Thread by @karolcummins

💣Boom💣

NEW DETAIL: Whistleblower complaint about President Trump involves Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter - The Washington Post washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

DEMS are examining whether Trump and his attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani sought to manipulate the Ukrainian government into helping Trump’s reelection campaign.

Lawmakers have demanded a full transcript and a list of participants on the call.
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Atkinson made clear that he disagreed with a lawyer for the ODNI, who had contradicted the IG & found that the whistleblower complaint did not meet the statutory definition of an urgent concern because it involved a matter not under the DNI’s jurisdiction.
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Atkinson told lawmakers he disagreed with the lawyer’s analysis — meaning he felt the matter was under the DNI’s purview — and also that it was urgent “in the common understanding of the word,” the person said.
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Someone, Schiff said, “is trying to manipulate the system to keep information about an urgent matter from the Congress …

There certainly are a lot of indications that it was someone at a higher pay grade than the DNI.”
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In a Sept. 17 letter to intelligence committee leaders, Atkinson wrote that he and Maguire “are at an impasse” over how the whistleblower could contact the congressional committees.
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Link to letter: washingtonpost.com/context/read-t…

Ordinarily, a matter of urgent concern that the inspector general deems credible is supposed to be forwarded to the intelligence oversight panels in the House and Senate.
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The complaint involved communications with a foreign leader and a “promise” that Trump made, which was so alarming that a U.S. intelligence official who had worked at the White House went to the inspector general of the intelligence community
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“As the 2020 election draws closer, President Trump and Giulianiappear to have increased pressure on the Ukrainian gov’t& its justice system in service of Trump’s reelection campaign, and the White House and the DOS may be abetting this scheme,”
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Giuliani traveled to Ukraine to pressure that government outside of formal diplomatic channels to effectively help the Trump reelection effort by investigating Hunter Biden about his time on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company.
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📌Rep Schiff the chairmen of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees wrote, citing media reports that Trump had threatened to withhold $250 million in aid to help Ukraine in its ongoing struggle against Russian-backed separatists.
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📌Lawmakers also became aware in August that the Trump administration may be trying to stop the aid from reaching Ukraine, according to a congressional official.
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8/28/19 Trump holds up Ukraine military aid meant to confront Russia

politico.com/story/2019/08/…

9/5/19

Trump tries to strong arm Ukraine to meddle in the 2020 election
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9/12/19: Trump Will Release Suspended Military Aid to Ukraine, Lawmaker Says
defenseone.com/politics/2019/…

The filing of the whistleblower complaint has led to what veterans of U.S. spy agencies described as an unprecedented situation with potentially grave consequences. .
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…