Democrats subpoena Pentagon, White House budget office in impeachment probe

By Patricia Zengerle

 

U.S. President Donald Trump attends Young Black Leadership Summit at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 4, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats issued subpoenas to the Pentagon and the White House budget office on Monday as part of their impeachment inquiry, seeking documents related to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withhold military assistance from Ukraine.

 

The subpoenas follow a whistleblower's allegations that Trump leveraged $400 million in aid to secure a promise from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate political rival Joe Biden, and his son Hunter, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

 

The taxpayer funds had been approved by Congress to help Ukraine protect against Russian aggression.

 

"The committees are investigating the extent to which President Trump jeopardized national security by pressing Ukraine to interfere with our 2020 election and by withholding military assistance provided by Congress to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression, as well as any efforts to cover up these matters," according to a statement from three House of Representatives panels leading the inquiry.

 

Biden is a leading contender in the Democratic race to face Trump as he seeks re-election in November 2020.

 

The Department of Defense and the White Office of Management and Budget must turn over the documents by Oct. 15, they said.

 

The Pentagon was prepared to work with Congress on questions related to Ukrainian aid, said spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell.

 

The new subpoenas follow those issued to the State Department and White House in recent weeks by the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs Committees.

 

Democrats also have called a number of U.S. diplomats to Capitol Hill for closed-door testimony this week as they build their impeachment case against Trump, while the White House considers ways to slow down the process.

 

Trump has denied he did anything wrong in the July 25 call in which he asked Zelenskiy to work with his personal lawyer Rudolph Giuliani and U.S. Attorney General William Barr to look into the Bidens. The White House released a summary of the call.

 

 

U.S. House Democrats on Monday issued subpoenas to the Pentagon and the White House budget office as part of their impeachment inquiry, requesting documents related to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold military assistance for Ukraine. Chris Dignam has more.

 

"The impeachment inquiry is a scam," Trump said on Monday at the White House.

 

Those scheduled to testify this week include Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union who was involved in efforts to get Ukraine to open the Biden investigation, and Masha Yovanovitch, who was abruptly recalled from her post as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in May after Trump supporters questioned her loyalty to the president.

 

The impeachment investigation could lead to the approval by the Democratic-led House of formal charges against Trump.

 

A trial on whether to remove him from office would then be held in the Republican-controlled Senate. Few Republicans have broken ranks with Trump so far over his asking Ukraine and China to launch investigations of Biden, a former vice president.

 

SECOND WHISTLEBLOWER

On Sunday, lawyers said a second whistleblower had come forward to substantiate an August complaint from an unidentified U.S. intelligence official that touched off the investigation.

 

Diplomatic text messages released by Democrats last week show that U.S. officials were involved in the effort to secure a public commitment from Ukraine to look into the business dealings of Hunter Biden.

 

Trump has alleged that Hunter Biden profited in his business dealings in both Ukraine and China from his father's position, and that Joe Biden, as vice president, pushed Ukraine to fire a prosecutor to impede a probe of a company tied to his son.

 

However, the prosecutor in question was widely regarded by Washington and its European allies as being too lax in his investigations. There has been no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of either Biden.

 

Sondland, a hotelier from Seattle, is a political appointee who was a major donor to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. He was scheduled to testify on Tuesday, and Yovanovitch was due to appear on Friday.

 

Two Florida businessmen with ties to Giuliani will not be able to respond to a congressional request for documents by the Monday deadline and possible testimony a few days later, their lawyer John Dowd told intelligence committee counsel last week.

 

Congressional committee aides have said they are prepared to issue subpoenas for those who not comply with requests to give depositions.

 

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali, Jeff Mason in Washington and Karen Freifeld in New York; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-10-08

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Oops!

This should nail down the co-conspirators who withheld the Congressional funding for Ukraine.

 

Criminals are often not very intelligent, even though they think they are "wicked smaht".

 

If you have further questions "call me", no need for back & forth messaging here. Wink wink.

 

 

 

 

When will the speaker call a vote on this? Oh sorry the criminals who are the actual perpetrators af said actions are the Democrats and some have been known to brag about it to the press. Let us keep this a one-sided political witch hunt. A very sad day for America. How anyone can even support this after seeing the transcript.... Unbelievable. 

