The "Cover-Up" is in the Timeline

[kentuck]

They say the "cover-up is worse than the crime. That may or may not be true?

The cover-up in the Ukraine scandal is defined in the timeline. Trump withheld aid from Ukraine beginning on July 25th, the day he had his conversation with President Zelenskiy.

In August, the White House found out that there was a "whistleblower". The OMB discussed the illegality of withholding the aid, per Congressional authority. A couple officials within the OMB resigned over the matter.

The "whistleblower" matter was forwarded to AG Barr and the DOJ, where they attempted to bury it. It was supposed to go to the Congress, by rule of law. They covered it up.

After Trump discovered that there was a whistleblower, he attempted in his phone call with Ambassador Sondland to create an alternative timeline with an alibi for himself. That was the call where he said, "I want nothing! I want nothing! There is no quid pro quo!"

By September 7th to the 9th, the Congress made it known that they were going to investigate the matter. Trump then released the aid on September 11th, but only after the Congress got involved. He thought they could bury the whistleblower report but withholding mandated Congressional aid was another matter altogether.

The NYTimes broke the story about the timeline yesterday. We now see where the cover-up started and how they worked to create an alternative narrative thru the OMB, with the assistance of Mick Mulvaney and others.

They got caught and we now see how they attempted to cover it up.

[kentuck]

1. They got caught! They got caught!

Say it so many times that the Trumpsters puke.

Pound it into their thick skulls!

They got caught! They got caught! They got caught! They got caught! They got caught! They got caught! They got caught! They got caught! They got caught! They got caught!

[C_U_L8R]

2. I've been saying we need two big charts.

The timeline and the org chart.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. those would be very helpful

[lagomorph777]

16. Rachel should do that - especially the timeline.

[MartyTheGreek]

3. The second time I heard about the Sondland - Trump Restaurant Call, I felt it was staged...

Reminds me of the time that Trump's lawyer Ty Cobb tried to throw off Mueller by saying out loud publicly and easily overheard at a restaurant frequented by journalists, stating that he was going to comply with the Mueller document request, but this was not in agreement with White House lawyer McGahn at the time.

Like Michael Cohen said, Trump speaks in code. Trump has been known to do this in the past as as a faint and to divert attention away all the while creating a false narrative and meme favorable to his defense. Then the Wing Nut reality TV news echo chamber makes it a thing.

https://americatalks.com/politics/report-robert-mueller-requests-documents-from-white-house-for-russia-probe/

[kentuck]

4. I remember that conversation that was overheard by a reporter.

I had not connected it in the same way. Good catch!

[Mme. Defarge]

9. Very interesting.

[lagomorph777]

17. But the Sondland-Trump call was very incriminating for both parties.

I don't get how they might have thought it would help them?

[MartyTheGreek]

19. Not as much as QPQ. In fact that's why he said no QPQ over the phone!

So it would be widely known, and even hacked in public! A public alibi and not as bad as QPQ.

[lagomorph777]

24. I think we're talking about different calls.

The one in the restaurant, overheard by Holmes, was Trump asking whether Sondland had succeeded in extorting a promise from Zelenskyy, and Sondland assuring Trump that he had. There was a different one where Sondland called Trump to ask what to tell Taylor, and Trump texted Sondland to say "No Quid Pro Quo" - that's the one the songs were written about.

https://thenextweb.com/distract/2019/11/22/these-songs-inspired-by-trumps-handwritten-quid-pro-quo-defense-are-peak-twitter/

[Laura PourMeADrink]

25. "trump texted Sondland to say "No Quid Pro Quo" "

You did mean "text"? I thought that NQPQ was from when Sondland phoned trump , right??

I was reading somewhere that that might have been made up. iow, trump and Sondland came up with the verbiage and Sondland just made up that there was a phone call.

[lagomorph777]

30. I had heard that Sondland had called, then got a text response.

But now we're learning the whole thing was fictional, made up after the fact.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

31. Been out of pocket for holidays - WOW that is so interesting. Knew the guy was

very very tight with trump. He really skated through testimony. Admitting to some but not to other things. I knew when he specified that he said Burisma and not Biden at that wine lunch...the the fix was in. Trump can defend investigating what he thinks is a corrupt company. At least, that will be his defense.

Of course the guy at lunch said he said Biden. What I missed was - the other two? people at lunch. Did they ever ask them the same question? burisma or biden?

BTW another weird thing is how Sondland just happened to have SOME texts and emails ONLY. Like how did he get those? the ones that he wanted the world to see?
And then Pompeo? said it wasn't true - all his emails are available to him. so effing fishy.

[lagomorph777]

33. Lots of fine points that are difficult to convey to the public, but critical to the case.

Thanks for that analysis!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

34. Yes...in today's media world you have to make it super simple...all people can absorb.

Was thinking about that the other day....Nixon, tape, breakin. Boom. The needle on Trump hasn't moved. No matter what he does. Why? Perhaps Dems need to dumb it way the hell down? It is complicated...but so what if no one ever listens and absorbs any of it.

[lagomorph777]

36. One really helpful tool would be a visual timeline.

Really sets things in perspective.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

38. Agree. Noticed in hearings they were constantly bouncing

Back and forth in time. Maybe they had to? But it was confusing. Now, now that we know so much more and see how it fits together YES absolutely need a timeline. It would show so much more that he has done wrong besides just the act itself of withholding aid. Like firing Macha, and setting up the NQPQ defense bullshit.

