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As the justice system slowly . . . Trump's problems are not going away.

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  • As the justice system slowly . . . Trump's problems are not going away.

    Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/516112-senate-panel-seek-documents-in-probe-of-dhs-whistleblower-complaint




    Senate panel seeks documents in probe of DHS whistleblower complaint

    BY TAL AXELROD


    The Senate Intelligence Cocmittee is investigating a recent whistleblower complaint from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official who alleges he was pressured to alter intelligence reports to align with President Trump’s rhetoric.

    Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), the acting chair and vice chair of the Intelligence panel, wrote to DHS deputy general counsel Joseph Maher on Thursday asking for documents relating to the whistleblower complaint, according to a letter first reported by Reuters.

    The complaint, filed by career DHS official Brian Murphy, alleges that political appointees sought to modify or suppress vetted intelligence to match or support Trump’s public remarks on various issues. Among the most notable claims from Murphy, who until recently was acting chief of DHS’s intelligence and analysis (I&A) office, was that officials pressed him to stop producing intelligence reports centered on Russian interference efforts and instead focus on the threats posed by China and Iran.


    “These allegations, if true, raise serious concerns about a potential disregard for the objectivity and impartiality of intelligence analysis and the role of the I&A in the Department,” the senators wrote to the DHS counsel.

    “As the Committee investigates this matter, we respectfully request that you provide the Committee with all intelligence assessments produced by I&A related to Mr. Murphy’s complaint including but not limited to products related to migration and asylum, foreign interference in U.S. elections, and domestic threats related to white supremacism, antifa and ‘anarchist groups.’”



    The Hill previously previously reported that the Senate panel planned to examine Murphy’s complaint.

    The Trump administration has pushed back against Murphy’s allegations, saying this week there is no “truth to the merits” of the complaint.

    Still, Democrats have seized on Murphy’s claims, alleging they are further evidence that the intelligence community has been politicized under the Trump administration.

    Hillicon Valley: Dems seek to expand DHS probe after whistleblower...

    DHS rejects House Democrats' call for Wolf to testify
    House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Friday told Maher that his panel will move to expand an ongoing House probe beyond intelligence activities in Portland, Ore., to include claims of political interference and the politicization of intelligence raised Murphy’s complaint.

    "The Committee is continuing to probe I&A’s activities in Portland and in support of the Department’s protests nationwide. ... However, based on information that has recently come to light, the Committee’s investigation must now encompass and review a wider range of reported abuses, deficiencies, and problems, including allegations of improper politicization of intelligence and political interference in I&A’s mission and activities," Schiff said.

    Murphy said he was reassigned earlier this year to the role of assistant to the deputy under secretary for DHS's management division, a move he has described as a retaliatory demotion. The agency has denied his allegations.

    © Copyright Original Source

    Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
    Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
    But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

    go with the flow the river knows . . .

    Frank

    I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

  • #2
    Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

    Comment


    • #3
      Don't laugh, seer, they're sure to get Trump this time. No, really.
      Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
      But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
      Than a fool in the eyes of God


      From "Fools Gold" by Petra

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by seer View Post
        Bowling with heads.
        Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
        Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
        But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

        go with the flow the river knows . . .

        Frank

        I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
          Don't laugh, seer, they're sure to get Trump this time. No, really.
          It's funny, the Biden team is not bringing up Trump's impeachment. It must not be polling well...
          Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by seer View Post
            It's funny, the Biden team is not bringing up Trump's impeachment. It must not be polling well...
            You'd think an issue that lasted the majority of Trump's term and created so much press sensationalism would be brought up during the election if it has been based on any sort of principle.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by seanD View Post
              You'd think an issue that lasted the majority of Trump's term and created so much press sensationalism would be brought up during the election if it has been based on any sort of principle.
              Come to think of it, has the Biden campaign been able to consistently attack Trump on any one point? Seems like they're flailing around.
              Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
              But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
              Than a fool in the eyes of God