8 minutes ago, Scot123 said:

When will the speaker call a vote on this? Oh sorry the criminals who are the actual perpetrators af said actions are the Democrats and some have been known to brag about it to the press. Let us keep this a one-sided political witch hunt. A very sad day for America. How anyone can even support this after seeing the transcript.... Unbelievable. 

Be patient on the votes. No vote is required to formally begin an impeachment inquiry. That's not a real issue. Yes, politics is part of it. Pelosi wants to gather even more evidence and move more congressmen and more of the public. Already a majority of Americans support this impeachment inquiry. Deflections you are trying are not relevant to the impeachment inquiry so to be ignored. The transcript of the call is indeed very damning but that's just the beginning. The text message evidence is solidly proving a quid pro quo. More is coming. You can bet the house on it. (Pelosi is.) Sorry that this upsets some people that the facts are not what they wished for. Oh well!

 

Quote

 

Explosive Texts Reveal Trump-Ukraine Quid Pro Quo

Text messages show U.S. ambassadors pushed Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in return for military aid and a White House invite.

 

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/10/explosive-texts-reveal-trump-ukraine-quid-pro-quo

24 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Be patient on the votes. No vote is required to formally begin an impeachment inquiry. That's not a real issue. Yes, politics is part of it. Pelosi wants to gather even more evidence and move more congressmen and more of the public. Already a majority of Americans support this impeachment inquiry. Deflections you are trying are not relevant to the impeachment inquiry so to be ignored. The transcript of the call is indeed very damning but that's just the beginning. The text message evidence is solidly proving a quid pro quo. More is coming. You can bet the house on it. (Pelosi is.) Sorry that this upsets some people that the facts are not what they wished for. Oh well!

 

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/10/explosive-texts-reveal-trump-ukraine-quid-pro-quo

Your hatred is unbelievable and what you have stated is not true. The majority of Democrats asked said they did not care if there was any credible evidence they just wanted Trump impeached. Not exactly the majority of Americans. I think you need to read the whole conversation. There is nothing wrong there. Stop being a sheeple following democrat lies. OMG shift! It is the first time (I think) in American history that inpeacment has started without a vote. Every one has the right to cross-examine witnesses or is America now a lawless state without democracy. I never liked Trump but what a great job he has done so far but all I see is screaming tantrums and criminal activity being carried out by Democrats. What have the accomplished..... Nothing. They have no policies, they have no real candidates and all this fake, fake fake is going to make the next election a landslide for Trump. Illegal wire taps, fake reports, calibrating with foreign powers with foreign agencies and governments was and is being done by dems. Now its coming out Obama lied about knowledge of said illegal activity against Trump. Stop being a sheeple. 

1 minute ago, Scot123 said:

Your hatred is unbelievable and what you have stated is not true. The majority of Democrats asked said they did not care if there was any credible evidence they just wanted Trump impeached. Not exactly the majority of Americans. I think you need to read the whole conversation. There is nothing wrong there. Stop being a sheeple following democrat lies. OMG shift! It is the first time (I think) in American history that inpeacment has started without a vote. Every one has the right to cross-examine witnesses or is America now a lawless state without democracy. I never liked Trump but what a great job he has done so far but all I see is screaming tantrums and criminal activity being carried out by Democrats. What have the accomplished..... Nothing. They have no policies, they have no real candidates and all this fake, fake fake is going to make the next election a landslide for Trump. Illegal wire taps, fake reports, calibrating with foreign powers with foreign agencies and governments was and is being done by dems. Now its coming out Obama lied about knowledge of said illegal activity against Trump. Stop being a sheeple. 

I only read a few lines after you said "Your hatred is unbelievable." I have a policy of choosing not to engage at such low personal attack levels on this forum, so goodbye. Maybe someone else will want to play in the gutter with you, but count me out of that noise.

