney, Kirk Wiebe, Ed Loomis, Thomas Drake, John Kiriakou, etc.) and have been one myself. I am familiar with the kind of information one must possess (or should possess) in order to initiate a complaint. This complaint does not even meet the stupid standard. It is a trumped up complaint.

This CIA officer who filed the complaint has no direct evidence or knowledge. He heard things from other people. He was not party to the phone conversation and did not have access to the transcript. Instead, he cited public media as “corroboration” for his allegations, including reports by John Solomon.

The whistleblower is supposedly an analyst. Pray to God he is not. If this is an example of this clown's analytical chops then we now know why the CIA has been on the downward slide. Rather than focus on evidence and facts, this guy relied on rumor.

The egregious conduct of the whistleblower is exceeded by the incompetence of the Intelligence Community Inspector General. When the complaint was filed a competent professional IG would have dismissed it immediately because it was based on hearsay. If we follow his logic, every single Presidential conversation with a foreign leader that involves discussion of a policy or issue an analyst does not support could/should become an IG investigation. That is not an intelligence function no matter how sincerely or fiercely the complainant believes their beef merits attention.

It would appear that the Democrats who plotted with this CIA officer were counting on Donald Trump to claim executive privilege on his conversation with Ukrainian President Zelensky and, based on the same privilege, withhold the whistleblower complaint.

Whoops!! Trump did not play ball. He preempted the Democrat Kabuki theater by releasing the relevant documents and transcripts.  President Trump pre-empted the ability of the Democrats to accuse him of illegal acts by citing his refusal to turnover documents.

How can anyone claiming whistleblower status be allowed to file a complaint on something about which they have no direct knowledge? The entire premise of the intelligence community is the access to reliable sources, i.e., people who have direct knowledge of what they are reporting on. The Dems are in a state of flacid erectus.

To appreciate the lies of the so-called Whistleblower, let us compare his claims with what actually transpired:

The Whistleblower Claims:

The President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election. This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President's main domestic political rivals.

What President Trump Actually Said:

I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike… I guess you have one of your wealthy people… The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation. I think you’re surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible. . . .

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.

COMMENT--At no time did President Trump say anything about the 2020 election or the need to do something to Biden to preempt his ability to run for the Democrat nomination. Trump's request was specifically about what happened in light of Joe Biden's public claim--I REPEAT, PUBLIC CLAIM--that he used the threat of withholding aid from Ukraine unless they fired the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the company that hired Joe's cocaine head son, Hunter.

The Whistleblower Claims:

Multiple White House officials with direct knowledge of the call informed me that, after an initial exchange of pleasantries, the President used the remainder of the call to advance his personal interests. Namely, he sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President's 2020 reelection bid:

• initiate or continue an investigation2 into the activities of former Vice President Joseph Biden and his son, Hunter Biden;

• assist in purportedly uncovering that allegations of Russian interference in the 20 I 6 U.S. presidential election originated in Ukraine, with a specific request that the Ukrainian leader locate and turn over servers used by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and examined by the U.S. cyber security firm Crowdstrike,3 which initially reported that Russian hackers had penetrated the DNC's networks in 2016; and

• meet or speak with two people the President named explicitly as his personal envoys on these matters, Mr. Giuliani and Attorney General Barr, to whom the President referred multiple times in tandem.

What Zelensky Actually Said about Hunter and Joe Biden:

President Zelenskyy: I wanted to tell you about the prosecutor. First of all I understand and I'm knowledgeable about the situation. . . He or she will look into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue. The issue of the investigation of the case is actually the issue of making sure to restore the honesty so we will take care of that and will work on the investigation of the case. On top of that, I would kindly ask you if you have any additional information that you can provide to us, it would be very helpful for the investigation to make sure that we administer justice in our country with regard to the Ambassador to the United States from Ukraine as far I as I recall her name was Ivanovich. It was great that you were the first one who told me that she was a bad ambassador because I agree with you 100%. Her attitude towards me was far from the best as she admired the previous President and she was on his side. She would not accept me as a new President well enough. . . .

