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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSeth Abramson...It's more than disturbing inappropriate misconduct
Last edited Mon Nov 11, 2019, 01:56 AM - Edit history (2)
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1193576528552091648.htmlTHREAD) The Trump-Ukraine scandal is a NATIONAL SECURITY scandaland media's failure to explain this to America is hindering the scandal being treated as the national security emergency it is. This isn't about Biden or one call; it's much bigger. I hope you'll read on and share.
1/ First, the background: every president has a foreign policy, a process for taking in intel, a temperament that makes handling/avoiding certain types of conflict more likely, and a disposition toward the U.S. intel community. Trump's is historically dangerous, even treacherous.
2/ The Trump campaign's Russia policy was underwritten by Putin "friend" Dmitri Simeswho now works for the Kremlin for $500K/yr (look it up). His Saudi/UAE policy was directed by three Saudi agents: Nader, Prince, al-Otaiba. Israel's ambassadorDermerdirected his Israel policy.
3/ Trump refuses to secure his phones; hides foreign calls from his staff; has said he trusts foreign intel over U.S. intel; publicly derides the USIC; has publicly invited at least three nations to interfere with our elections; and has disclosed classified intel to our enemies.
4/ When autocrats around the world want to commit war crimes, Trump does nothing to stop it: he does not believe Putin should be punished for invading Europe in 2014; just let Erdogan invade Syria; and but for Tillersonwho he fired because of thiswould've let MBS invade Qatar.
5/ Trump told China he'd stay quiet on Hong Kong while trade negotiations were ongoing, and that's a pattern up and down Trump's national security profile: economicsAmerica's or, *far* more commonly, the Trump Organization'sdrive his foreign policy and handling of intelligence.
6/ When Trump set up a *clandestine diplomatic apparatus* to undermine U.S. foreign policy for his own political benefit, it was a *massive* national security breach violating *many* federal statutes, among them onethe Logan Actdesigned to protect U.S. sovereignty and security.
7/ A parade of nonpartisan civil servantssome, known Republicanshave come before Congress to describe a situation in which Giuliani and a goon squad (and at least one Putin-friendly oligarch) were actively seeking to undermine our foreign policy. But it's even bigger than that.
8/ What Trump wanted was fake (manufactured) intelligence from the Ukrainian government that would (a) exculpate Russia entirely from any responsibility for declaring cyberwar on America in 2016, (b) allow him to pardon Manafort and Flynn to further hide Russian collusion, and...
9/ (c) pave the way for a series of national security disasters: Russia's invasion of Europe getting rewarded rather than punished (an echo of what Trump did with Turkey); Russia being positioned to attack us again; and Ukraine having the license to interfere with the 2020 vote.
10/ Knocking off a potential 2020 rival was just the cherry atop a national security scandal. But what *wasn't* beside the point was what Trump was holding up: military aid Ukraine desperately needs to hold off Russia on its eastern border and repel a Kremlin invasion of Europe.
11/ Trump is quoted as having said he doesn't care about Ukraine, that what matters is our relationship with Russia. Part of Trump's apparent frustration with Ukraine stems from his own failed business investments there between 2006 and 2008it has nothing to do with Ukraine now.
12/ In reality, Trump's attempts to do business in Ukraine in the late 2000s failed because of his own povertybut it appears he blames his failure on the nation's business climate. That made Manafort's 2016 suggestion he blame Ukraine for Russian aggression the perfect revenge.
13/ Trump told his national security team in March 2016 he didn't want to confront Russia over Ukraineand he'd already said, in July 2015, that sanctions on Russia over Ukraine were unnecessaryand then directed his team to cut from the GOP platform lethal assistance to Ukraine.
14/ The "grand bargain" I wrote of in PROOF OF CONSPIRACY had the co-conspirators bribing Ukraine with a nuclear-turbine contract for Turboatom so that Ukraine would agree to let international sanctions on Russia be dropped. (It was a foolish plan that would never have worked.)
15/ Upshot: since the late 2000s, particularly after Putin's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Trump's attitude has been that Ukraine only matters for what can be extracted from itand is a *thorn in his side* to the extent it stands in the way of him dropping sanctions on the Kremlin.
16/ Those are *Trump's* concerns: do business in Ukraine; extract manufactured intel from Ukraine; then let Putin do *whatever the hell he wants* with Ukraine.
So what are *America's* concerns? Well, our diplomats have been telling Congress the answer to that in their testimony.
17/ *America* sees Ukraine as a European country invaded by an autocrat who wants to reconstitute the Soviet Union under his rule. *America* sees Ukraine as an emerging democracy we must do all we can to foster. *America* believes Ukraine is a *bulwark* again Russian aggression.
18/ Trump has been a national security threat from the day he entered officeand that'd be the case even if his foreign policy wasn't written by our enemies; if he hadn't divulged classified intel to our enemies several times; if he wasn't permitting war crimes around the world.
19/ He's a national security threat because he rejects national security protocols, has declared war on US intelligence, lets his business interests guide his foreign policy, doesn't believe in American democracy or rule of law, and daily aids and abets America's enemies abroad.
20/ Ukraine is of *vital* importance to Americaand Trump has put it under threat via bribery, extortion, secret diplomacy, denial of military aid, tampering with Ukrainian politics, the promotion of corruption, conflicts of interest, illegal solicitation of donations, and more.
21/ Any action that makes Ukraine less safe makes *America* less safe, and *everyone* in the US diplomatic corps and US intel had made that clear to Trump *before* hein addition to all I said in my prior tweetadvocated ending Russian sanctions and denying lethal aid to Ukraine.