 

I will post this poll though for the general readership here to back up my previous FACT BASED assertion --

 

 

Quote

CBS News poll: Majority of Americans and Democrats approve of Trump impeachment inquiry

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-impeachment-inquiry-poll-cbs-news-poll-finds-majority-of-americans-and-democrats-approve/

 

 

8 minutes ago, Scot123 said:

Your hatred is unbelievable and what you have stated is not true. The majority of Democrats asked said they did not care if there was any credible evidence they just wanted Trump impeached. Not exactly the majority of Americans. I think you need to read the whole conversation. There is nothing wrong there. Stop being a sheeple following democrat lies. OMG shift! It is the first time (I think) in American history that inpeacment has started without a vote. Every one has the right to cross-examine witnesses or is America now a lawless state without democracy. I never liked Trump but what a great job he has done so far but all I see is screaming tantrums and criminal activity being carried out by Democrats. What have the accomplished..... Nothing. They have no policies, they have no real candidates and all this fake, fake fake is going to make the next election a landslide for Trump. Illegal wire taps, fake reports, calibrating with foreign powers with foreign agencies and governments was and is being done by dems. Now its coming out Obama lied about knowledge of said illegal activity against Trump. Stop being a sheeple. 

Here's a link to a list compiled by fivethirtyeight.com of all impeachment polls. You'll notice a sharp jump in favor of impeachment investigations and impeachment recently.  

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vS15V8lYPUc_OH4OBss6d8NPGRnCH1lAlBBY4FYWcK6cm6iVM8dXE_4KMFOUybRe-cVvDg7ap46FPig/pubhtml?gid=39569490&single=true

1 hour ago, Scot123 said:

It is the first time (I think) in American history that inpeacment has started without a vote.

Wrong. It has been the case for Nixon. In the case of Clinton, there was no reason to delay the vote as it had been preceded by a long investigation.

"An impeachment process against Richard Nixon began in the United States House of Representatives on October 30, 1973, following the "Saturday Night Massacre" episode of the Watergate scandal. The House Judiciary Committee set up an impeachment inquiry staff and began investigations into possible impeachable offenses by Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States. The process was formally initiated on February 6, 1974, when the House of Representatives passed a resolution, H.Res. 803, giving the Judiciary Committee authority to investigate whether sufficient grounds existed to impeach Nixon[1] of high crimes and misdemeanors, primarily related to Watergate. This investigation was undertaken one year after the United States Senate established a select committee to investigate the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committeeheadquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon Administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_process_against_Richard_Nixon

 

Obviously, Trump's argument are often posted in this forum without being checked before. Well, I understand: it's not like he had a bad reputation when it comes to telling the truth, right?

Flame has been removed

I, and I am sure many others are starting to get 'Trump Impeachment Syndrom'. Why can't they just start working together. I am not a US Citizen, but I read daily news and I do not think the Dem's have worked with him from day one. Not good for American people. After all, surely their priority should be working for America and not their party.

6 hours ago, Scot123 said:

When will the speaker call a vote on this?

When COngress returns from their current recess. Next week.

I, and I am sure many others are starting to get 'Trump Impeachment Syndrom'. Why can't they just start working together. I am not a US Citizen, but I read daily news and I do not think the Dem's have worked with him from day one. Not good for American people. After all, surely their priority should be working for America and not their party.

The democrats have passed many bills in the house. The republican senate leader refuses to even bring them up for debate. I think you're blaming the wrong party for not cooperating. As far as TDS is concerned that means fans of 45 that continue to support him no matter how horrible he acts, tweets, and speaks.

Cheers

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

5 minutes ago, generealty said:

I, and I am sure many others are starting to get 'Trump Impeachment Syndrom'.

 

Meh. Most people in the U.S. aren't following this as closely as you, or I. I wouldn't fret.

 

6 minutes ago, generealty said:

Why can't they just start working together.

The House has passed hundreds of bills, some even bi-partisan. That Mitch McConnell has held them up is on him.

 

Republicans had full control for two years. What did they do? Not much. Now they're whining. Go figure.

 

8 minutes ago, generealty said:

I do not think the Dem's have worked with him from day one

They've tried. From day one.

 

8 minutes ago, generealty said:

Not good for American people.

Yup. Brilliant observation.

 

9 minutes ago, generealty said:

After all, surely their priority should be working for America and not their party.

House Dems have been doing this. They can walk and chew gum at the same time.

 

You seem to have a strange vantage point on happenings in the U.S. Maybe widen your scope a bit?

2 minutes ago, generealty said:

I, and I am sure many others are starting to get 'Trump Impeachment Syndrom'. Why can't they just start working together. I am not a US Citizen, but I read daily news and I do not think the Dem's have worked with him from day one. Not good for American people. After all, surely their priority should be working for America and not their party.

 You mean work with him to build the wall and give him the money while we waited for Mexico to pay?

