“We have the worst laws” – Donald J. Trump

By Glen Reaux

Once again, so-called-president Trump has stoked the fires of controversy.  In what could be violations of several federal laws stemming from corruption and extortion to possibly treason, Trump’s reported July telephone conversation with the president of Ukraine appears to be far more egregious a crime than anyone ever thought possible of an American President.  In the conversation, Trump is alleged to have pressured the Ukrainian president at least 8 times to investigate his biggest threat to the 2020 election, Joe Biden and his son Hunter.  To compound Trump’s problems and fuel the impeachment bandwagon which some Republicans are now considering, Trump’s self-appointed personal attorney and so-called Attorney General, William Barr volunteered to be Trump’s Mafioso Consigliere. Much like Robert Duvall who portrayed Tom Hagen the Godfather’s fixer, William Barr and his Department of Justice have inserted themselves into the middle of this recent Trump debacle.  Barr has utilized taxpayer money and resources to obstruct a Congressional investigation mandated by the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989.  Under the “black letter law,” which is not open to interpretation, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) must forward a whistleblower complaint to Congress within 7 days.  Barr’s Justice Department advised DNI Joseph McGuire not to follow the law.  Upon being ordered by Congress to report to a hearing 2 days later, McGuire refused.  This prompted House Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman, Adam Schiff to issue a subpoena for the whistleblower complaint.  These actions by Trump’s administration are at the root of this controversy and should motivate every American to want the truth behind what is really going on and the possible threats to the upcoming presidential election. There are several things to investigate to determine “The Truth behind Trump’s Whistleblower Complaint and the 2020 Election Threat.”  To do so effectively, once again, Vladimir Putin’s influence on the Trump orbit must be re-visited.

Here are the facts that explain the back-story of Trump’s relationship with Ukraine and his discussions with the Ukrainian President about his Democratic Presidential rival, Joe Biden.

1. By area, Ukraine is the largest country in Europe and has a 1,000-mile long border with Russia. Ukraine was a member of the Russian-controlled Union of Socialists Soviet Republic (USSR) aka the Soviet Union until 1990.  Due to the Cold War demise of the Soviet Union, Ukraine declared its independence.
2. Trump Campaign Manager and convicted felon Paul Manafort worked for nearly a decade and earned millions working for a Ukrainian corrupt pro-Russian political party and oligarchs close to Putin. Manafort’s job entailed getting Ukraine’s Party of Regions standard-bearer, Viktor Yanukovych elected as president of Ukraine.  Putin-backed Yanukovych served as President from 2010-2014 at which time the Ukrainian people revolted against Yanukovych who favored Putin over an alliance with NATO.  Yanukovych fled the country to Russia where he now lives under Putin’s protection.
3. Manafort’s business partner and fellow political consultant in his Ukraine dealings was Konstatin Kalimnik. According to the Mueller Report, Kalimnik was a Russian intelligence operative that Manafort shared Trump campaign strategies and polling data with.
4. In February of 2014, Putin invaded Ukraine and took control of the Crimean Peninsula which is still under Russian control. Fighting persist between Ukraine, Russian-backed separatists and Russia on the Ukrainian eastern border.
5. In response, the Obama Administration placed crippling economic sanctions on Russia. The G8 expelled Russia from the economic organization resulting in the organization’s new structure and name, G7.  These actions by the west have crippled the Russian economy.  Since taking office, Trump has fought hard to remove those sanctions with some success.  He has also been the only G7 leader to lobby for Russia’s re-admittance to the organization.
6. In 2014, the U.S. appropriated funds to help Ukraine defend against Russia and Congress passed the Ukraine Support Act as a means to continue support.
7. In May of 2016, Paul Manafort the former political consultant for ousted, Putin-backed, Ukrainian President Yanukovych became Donald Trump’s campaign manager. As campaign manager, Manafort (who owed millions to Russian oligarchs} was not paid by Trump which is not a normal relationship.  If Trump did not pay him, who did?
8. Throughout 2016, Putin managed an election interference campaign on behalf of Trump which successfully placed him in the White House.
9. In April of 2014, Burisma Holdings Limited hired Hunter Biden as a lawyer and Board member for the Ukranian energy company.
10. In March of 2019, Manafort was sentenced (including time served), to a total of 7.5 years for being a foreign agent and for Ukrainian related crimes committed against the U.S.

Throughout this election cycle, Democratic candidate and frontrunner Joe Biden has led Trump in the polls by large margins making him Trump’s biggest obstacle to re-election. Trump’s attempt to solicit dirt from Ukraine on Joe Biden is an obvious attempt to help his re-election campaign and boost his falling poll numbers.

