White House Seeks Deal for Whistle-Blower to Speak to Congress

[Kablooie]

Source: NY Times

White House and intelligence officials are working out a deal to allow the whistle-blower who filed an explosive complaint about President Trump to speak with congressional investigators, as part of a broader effort by the administration to quell calls for Mr. Trump’s impeachment, two people briefed on the matter said Tuesday.

The director of national intelligence is also expected to release a redacted version of the whistle-blower’s complaint in coming days, people familiar with the situation said.

----

But by Tuesday, the administration was working on several fronts to disclose key elements of the material sought by Congressional Democrats. Mr. Trump said as he attended meetings at the United Nations on Tuesday that he would release a transcript of his call on July 25 with Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The decision to release a transcript of the call made seeking a compromise on the whistle-blower easier, a person familiar with the matter said. But the information in the complaint goes beyond the material in the transcript, meaning there are still potential issues of White House executive privilege that need to be resolved, the person said.



Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/us/politics/trump-whistleblower-congress.html

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Another REDACTED version is coming. Oh boy!

Damn. The House Intelligence committee had better demand the full, un-redacted version.
If the allow it to be redacted, of course the redacted part will be the criminalizing part.

But it's great to see Trump on the defensive.
My guess is that the Republicans in the Senate voting to release the Whistleblower report has spooked him.
I hope it's the beginning of them making a real turn.

[msongs]

1. the 18 minutes of blank tape nt

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

33. Yup, it's Watergate all over again... tRump's goose is cooked!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[democratisphere]

2. Since when are criminals allowed to provide redacted evidence

as a means of saving their own ass.

[Newest Reality]

5. Really!

"Your honor, I was not at _______ on_______ with ________. I did ___________ when I _________ after I went to the ______. In this empty bag was a _____________ that I ______________ with."

That works great. I bet you could win a case with that.

Redactions don't cut in this case.

[calimary]

32. They'll make a "Mad-lib" word salad out of it.

Hey, CONS, you can fill in the blanks with whatever words you think will exonerate your “hero.”

[beachbumbob]

3. Time for negotiations must be over, time for democrats to do their duty

They swore to do.


The whistleblower in front of an open impeachment inquiry committee under oath on TV.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

34. I think they'll come through this time with Nancy now out in front supporting a impeachment inquiry.

Nancy deserves a lot of credit for finally making this come to fruition.


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[beachbumbob]

37. I think she was forced into this position and still wonder why no accoutnabilty has been

forced on ANY trump admin official yet. You should not be able to ignore subpoenas or lie to congress with out repercussions and yet no one has suffered any.

For this "inquiry" to be real, democrats have to be willing to play it the way republicans do when they deal with democrats

so far, we haven;t seen the game elevated to contempt charges with fines or other impeachment inquiries into the likes of Barr and DeVoss (and others) who both have lied directly to congress on multiple occasions.

Does trump really fear Pelosi? Does GOP?

We really haven;t given them any reason to yet

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

38. Oh, it's comin... no way the Democrats blow this golden opportunity to be rid of that POS.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[beachbumbob]

40. highly unlikey he will be "rid of" except for not being re-elected

GOP in the Senate will never convict even if photos of trum banging a 16yr were part of the charges.

Realistically this is all politics now and who better can build the outrage and get voters out in Nov 2020

trump won;t be removed by impeachment

[orangecrush]

42. Senate repubs will impeach

If it becomes apparent political suicide not to do so.

And we may already be there.

[Scarsdale]

25. What the HELL are they hiding?

Innocent people hide nothing. Open up the entire report. They got away with it once, with the Mueller report. This time, we need open, truthful communication. The gop has covered his fat orange arse for too long.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

35. It does make you wonder.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[tableturner]

6. NO REDACTIONS! Remember Watergate tapes redactions? NO WAY THIS IS OKAY!

[silverweb]

7. This may be a dumb question, but...

Why can't the whistleblower just contact a member of the House Intelligence Committee directly? The DNI is in violation of the law by not doing his duty, so it would seem appropriate to preempt him at this point.

And why does the WH even have a say in whether he or she can speak to a member of the Committee - or any member of Congress, for that matter?



On edit: Just read in HuffPo that the whistleblower's attorney has told the committee that he or she would like to meet with them. Now that's what I'm talking about!

[canetoad]

17. Read on Lawfare a few days ago

That by law the DNI shall provide the complaint to Congress (as we know) OR the DNI shall advise the whistleblower on how to contact the appropriate committee directly.