I also want to ensure you that we will be very serious about the case and will work on the investigation. As to the economy, there is much potential for our two countries and one of the issues that is very important for Ukraine is energy independence. I believe we can be very successful and cooperating on energy independence with United States. We are already working on cooperation.

President Zelensky is asking President Trump for more help and strongly agreeing with Trump that the U.S. Ambassador was acting as a foe of Ukraine. To reiterate--the issue of corruption by Joe Biden and his spawn was already in public and was an issue for Ukraine, not just Trump. Again, not one word about the 2020 election or the Democrat scramble to find a candidate. No threat by Trump to withhold aid. No quid pro quo of any type. Joe Biden is on the record in public demanding Ukraine do what Biden wants or else the U.S. would withhold $1 Billion dollars in aid.

The Whistleblower lied. Not a single mention was made of "locating and turning over DNC servers." This is a complete fabrication by the so-called Whistleblower.

President Zelensky noted that his people had already spoken with Rudy Giuliani and voiced not one single concern about that. And Zelensky said that his Government would fully cooperate with a U.S. law enforcement investigation.

Worth noting that John Solomon of the Hill is out tonight with documents that expose Joe Biden as a liar in this matter.

The heart of the Whistleblower complaint is a lie. The analyst reported hearsay but, as you can read for yourself, was not what was said on that call.

This is an outrageous abuse by the intelligence community. The CIA cannot and should not be trusted. This analyst is an incompetent who does not know how to distinguish between fact and suspicion.

Comments

[Barbara Ann]

Sundance thinks Lawfare wrote it. The 'whistleblower' is simply the delivery platform for their latest weapon. Given the legalistic style, their involvement in Russiagate and the similar modus operandi this seems a reasonable guess. Lawfare themselves (who are clearly Resistance central) are already trumpeting success.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/self-impeaching-trump-zelensky-conversation

[K]

In my defense, I am NOT a lawyer and only threw the article out there for the consideration of others.

Like most normal Americans, I am blithely unaware of all the ways our country has been drawn into the machinations of parts of the world where I believe we don't belong.

These spiderwebs are now two decades old. Trump walked right into them. Now at least we see them for what they are, or are beginning to see their outline in the dark.

[Barbara Ann]

Stephen McIntyre (a sometime commentator here on Russiagate) whose Twitter I linked to above has had his investigation of the form doctoring picked up already. He thinks it was done retrospectively to provide justification for the second hand nature of the rumorblower's report.

https://thefederalist.com/2019/09/27/intel-community-secretly-gutted-requirement-of-first-hand-whistleblower-knowledge/

[turcopolier]

walrus

IMO the Clinton apparat has been at the root of much that has happened. It still exists and hopes for a stalemate in the Democratic nomination process.

[K]

Masterpiece! Bravo.

I have to say, I have become rather a pariah since shifting reluctantly (post-election) into the Trump camp. My spouse and I absolutely cannot talk about it at all, since the last time we did I ended up spending several days camping out at a friend's place. I have one close friend from college who has taken a similar trajectory and we are like shipwrecked soulmates in the midst of a violent storm (that doesn't end!).

It means the world to me to be able to read so many well-thought out posts and comment threads. It is much better then Twitter (I have exiled myself from Facebook).

Thank you for this blog. God bless.

[blue peacock]

Spot on!

[John Merryman]

The irony here is that Trump originally beat the Republicans. You know, Bush/Cheney and company. If the Democrats had played by the assumption that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and tried to at least work around Trump and let him stew in his own juices, rather than taking the low road and just throwing as much mud as possible, they would be in far better shape than they are. What if a Democrat ever becomes president, ever again? How would they govern, given the destruction to the system, they are engaging in? It is much easier to tear down, than build up.
If I were to guess the direction of this country, it will be that disaster capitalism/predatory lending comes home to roost and those with the largest piles of treasuries, likely bought pennies on the dollar, when the debt bubble bursts, will be trading them for the remaining public assets, facilitated by those functionaries who know who their future employers are.
Then we find out what true oligarchy is.

[Fred]

K,

They were all smart enough to get elected to Congress.

[Fred]

K,

Misquoting something or someone and preceding from that is an old troll tactic.

