Profile picture
Seth Abramson
@SethAbramson
, 3 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
If media reports today's news correctly—not just saying (as they have been) that the only thing the memo shows is Trump asking Ukraine to investigate Biden (which would on its own still be impeachable)—the GOP talking points issued this AM will fail, and we'll hit a turning point
1/ The memo is what lawyers call a "prima facie" case of quid pro quo, meaning on its face it'd establish a quid pro quo in court, pending a rebuttal; moreover, in establishing a quid pro quo, the memo establishes impeachable crimes (bribery and illegal solicitation of donations)
2/ Any outlet that says only that the memo "shows Trump asking Ukraine to investigate Biden" isn't being even-handed, but rather *not doing its job*—and is providing *inaccurate* legal/factual analysis in an effort (presumably) to avoid angering sensitive Trump-supporting readers
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Seth Abramson
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @SethAbramson see all

Profile picture
Seth Abramson
@SethAbramson
(UPDATE) Well—I was right. I wanted to be wrong. Pelosi has—as I said was clear from Democrats' public statements—revised her impeachment plan to exclude everything but Ukraine. Democrats will ignore the 10 impeachable acts of obstruction Mueller proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
SOURCE: CNN cnn.com/politics/live-…
PS/ The reason for the shift is as I said in the thread below (inexplicably maligned at the time, though it was in keeping with all of the major media reporting): Pelosi thinks the Democrats can't complete a full impeachment—on *all* the facts—fast enough.
Read 4 tweets
Profile picture
Seth Abramson
@SethAbramson
This DOJ OLC opinion is amazing. The ICIG/DNI passed to the DOJ a complaint itemizing misconduct by many parties, including—in addition to Trump—Giuliani and unnamed White House officials who were misusing an NSC intel archive. DOJ *only* considered Trump. cnn.com/2019/09/26/pol…
1/ Much worse, in a footnote in the memo the DOJ *acknowledges* the possible misuse—by White House officials—of an NSC-maintained archive *unquestionably* under the DNI's jurisdiction, but then says *because the ICIG didn't focus on that*, DOJ won't either. Doesn't work that way.
2/ The OLC opinion explicitly envisions a case in which a non-agency party (White House officials) perpetrate a fraud on an IC agency (here the NSC) under DNI jurisdiction—*just what the whistleblower alleges*—but then concludes, falsely, "none of those circumstances exist here."
Read 6 tweets
Profile picture
Seth Abramson
@SethAbramson
It's *this very fact* that puts the whistleblower complaint in not just the DNI's jurisdiction but the language and dicta of the statute: the individuals who maintain the NSC's now-*fraudulent* intel archive—because it's used to *hide political materials*—are overseen by the DNI.
1/ The DOJ's opinion holds that if there's *any* person in a whistleblower complaint who *isn't* beneath the DNI *and* in the intelligence community—in other words, if a president *ever* appears in a whistleblower complaint—only the president's subordinates at DOJ can address it.
2/ Not only is that—as Schiff noted—total nonsense because it may leave serious national security-implicating complaints unable to be investigated by anyone but a subordinate of the subject of the complaint, *here* it meant the DNI couldn't oversee *his own* subordinates. Crazy!
Read 4 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
Alex Griswold
@HashtagGriswold
I'm not sure I get the people seizing on "I would like you to do us a favor" as the smoking gun, because it transparently has nothing to do with Biden
If the case for a quid pro quo* is that the Ukrainian president mentioned aid, and then Trump asked for a separate favor, and then the Ukrainian president brought up Giuliani separately, and Trump talked about the Giuliani/Biden stuff... that's weak, man.
*I also don't understand the need to prove a quid pro quo!
Read 7 tweets
Profile picture
Stonekettle
@Stonekettle
I'll write a longer piece on this Trump/Zelensky transcript over the next few days, but initial takeaways are:

From an impeachment standpoint: this transcript -- and note that this IS an edited transcript, NOT the actual full conversation -- is very bad for Trump.

