Past 24 Hours: Trump’s Abuse Of Power Deepens

More and more news about Trump’s gross abuse of power continues to come out. In fact, there is so much bad news that it can be hard to keep up. Here’s the latest, in case you missed it:

Attorney General Barr held private meetings with foreign officials seeking their help to discredit U.S. intelligence agencies’ investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Washington Post: “Attorney General William P. Barr has held private meetings overseas with foreign intelligence officials seeking their help in a Justice Department inquiry that President Trump hopes will discredit U.S. intelligence agencies’ examination of possible connections between Russia and members of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the matter.”

Pompeo was listening in on the call where Trump pressured the Ukrainian president, despite previously suggesting he had no knowledge of the call.

Wall Street Journal: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was among the administration officials who listened in on the July 25 phone call between President Trump and Ukraine’s president, a senior State Department official said Monday, a disclosure that ties the State Department more closely to the House impeachment inquiry.”

ABC News: “He appeared on ‘This Week’ on Sept. 22, when he made no mention of being on the call with Ukraine’s president when asked about it. He said he had not seen the whistleblower’s complaint.”

It wasn’t just Ukraine. Trump also pressured the Austalian prime minister to help Attorney General Barr gather information to discredit the Mueller investigation, potentially helping him win reelection.

New York Times: “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 inspector general of the intelligence community released a statement pushing back on the Republican conspiracy theory that the whistleblower form was recently changed — it wasn’t.

Office of the Inspector General: “The Disclosure of Urgent Concern form the Complainant submitted on August 12, 2019 is the same form the ICIG has had in place since May 24, 2018, which went into effect before Inspector General Atkinson entered on duty as the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community on May 29, 2018, following his swearing in as the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community on May 17, 2018.”

A former advisor to the Ukranian president said that it was a “well-known fact” Trump wanted compromising info on his political opponent, and that the Ukrainian president knew critical U.S. aid was at stake.

CBS News: “A former member of the Ukrainian parliament and adviser to Ukraine’s president told CBS News it was a ‘well-known fact’ there that Donald Trump wanted ‘compromising’ information on former Vice President Joe Biden. Serhiy Leshchenko added that Ukraine’s president knew that U.S. aid to his country was at stake.”