[Fourth and Long]

Persuasive, but it will only convince those who wish to be convinced. Your number 3 is right on. It is insane beyond words. Possibly downright evil. On why use Biden? I guess because it is the executive branch. Obama had washed his hands of Ukraine and all things Russia related, so his supporters say, having abnegated to State, Defense and CIA. Poor excuse, but that's the tale that's been going around. So sending the VP is a way to put some real sting into it? So it will be said.

But your point is exceedingly well taken. Pat Buchanan, while going over some of your ground, cleverly avoids attempting a rigorous demonstration in favor of showing the effective political damage being done.

From his piece at the American Conservative site:

The Real Winner of Impeaching Trump? Liz Warren
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/buchanan/the-real-winner-of-impeaching-trump-liz-warren/

Quote:
There is another question raised by Biden’s ultimatum to Kiev to fire the corrupt prosecutor or forego the loan guarantee. Why was the U.S. guaranteeing loans to a Kiev regime that had to be threatened with bankruptcy to get it to rid itself of a prosecutor whom all of Europe supposedly knew to be corrupt?

Whatever the truth of the charges, the problem here is that any investigation of the potential corruption of Hunter Biden, and of the role of his father, the former vice president, in facilitating it, will be front and center in presidential politics between now and New Hampshire.
Endquote

There are some very astute remarks in that column's comment thread
.

[The Twisted Genius]

Artemisia, The whole Obama Ukrainian fiasco would be a fascinating subject for investigation. The decade long Orange Revolution project was a high water mark in As Obama's point man on this project, Biden would have a lotto sweat over such an investigation. However, his part in getting Shokin fired is not part of his problem. Shokin slow rolled the investigation into Burisma and Zlochevsky for years. He even fired one of his assistants who was trying to push the investigation along. His firing was a good thing. In spite of this, some think Trump was referring to Shokin when he talked about a "very good" and "very fair" former Ukrainian prosecutor in his phone call to Zelensky. Trump may have fallen for Shokin's version of events.

Zlochevsky hired Hunter most likely as an insurance policy given that his father was Obama;s point man for Ukraine. He probably hoped that would force the US and Biden to back off. Ukrainian business and politics have been notoriously corrupt since soon after the breakup of the Soviet Union so Zlochevsky's move was in line with modern Ukrainian culture, just as Shokin's antics as chief prosecutor.

[The Twisted Genius]

Blue Peacock, I'd like to get the read out on all those conversations. So far, all we have is the "F the EU" phone call between Nuland and Pyatt. I'd also like to get a readout of Trump's one on one discussions with Putin. I wonder how they compare with his conversation with Zelensky.

The real deal between Hunter and Burisma was that his hiring was supposed to serve as a shield for Burisma, Zlochevsky and Shokin. Unfortunately for them, the shield failed when the US and Biden went after Shokin in spite of Hunter's bogus seat on the board of Burisma. Hiring Hunter was clearl an attemp to influence, just as the massive flows of donations to the Clinton Foundation when Hillary appeared to be on the ascendency, and all the foreign and domestic money now flowing into Trump properties. It doesn't mean it will work, but it is a clear effort to buy favor. I would not be surprised that the Chinese money to Hunter was the same thing.

[Factotum]

What is the back story about breaking news reports that Whistleblower statute and complaint form was very recently revised that now allows second-hand reporting.

Was there also a problem with back-dating this complaint to slip under the new policy? So much for the "hearsay" rebuttal under these very new, brand new, new guidelines.

[semiconscious]

just found this myself. you were well ahead of the curve on this one! & it is seriously damning, imo. when you're basically forced to bend or alter the rules in order to gain any kind of advantage, you've basically admitted that you can't win honestly...

frustrating that this information, & similar information, will simply go unmentioned in the msm. back in the day, the msm would spin things that ran counter to the narrative. today? they simply ignore them...

[optimax]

John Solomon Has another article on The Hill. The gist being:
"Hundreds of pages of never-released memos and documents — many from inside the American team helping Burisma to stave off its legal troubles — conflict with Biden’s narrative.