1/
And this is the part that boggles my mind, because they actually thought it would CLEAR him.

That shows you just how little these people actually understand about what they are doing.

2/
The transcript confirms Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden (something Trump already admitted both verbally and on Twitter), and offers an implied mob-like quid pro quo in return.

Again, confirming what we already know of the whistleblower complaint.

3/
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
Friend or Foe?
@starknightz
1. #News ~ EXPLOSIVE! 'Shut up, you moron!'

Fox panel erupts as Rudy Giuliani THREATENS LIBEL against former Schumer aide.

Rudy, "I don't know why you have that man on." @IngrahamAngle



#Trump #Qanon @realDonaldTrump #Ukraine @RudyGiuliani @FoxNews
2. #News ~ CHECKMATE: President Trump Set to Release Ukraine Phone Transcripts as Pelosi Announces Impeachment Inquiry bigleaguepolitics.com/checkmate-trum… #Trump #Qanon @realDonaldTrump #TheGreatAwakening #WWG1WGA
3. #News ~ McCarthy: They’ve Been Investigating President Trump Since Before He Was Elected breitbart.com/clips/2019/09/… #Trump #Qanon @realDonaldTrump #WWG1WGA #Ukraine
Read 28 tweets
Profile picture
Paula Chertok🗽
@PaulaChertok
⚠️🧵If WH releases Ukraine call transcript, beware gaslighting "the likes of which we've never seen." It's Putin's propaganda playbook: Endless confusion & division, turning reality on its head to make truth—& journalism—irrelevant. Clumsy b/c Trump. But it's already claimed GOP.
Watch this chilling BBC clip & you'll recognize Trump's Russian propaganda playbook: Putin made politics a bewildering constantly changing piece of theater to undermine the perception of reality. People can't tell what's true, don't believe their own eyes or journalists' facts./2
Constant shifts make even proven facts FEEL doubtful & confusing. Trump’s already shifted his story from denial to disinformation:
—"fake news story"
—“partisan” whistleblower
—"spy"
—Biden's the "real" story
Except it's not. It's a conspiracy theory smear, contrary to facts. /3
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
Jim Hanson
@Uncle_Jimbo
If this is about Trump telling Ukraine to investigate Biden using his position as VP to save his son from corruption charges

This may backfire on the Dems

It's a legitimate request to look at a flagrant abuse of state power by Biden
Biden forced Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who was going to investigate the corrupt oligarch his son Hunter worked for by threatening to withhold $1B. Biden brags about it in this video,

If Trump was talking to #Ukraine about this real abuse
Biden is the one w/ a big problem
Trump has every right to ask a foreign leader to investigate corrupt actions of a former US VP

It would be wrong to let Biden slide because he is running for office again. His abuse of power previously is a matter that deserves investigation regardless

nytimes.com/2015/12/09/wor…
Read 7 tweets
Profile picture
Just Security
@just_security
Amid a new House probe into whether Trump is w/holding aid to #Ukraine for its defense v. #Russia in exchange for fake “dirt” on Biden, check out @ViolaGienger’s deep dive.

Thread ...

justsecurity.org/66101/trump-an…
“President Trump and his personal attorney appear to have increased pressure on the Ukrainian government and its justice system in service of President Trump’s reelection campaign." -- @RepEliotEngel @RepAdamSchiff @RepCummings in letters to WH & State.
.@violagienger notes "It was the widely known & publicly espoused position of the USG, across a half dozen agencies, that the prosecutor’s ouster was among crucial anti-corruption measures the Ukrainian government needed to take to move forward economically and politically."
Read 10 tweets

Trending hashtags

#guilt #Kadel #BREXIT #maga #E66th #TrumpRally #Trump #president #MAGA #Walkaway #EnemyOfThePeople #CRISIS #BoycottHollywood #PATRIOTISM #photos #abuse #techbias #Schools #Hypocrite #DEMOCRATS #MCCFail #WINNING #FISA #problematic #Crooks
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!