Darn it, there are so many witnesses, and this does provide more context for the Bolton and Volker resignations, as well as the Coats and Gordon resignations.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was among administration officials who listened in on the July 25 phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a senior State Department official said Monday, a disclosure that ties the State Department more closely to the House impeachment inquiry.
Mr. Pompeo’s participation on the call hasn’t been previously reported. Last week, a State Department official disputed the contention in a complaint filed under federal whistleblower laws by a Central Intelligence Agency officer that another top State Department official, counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl, listened in on the call.
House Democrats have opened an impeachment inquiry focused on Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, and lawmakers are focusing on the whistleblower complaint and a record of the call released by the administration.
On Monday, House committees subpoenaed Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, for documents related to Ukraine.
Three House committees on Friday subpoenaed Mr. Pompeo for documents related to the inquiry; the secretary has until Oct. 4 to produce them. Separately, the committees plan to depose five current or former State Department officials regarding Ukraine.
www.wsj.com/...
Australia and perhaps Italy are also involved. Darn that “pattern of misconduct”.
“President Trump pushed the Australian prime minister during a recent telephone call to help Attorney General William P. Barr gather information for a Justice Department inquiry that Mr. Trump hopes will discredit the Mueller investigation, according to two American officials with knowledge of the call,” The New York Times reported Monday.
“And like the call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, the discussion with Mr. Morrison shows the president using high-level diplomacy to advance his personal political interests,” The Times added. “President Trump initiated the discussion in recent weeks with Mr. Morrison explicitly for the purpose of requesting Australia’s help in the Justice Department review of the Russia investigation, according to the two people with knowledge of the discussion. Mr. Barr requested that Mr. Trump speak to Mr. Morrison, one of the people said.”
Trump’s request of Australia was bizarre.
“In making the request, Mr. Trump was in effect asking the Australian government to investigate itself. The F.B.I.’s counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election began after Australian officials told the bureau that the Russian government had made overtures to the Trump campaign about releasing political damaging information about Hillary Clinton,” the newspaper noted.
www.rawstory.com/...