People who are visual can't understand verbal. But verbals can also understand visual.

[lagomorph777]

39. The details all emerged out of sequence. The timeline can tie them together.

The discovery process is inherently random, but the reporting process should reduce entropy.

Watching the discovery / investigation in real time is like watching a TV show with lots of flashbacks - can be very hard to follow.

[yonder]

5. Good summary. Brief, concise and clear.

[malaise]

6. +1,000

[OhNo-Really]

7. And Nancy Pelosi has a Decoder Ring

Trump never lived with any oversight of accountability, just yes men like any Mafia Don.

Now badass Pelosi & her Posse are sitting on his shoulders privy to his antics.

[certainot]

8. why did linmbaugh talk about it on his show the 30th of april?

mueller report came out april 18, he has golf with linmbaurgh the 19th to show he can destroy any senator that turns on him, but also i'll bet he talked with linmbo about ukraine - it was on his brain and linmbo talked about ukraine biden on his show
april 30. this is why all they needed was an announced investigation - so they could put this all over 1500 radio stations for a year:

Yeah, you knew it. You had forgotten it, because it's never reported. No, hang on, before you go crazy out there, folks. Joe Biden's son, Hunter, "was kicked out of the Navy for failing a cocaine drug test; then he divorced his wife, the mother of their three daughters, after a yearlong affair to marry his brother's widow. Over the course of the divorce, Biden's son drained hundreds of thousands of dollars from the couple's assets by spending extravagantly on his own interests, including drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, strip clubs, and gifts for women with whom he had sexual relations while leaving the family with no money to pay legitimate bills."

Actually, worse than that. By the way, I have news links for every one of these stories. This one is Delaware Online. Now, all of this is on top of the billions of dollars Joe Biden dubiously arranged from the Ukraine. There is a huge financial scandal. Biden's up to his neck in Ukrainian scandals, not Trump, and it puts Manafort to shame. Biden has a daughter who has been arrested several times on drug charges. "While he was vice president, she was videotaped snorting cocaine, but the news media decided not to publish the video.”

[gulliver]

10. Nice post

The coverup also shows Trump and his servants knew it was wrong. The coverup continues, with the Republican Party as an accomplice.

[kentuck]

11. That is an important point.

The Republicans are aiding in the cover-up.

They are accomplices.

[DallasNE]

12. They Got Caught

The "I want nothing" comment always seemed out of place following his phone request that said "first I need a favor, though".

But a timeline construction earlier showed that Trump likely knew about the whistleblower at the time he released the aid. This just importantly removes "likely" from that statement as he knew. Then there is the enablers....

[kentuck]

13. It seems that he was going to get Barr to bury it for him?

When it was sent over to the DOJ?

But the IC Inspector General notified the Congress about it and that sort of blew their cover.

When Congress began to investigate, Trump released the aid.

It was attempted bribery and an attempted cover-up.

[Mme. Defarge]

14. I'm confused.

Back in mid-September when the whistleblower story first became public we learned that the acting DNI took the complaint to the White House for guidance how to handle any executive privilege issues. So didn’t we know from the beginning of the public version of the story that the president likely knew?

[kentuck]

18. Yes, the DNI was supposed to take it to the Congress.

He ended up taking it to the DOJ and Bill Barr, who was going to deep-six it.

But the ICIG informed the Intel Committee, is my understanding.

Then Trump released the aid.

[Mme. Defarge]

21. We knew about that cover-up

when the public first learned about a whistleblower complaint. I’m glad it’s being discussed now, but it’s something that was made public in mid-September.

(Maybe it would help if I actually read the recent NYT article 😼 )

[kentuck]

22. Their argument was that the aid was released and there was no dirt gotten on the Bidens.

Of course, a rumor of dirt on the Bidens is as good as dirt on the Bidens. He has succeeded with his rumors, in my opinion. But, the most recent timeline shows him and his defenders as liars. He did not release the aid until he was caught. It was not the whistleblower that caused him to release the aid, it was the involvement of the Congress. There was a conscience of guilt.

[Mme. Defarge]

23. Ok, got it.

Thanks for your patience.

[Pachamama]

28. This gets me thinking that the former DNI Dan Coats needs to testify to what he knew last summer

[Captain Zero]

20. I see that, Trump never used the phrase 'no quid pro quo' until AFTER

the shit had hit the fan and it ("quid pro quo&quot was being used in both the press, and the Congress.
Suddenly bumblefuck knows how to not only say it but also happens to insert it into a conversation that ends up getting out and repeated ad nauseum on Fox News.

That looks fishy.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

26. Did I miss something? "Trump released the aid on Sept 11"

I thought there was controversy regarding who and when the $ was released. Bolton hinted that HE released it? Then also heard it was released before 9-11. Did I miss some testimony on this?

[malaise]

27. ITTMF

RFN!

[procon]

29. Is everyone involved in the cover up

going to be named as coconspirators? Even if they are, will Barr's DOJ charge them or bury their participation?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

35. No, and no, of course.

[H2O Man]

32. Recommended.

The cover-up is frequently deemed "worse" in these cases, simply because it is where the criminals are exposed. This, as you know, goes back to Watergate. However, the pre-cover-up crimes are worse than the cover-up. It is usually the fact that the cover-up is a surer conviction for prosecution.

[smirkymonkey]

37. K&R