The whistleblower, his lawyers, the IG and the Democrats all want to do this by the book, so it makes sense in this context.

[silverweb]

18. Clarification appreciated.

Thanks!

[CincyDem]

27. Reported last night: Whistle blower lawyer wrote to Acting DNI asking for that guidance.

Effectively said "WB wants to talk to congress, please provide guidance".

Response: We don't think the IG assessment of "urgent" is correct based on input from DoJ and, as a result, WB isn't protected by the statute. That said, we appreciate that they want to speak with congress and we'll get back to you in a few days after we receive guidance from the key parties.

[silverweb]

30. Good to know.

Whistleblower protection is not something to be thrown away or risked lightly. Thanks for the update!

[DrToast]

21. Yes, do it all by the book, but....

...if this shit drags on, they should just invite the whistleblower to testify.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

39. YESSSSS!!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[bluestarone]

8. Fuck this shit

Full speed ahead to hearings!!

[bucolic_frolic]

9. No. No deals. Criminals do not select the evidence.

NO DEALS!

[onetexan]

44. +1 K&R

[yaesu]

10. playing the redacted game again. nt

[sinkingfeeling]

11. Back tracking already.

[cstanleytech]

12. They already said they would not convict him in the Senate so I doubt that he is spooked over that.

What he is probably spooked over is it going to court and then being ordered to provide an unredacted version is what is probably spooking him.

[Scarsdale]

26. By backing him, the gop

is paving the way for the destruction of the (R) party. Unlawful behaviour must be stopped. They impeached Clinton for a BJ, for gawd sake. This clown is selling out the entire country. The gop is complicit. More impeachments should follow, Pence, Barr, Moscow Mitch, Mulvany and others were all "in on it". So far the media has helped the gop cover their crimes. Time for TRUTH and HONESTY.

[calimary]

41. One can hope it paves the way for that.

Reminds me of all those reckless voters who said in 2016 that they “just want to burn it all down”. They may have thought that was the “maverick-y” thing to do. They had NO idea...

[erronis]

13. The "transcript' will not be a verbatim recording of the words spoken by both sides.

It is what is recorded by personnel sitting with the pResident and it is just hand-written notes. These personnel are not likely to be completely uninvolved with the ahole and may be pressured on what they record.

Why aren't unfalsifiable tapings allowed?

In any case the NSA/KGB/Mossad/5Eyes/etc. will have complete recordings. Just not the plebes of the US.

[truthisfreedom]

14. Heh heh heh.

[The Liberal Lion]

15. Deal?!?

How this for a deal: go fuck yourself trump

[LovingA2andMI]

16. Consider the Source....

The NEW YORK TIMES. How many times they have put out lead balloons on Trump's behalf? Remember Hillary's Emails -- i.e. the New York Times main "story" for a freaking year?

Again, consider the source.

[ancianita]

19. No. No. And NO. NO TERMS ON ANYTHING FROM THE WH. (not yelling, just EMphasizing)

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

20. F U C K T H A T! nt

[George II]

22. They don't dictate anything about a "whistle blower deal", that's the point behind the WB law!!!

[SunSeeker]

23. No, Trump, you get no deal. You get nothing! You LOSE!

[regnaD kciN]

24. JUST SAY NO!

"No" to a redacted anything. Any other result, or anything that implies that a redacted version will be acceptable, will only mean we're going to get another "Barr summary"...and, by the time we see the unredacted version (if we ever do), the media and American public will have "moved on" and the time for action will have passed.

And "no" to "negotiated terms" for the whistleblower. That likely means "the Republican and Democratic heads of the Intelligence Committee, with the provision that they're not allowed to relay the actual information to anyone beyond the hearing room's walls." If we allow that, there will be no media focus, the Republicans will emerge from the hearing declaring that nothing revealed there implicated Trump and that this is merely "a Democrat witch-hunt," the Democrats will disagree but be legally unable to reveal anything to substantiate their claims, and it'll be all over but the shouting.

[Farmer-Rick]

29. Since when is a credible and serious complaint turned over to the person that the complaint is about

Since when do criminals get to arrange deals with their witnesses?

Since when does the target of a complaint get to arrange the circumstances of how the witness will report?

Is anyone buying this attempted cover up?

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. A plea deal? If Trump and Pence admit guilt, they won't get prosecuted after resigning?

That seems the only reasonable deal.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

36. Fuck with the deals... turn over the evidence or just add an obstruction charge

to the letters of impeachment.


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[LiberalLovinLug]

43. A DEAL? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

NO F'N WAY.