22/ So yes, Trump violating the law to block military aid, using a clandestine diplomatic corps, seeking bribes from Ukraine, attempting to hide evidence of what he'd done, and lying about it all has to do with *our national security in the face of Russian aggression in Europe*.
23/ Media believes Biden will be the Democratic nomineeand has a bias toward center-left political moderation underwriting its belief, along with a penchant for the horserace in politicsso it's inclined to frame this story as a Trump-Biden proxy war centering on one phone call.
24/ But given that Trump's relationship with Ukraine begins with Manafort and failed business exploits and even near-involvement in a deal with Firtashand now is wrapped up in his relationship with Putin and his hope the 2020 election will be compromisedBiden's an afterthought.
25/ So I'm *begging* NatSec experts, legal experts, and those who've done as much research on Trump's business dealings/foreign policy development as I have to *do all you can* to let America know this is a NATIONAL SECURITY SCANDAL, not an oopsie involving "dirt" on Biden. /end
PS/ As for Manafort, the conspiracy theory fed to Manafort by Kremlin agent Kilimnik is cherished by Trump's former campaign chief because it positions the cases against him as part of a Ukrainian plot. If Trump "exposes" thenonexistentplot, he has an excuse to pardon Manafort.
PS2/ Trump needs to pardon Manafort to make sure there's no risk Manafort will change his mind and flip; NBC News already reported in January 2018 that Trump's *greatest fear* is Manafort "flipping" on him. Why? Manafort can confirm Trump knew of Manafort's collusion with Russia.
PS3/ So the Ukraine scandal is aboutin order of importance
1. Trump
2. Putin
3. Manafort
4. Clinton
5. Don Jr. [ensuring rigged elections should he run]
6. Ivanka [ensuring rigged elections should she run]
7a. The Ukrainian businessmen
7b. Trump is
7c. pissed at.
10. Biden.
PS4/ You know who else thinks this is a national security scandal, not an "oppo research" scandal? Bolton. Eisenberg. Vindman. Sondland. Hill. Taylor. Kent. Sullivan. Reeker. Ellis. Basically *everyone*from both sides of the aislesees national security where media sees "Biden."
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Invalid, rigged, my ass....and Lindsey we are going to have you singin...You cant handle the truth
malaise
(268,949 posts)Rec
pbmus
(12,422 posts)malaise
(268,949 posts)It needs to be seen and circulated widely
joost5
(421 posts)at thread with nicely presented details
dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)triron
(21,999 posts)malaise
(268,949 posts)and yes the media has failed but so have elected ReTHUGs at several levels
FirstLight
(13,360 posts)Share this far & wide...send it to the MSM and tell them to get the message RIGHT for a change...
ritapria
(1,812 posts)To put on a Circus to obscure everything Seth is referring to ..A lot of the GOP Congressmen will hand over their time to Jordan ...He will rant on and on about Trump being railroaded by a "Soviet-Style coup" being led by Nancy Pelosi ,Adam Schiff and The Deep State ..It's all bullshit , but the Trump Cult will buy it ..40% of the Country and 85% of Republicans simply don't give a damn what Trump does ...The GOP Cowards in Congress are a afraid of being primaried ...It's very depressing ...We can't just blame Trump ...40% of the Country has turned it's back on Democracy
malaise
(268,949 posts)Fuck the Con and his cult.
pbmus
(12,422 posts)Haggis for Breakfast
(6,831 posts)Pepsidog
(6,254 posts)FakeNoose
(32,634 posts)Everyone please share this info however you can.
Seth Abramson walks the walk, and he brings it every time!
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)spanone
(135,827 posts)democrank
(11,093 posts)warmfeet
(3,321 posts)Kitchari
(2,166 posts)Pepsidog
(6,254 posts)Kurt V.
(5,624 posts)Grasswire2
(13,568 posts)Share this widely.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)thesquanderer
(11,986 posts)triron
(21,999 posts)NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)that he won 2016 fair and square without Russian help and that it was Clinton colluding with Ukraine to try to stop Trump that was the "real" scandal.
So, if he gets manufactured dirt from the Ukraine, Biden is lower on the list than Clinton.
triron
(21,999 posts)NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)portions of the Mueller Report and all those cases he referred to other USA offices
LuvNewcastle
(16,844 posts)It's my wish that this stuff comes out in the public impeachment hearings.
OhNo-Really
(3,985 posts)Its the free world vs The Mob/Gangstas/Dictators/Theocrats who seem to have joined forces
SonofDonald
(2,050 posts)Really going on, between him and Rachel you get most of the way there.
58Sunliner
(4,384 posts)Roy Rolling
(6,915 posts)How he can write so much on such short notice is amazing. Great insights.
dalton99a
(81,455 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,328 posts)malaise
(268,949 posts)but we also need people to know about these crimes and the criminals who committed them.
MFGsunny
(2,356 posts)READ IT .... AT LEAST A FEW TIMES.
LET ITS DETAILED DAMAGE SINK IN.
RE-POST IT ON YOUR FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.
COPY PASTE AND SHARE EVERYWHERE.
crickets
(25,963 posts)We have a president undercutting our country's safety for his own personal power and financial gain. National security scandal is just a nice way of saying treason.
Kid Berwyn
(14,885 posts)Research that, members of the Fourth Estate, the elected rep said, stepping out of the SCIF.
Very important stuff here