              From "Fools Gold" by Petra

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                Come to think of it, has the Biden campaign been able to consistently attack Trump on any one point? Seems like they're flailing around.
                I haven't been keeping track myself because whenever I hear Biden speak it just sounds like an addled elder person who can barely form a coherent sentence. I know he's incessantly criticized Trump about his covid response and not "following the science," the typical leftist trope, but the only thing Trump didn't follow the science on was a national lockdown, something that Fauci was adamant about. And that turned out to be a disaster for a lot of the states that did lock down. So, even though the left wanted Trump to get authoritarian (likely so they'd accuse him of that as well), Trump did the constitutional thing and left it up the states, and all the states that didn't lock down had better results.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by seanD View Post
                  I haven't been keeping track myself because whenever I hear Biden speak it just sounds like an addled elder person who can barely form a coherent sentence. I know he's incessantly criticized Trump about his covid response and not "following the science," the typical leftist trope, but the only thing Trump didn't follow the science on was a national lockdown, something that Fauci was adamant about. And that turned out to be a disaster for a lot of the states that did lock down. So, even though the left wanted Trump to get authoritarian (likely so they'd accuse him of that as well), Trump did the constitutional thing and left it up the states, and all the states that didn't lock down had better results.
                  And masks. And social distancing. And honestly stating that COVID is far more deadly than the flu and with long term health effects far more serious than the flu. And honestly revealing that it's not just "old people" who are at risk. And not pressuring states like Florida and Texas to prematurely open. And not placing political pressure on HHS to manipulate data. And not asking to "slow the testing down." And packing his supporters elbow to elbow in rally after rally to this day (literally happened today).

                  None of those things he failed to do are controversial, ineffective, or things he wasn't aware were recommended and needed.
                  Last edited by LiconaFan97; 09-12-2020, 10:38 PM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by LiconaFan97 View Post
                    And masks. And social distancing. And honestly stating that COVID is far more deadly than the flu and with long term health effects far more serious than the flu. And honestly revealing that it's not just "old people" who are at risk. And not pressuring states like Florida and Texas from prematurely opening.

                    None of those things he failed to do are controversial, ineffective, or things he wasn't aware were recommended and needed.
                    Fauci, his science advisor, was the one who downplayed wearing a mask. Senior citizens ARE more at risk for covid. Nine states that didn't lockdown at all had low fatalities and better economies, so the effectiveness of whether Texas or Florida shutdown or didn't shutdown or opened too early or whether they would have just ended up with as high fatalities as other states that opened up later is highly debatable. Trump pressuring states to lockdown not only would have been unconstitutional, but probably downright stupid.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by seanD View Post
                      Fauci, his science advisor, was the one who downplayed wearing a mask. Senior citizens ARE more at risk for covid. Nine states that didn't lockdown at all had low fatalities and better economies, so the effectiveness of whether Texas or Florida shutdown or didn't shutdown or opened too early or whether they would have just ended up with as high fatalities as other states that opened up later is highly debatable. Trump pressuring states to lockdown not only would have been unconstitutional, but probably downright stupid.
                      Do you know why Fauci initially discouraged widespread mask usage? He's been very explicit about why he said what he said and what circumstances prompted him to start recommending them unequivocally. Why hasn't Trump changed his stance?

                      I didn't dispute that older people are more at risk than younger people. I said to be honest that COVID poses a risk for younger people as well. He thought the danger to young people was noteworthy enough to mention it to Woodward.

                      Every state had at least a partial lockdown.

                      You can correlate the increase in cases and deaths in Florida and Texas very easily with the date of their reopening.

                      And no, it would not have been unconstitutional to pressure states to lock down.

                      This is totally off topic for this thread so I'll leave it there but you're clearly not very informed on this matter.
                      Last edited by LiconaFan97; 09-12-2020, 11:19 PM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by LiconaFan97 View Post
                        Show me an in-context quote of Fauci saying that masks don't help. I know of an out-of-context one that made the rounds. And in the full clip from that interview Fauci puts on a mask.

                        I didn't dispute that older people are more at risk than younger people. I said to be honest that COVID poses a risk for younger people as well. He thought the danger to young people was noteworthy enough to mention it to Woodward.

                        Every state had at least a partial lockdown.

                        You can correlate the increase in cases and deaths in Florida and Texas very easily with the date of their reopening.