And they raise the troubling prospect that U.S. officials may have painted a false picture in Ukraine that helped ease Burisma’s legal troubles and stop prosecutors’ plans to interview Hunter Biden during the 2016 U.S. presidential election."

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/463307-solomon-these-once-secret-memos-cast-doubt-on-joe-bidens-ukraine-story

A year after his appointment, the replacement prosecutor dropped the case against Burisma. Now Ukraine is in the clutches of the IMF. This looks like a future of austerity and privitization of the countries resources. The Bidens are just the public faces of a deeper corruption.

[Eliot]

Col. Lang,

“a movement that he may well not deserve to lead”

He’s all we have.

- Eliot

[LA Sox Fan]

Since the “intelligence activity whistleblower complaint” had nothing to do with an “intelligence activity” as was legally required, the drafting and filing of this particular “intelligence activity whistleblower complaint” were political acts. They accomplished their mission in that Trump was forced to release the call and the complaint to the public, instead of him delaying and Congress leaking them. The complaint has resulted in what appears to be an attempt to impeach Trump, so politically it was very successful.

If it were a legitimate complaint, the DNI could look into the problem and fix it. That’s why these types of complaints must concern activities and individuals that the DNI is responsible for, so the responsible government official, the DNI, can fix the problem. As this complaint is illegitimate, because the DNI can do nothing about the problem, no government official will investigate because none has the authority to do so.

Instead, Congress will investigate with an eye towards impeaching the President. Will we discover truthful answers to your questions, either from Trump or Congress’ investigation? I have no idea. Personally, I doubt it.

[Factotum]

Remember in 2008 when defeated candidate Hilary Clinton wore an orange pantsuit to the DNC nomination night for Barack Obama, when supreme gracitousness was required after Obama (SEIU and ACORN) stuck a knife in her back during the primaries.

The story was Clinton was saying one thing with her words, but sending another message to her supporters with her wardrobe choice.

Lots of clucking about her color choice and her sympathetic relationship to the "orange revolution" at the time. How does that figure into the events of the day?

[Factotum]

Found on the Aug 2019 revised WhistleBlower complaint form: Easily worth the $10,000 fine for some "former Obama official" to lie if it strings up Trump .....one more time.

☐ *I certify that all of the statements made in this complaint (including any continuation pages) are true, complete, and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. I understand that, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1001, knowingly and willfully making a false statement or concealing a material fact in any matter within the jurisdiction of the Executive Branch, including the ICIG, is a criminal offense punishable by a fine of up to $10,000.00, imprisonment for up to five (5) years, or both.

[Eric Newhill]

Gabbard has now broken her oath, sold her soul and jumped aboard the impeachment train. I Knew she was just another phony political animal from day 1

[CK]

" all the foreign and domestic money now flowing into Trump properties." Hotel room rentals? Expense account meals? Playing fees on the various gold courses? Are you suggesting that somehow these retail transactions are influential? The faint whiff of Peppermint Patchouli or TDS floats on the autumn air.

[CK]

One would hope that eventually they will raise their aiming points.

[turcopolier]

Eliot

Amen, brother.

[Eric Newhill]

Eliot,
We still have ourselves and the 2A. Imagine a couple million well armed "deplorables" defending on DC (and the mission is not to "raise awareness"). Imagine truckers striking and refusing to deliver food and fuel to DC, NYC, LA, San Francisco. Imagine cell towers and key junctures of the electric grid leading to those places going down. Imagine 10s of millions of deplorables refusing to pay taxes.

Or we can accept the death of the republic and accept being ruled by elitist globohomo socialists that hate us and intrude into all aspects of our lives - and tax us without representation

IMO, a critical decision making time is met if this coup d'etat succeeds - fortunately I think it won't be this time around, but that day is coming in the next ten years.

[Factotum]

ResState delves into the Whistleblower Revised-Form Gate: https://www.redstate.com/bonchie/2019/09/27/breaking-intel-community-secretly-changed-whistle-blower-rules-allow-trump-ukraine-complaint-just-days-filed/

Smoking gun here and is this why Adam Schiff knew so much about this well Whistleblower complaint before it broke into the public?

What is the public review and hearing process for any federal form revisions? FOIA please. Jusicial Watch, rescue us again.