It is well known around the world, that Trump has welcomed and participated in foreign interference in our elections.  In a June 16, 2019, broadcast interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Trump extended an open invitation to all comers to interfere in the upcoming election and to provide him with help and information.  This is a direct violation of federal election laws.  In May of this year, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani scheduled a trip to Ukraine to ask the Ukrainian government to dig up dirt on Joe Biden.  In several television interviews, Giuliani confirmed his intentions as being on Trump’s behalf and that he did not consider the trip to be illegal nor unethical.  He later canceled his trip when Ukrainian governmental officials refused to consider the Trump request or meet with him.

Early in July, less than 2 months after the Ukrainian government refused to honor the Trump request to investigate Biden, the Trump administration refused to release $250 million in funds appropriated by Congress to help Ukraine continue its fight against Russia. On July 25^th, less than a month after Trump refused to release Ukraine’s funds which were guaranteed by the Ukraine Support Act of 2014, on a phone call with the Ukrainian President, Trump pressured newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky at least 8 times to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.  This incident prompted an intelligence community employee to file a whistleblower complaint with the Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael K. Atkinson.  The Trump administration has refused to comply with the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 which mandates that the whistleblower complaint be forwarded to Congress within 7 days of receipt by the Director of National Intelligence. Finally, in the second week of September, after the whistleblower story made the news, Trump released the funds to Ukraine.  The events surrounding this incident and the timing of the whistleblower complaint are extremely suspicious.  It could easily be construed that Trump attempted to extort the President of Ukraine into digging up dirt on Biden in exchange for the release of funds that were already approved and in the budget.  On Monday morning, September 23^rd, at 3:23Giuliani tweeted an unsubstantiated-claim that Ukraine laundered $3 million for Hunter Biden.

Following up on Giuliani’s tweet, Trump on the same day stated that he held up funds to Ukraine due to corruption associated with Hunter Biden.  While visiting in New York on Monday in preparation for a U.N. conference, Trump stated to reporters:

“We want to make sure that country is honest. It’s very important to talk about corruption. If you don’t talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country that you think is corrupt?” “It’s very important that, on occasion, you speak to somebody about corruption,” he stated, shortly after telling journalists: “Let me just tell you — let me just tell you. What Biden did was wrong.”

The law mandating Ukrainian funding does not allow for any discretion on the part of the Presdient nor does it give him the power to hold or fail to release funds. Trump has not only withheld $250 million from Ukraine, he has withheld an additional $770 million in funds appropriated for European countries that border Russia.  The actions on the part of Trump have weakened our National Security while at the same time aiding Putin in his aggression against European countries that border Russia, some of them are American allies.  It would appear to an outside observer that Trump has launched an ongoing campaign to repay Putin for his help with the 2016 election.  According to a Senate Intelligence Committee Report, Russia has never ceased in its election interference operations.  The report also states that Russia will continue into the 2020 election and beyond. ^{1}

In light of Putin’s ongoing campaign to help Trump stay in office coupled with Trump’s active measures to withhold military assistance to our allies and his recent highly questionable actions that appear to be an extortion attempt against Ukraine to get dirt on Biden, a “clear and present danger” to the upcoming 2020 national election is apparent.  Trump’s willingness to break federal laws mandating Congressional oversight of the Executive Branch on intelligence and national security issues is a red flag that points to dangerous behavior threatening the next presidential election.  Such actions clearly fall in the category of “high crimes and misdemeanors” and to secure our future elections, must be investigated by Congress.  However, when the Intelligence Community refuses to comply with the law and the Trump Justice Department runs interference for Trump by claiming “Executive Privilege”, oversight investigations are nearly impossible placing our country in extreme danger from both without and within.

In compliance with federal law, Inspector General Atkinson filed the following letters to Congress.  The first letter dated September 9, 2019, explains the severity of the whistleblower complaint and the probable threat to national security.  The IG expressed the matter as being one of “urgent concern” and further stated, “relates to one of the most significant and important of the DNI’s responsibilities to the American people.”

The second letter from IG Atkinson dated September 17, 2019, explains that the Acting Director of National Intelligence, Joseph McGuire was refusing to comply with the law and that Atkinson did not agree with McGuire.

The matter of so-called president Donald J. Trump and his refusal to comply with numerous federal laws mandated to provide for our national security and the safety of our elections should be sounding alarm bells here in this country for they are sounding in the halls of our allies.  His open and disgraceful kissing of Putin’s Butt in exchange for Russian interference in our elections is criminal at the very least.  And, his recent perceived attempts to extort dirt on one of his political-adversaries form one of our allies is just another debacle that rises to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors” and must be punished with impeachment.  Our 2020 national election is not safe from foreign interference designed to illegally re-install Donald Trump as president. Our election system and its subsequent results cannot be trusted.  Millions of Americans may even be prohibited from voting or stricken from the voter rolls.  For the House and Senate not to address this “clear and present danger” to our elections is a dereliction of duty that will surely lead to the death of our democracy, the destruction of our liberties and the rise of tyranny in America.

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Linked Sources and Documentation

1. Senate Intelligence Committee Report: https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report_Volume1.pdf