                        And no, it would not have been unconstitutional to pressure states to lock down.

                        This is totally off topic for this thread so I'll leave it there but you're clearly not very informed on this matter.
                        Nine states specifically had no stay-at-home order, which is what I meant by lockdown/shutdown. There's no possible way to gauge the effectiveness of how each state would have fared in this regard only to note that most states with the strictest lockdowns faced the worse fatalities and highest unemployment (the moral probably is that a national lockdown would have been even more of a disaster, as each state had different nuances and thus required different approaches to effectively avoid fatalities with the least amount of economic damage).

                        Fauci not only downplayed wearing a mask, but admitted he intentionally did it so as to avoid a mask shortage for medical personnel. I mean, if you don't even know that, then there's no point even continuing the discussion, and if you think it's off topic then don't start it, especially one you're obviously uninformed about.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by seanD View Post
                          Nine states specifically had no stay-at-home order, which is what I meant by lockdown/shutdown. There's no possible way to gauge the effectiveness of how each state would have fared in this regard only to note that most states with the strictest lockdowns faced the worse fatalities and highest unemployment (the moral probably is that a national lockdown would have been even more of a disaster, as each state had different nuances and thus required different approaches to effectively avoid fatalities with the least amount of economic damage).

                          Fauci not only downplayed wearing a mask, but admitted he intentionally did it so as to avoid a mask shortage for medical personnel. I mean, if you don't even know that, then there's no point even continuing the discussion, and if you think it's off topic then don't start it, especially one you're obviously uninformed about.
                          Some of those nine states had partial stay at home orders I believe. So the number nine is high. I think only five had no stay at home orders of any kind. And I'm fine with that. Some states are really big and don't have very many people. My state had a full stay at home order so I didn't really pay much attention to other states.

                          If you know the reason why Fauci said that then why bring it up? Surely he gave Trump the true answer which is that masks would help. You are also doubtless aware that Trump has failed to offer any sort of similar unequivocal public endorsement of mask usage now that Fauci has given clear, public guidance. So it's false that Trump has followed the science excepting a national lockdown (no idea if that was recommended). That was the only point I was trying to make to correct your off topic claim.
                          Last edited by LiconaFan97; 09-13-2020, 12:07 AM.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by LiconaFan97 View Post
                            Some of those nine states had partial stay at home orders I believe. So the number nine is high. I think only five had no stay at home orders of any kind. And I'm fine with that. Some states are really big and don't have very many people. My state had a full stay at home order so I didn't really pay much attention to other states.

                            If you know the reason why Fauci said that then why bring it up? Surely he gave Trump the true answer which is that masks would help. You are also doubtless aware that Trump has failed to offer any sort of similar unequivocal public endorsement of mask usage now that Fauci has given clear, public guidance. So it's false that Trump has followed the science excepting a national lockdown (no idea if that was recommended). That was the only point I was trying to make to correct your off topic claim.
                            If science experts were lying about masks because they wanted to reserve them, why would Trump show any support of its necessity? By him wearing one in public, he'd be setting an example of its necessity and thus defeating the purpose of the lie. IOW, Trump WAS following the science in that regard.

                            And yeah, I was wrong, as there were three states that had partial lockdown orders and five that had none. Those eight had low fatalities (35 per 100k or lower) vs. states that had extreme lockdown orders and faced the highest fatalities (from 68-179 per 100k). Those 8 states also had the lower unemployment than their lockdown counterparts, so my point was this talk of a national lockdown, something Fauci strongly urged, is utter nonsense. Trump made the correct move NOT following the science in case and leaving it up the states.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by seanD View Post
                              If science experts were lying about masks because they wanted to reserve them, why would Trump show any support of its necessity? By him wearing one in public, he'd be setting an example of its necessity and thus defeating the purpose of the lie. IOW, Trump WAS following the science in that regard.
                              I doubt anyone would disagree that the president should have a mask even if they are in vanishingly short supply. He's not only the president but he also comes in close contact with the vice president and any number of high level government employees on a regular basis.

                              And now that masks are readily available why has he not clearly, publicly, and unequivocally recommended their use?

                              Comment

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