Hep him destroy the ACA act and leave millions uninsured

Separate illegal aliens children from their parents? 

Allow foreign government to interfere with our elections ?

Allow him to use the government for his personal gain?

Insult foreign governments?

make as the laughing stock of the world?

He is doing such a good job at it , we did not think he needed our help.

 

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

 You mean work with him to build the wall and give him the money while we waited for Mexico to pay?

Hep him destroy the ACA act and leave millions uninsured

Separate illegal aliens children from their parents? 

Allow foreign government to interfere with our elections ?

Allow him to use the government for his personal gain?

Insult foreign governments?

make as the laughing stock of the world?

He is doing such a good job at it , we did not think he needed our help.

 

Cor thort! didn't Obama do all of those things? Wasn't it on his watch (2016 elections), didn't he separate illegal aliens from their children? Didn't he allow the Ukraine to interfere with the election? Didn't he along with HRC sell uranium stock from America to Russia? I'm an Ozy, I don't have any "skin in the game", if the GOP are one eyed doesn't it appear that the Dem's are a little cockeyed as well? The US seems like a very very strange place!

45 minutes ago, TPI said:

Cor thort! didn't Obama do all of those things? Wasn't it on his watch (2016 elections), didn't he separate illegal aliens from their children? Didn't he allow the Ukraine to interfere with the election? Didn't he along with HRC sell uranium stock from America to Russia? I'm an Ozy, I don't have any "skin in the game", if the GOP are one eyed doesn't it appear that the Dem's are a little cockeyed as well? The US seems like a very very strange place!

No he did not!

He created ACA and covered more people than ever.  , If he did enough to prevent it is arguable but he did not invite  foreign interference, If children were separated , they were not even nearly at today's level, and if it did ,it was the opposition's job to object to it, I did not hear any objections. 

But even if Obama did  all these things (which he did not) that does not mean that we should allow this president to do it also , it only means that the republicans failed at their jobs and should not had allowed Obama to do it .

 

 

Cor thort! didn't Obama do all of those things? Wasn't it on his watch (2016 elections), didn't he separate illegal aliens from their children? Didn't he allow the Ukraine to interfere with the election? Didn't he along with HRC sell uranium stock from America to Russia? I'm an Ozy, I don't have any "skin in the game", if the GOP are one eyed doesn't it appear that the Dem's are a little cockeyed as well? The US seems like a very very strange place!

No. Obama did not do all those things.

Next
....

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3 hours ago, TPI said:

Cor thort! didn't Obama do all of those things? Wasn't it on his watch (2016 elections), didn't he separate illegal aliens from their children? Didn't he allow the Ukraine to interfere with the election? Didn't he along with HRC sell uranium stock from America to Russia? I'm an Ozy, I don't have any "skin in the game", if the GOP are one eyed doesn't it appear that the Dem's are a little cockeyed as well? The US seems like a very very strange place!

It seems the key point is not your nationality, it's rather that you seem to believe Trump's propaganda made of false equivalences (among other) without checking anything. For example:

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/23/trump-falsely-says-obama-started-family-separation/1540733001/

3 hours ago, sirineou said:

No he did not!

He created ACA and covered more people than ever.  , If he did enough to prevent it is arguable but he did not invite  foreign interference, If children were separated , they were not even nearly at today's level, and if it did ,it was the opposition's job to object to it, I did not hear any objections. 

But even if Obama did  all these things (which he did not) that does not mean that we should allow this president to do it also , it only means that the republicans failed at their jobs and should not had allowed Obama to do it .

 

 

To those on the right who reacted to the above reply with a sad emoji, I have to say, I don't blame you if trump was my president I would be sad also.

Its interesting that a number of members are making play of the fact that they dont like / support / sleep with Trump, then go on to defend him to the hilt lol.

Odd strategy really given the man and most of his policies are equally vile. I wager the Republicans now wish they had put a monkey up for POTUS , they would still have got their tax cuts and short term economic boost , yet the cute factor would have boosted ratings and his behaviour would have been more presidential.

On 10/8/2019 at 7:49 AM, webfact said:

The impeachment investigation could lead to the approval by the Democratic-led House of formal charges against Trump.

Could?  I think we've already crossed that bridge, it's now just a formality. And with the recent arrest of two of Rudy's henchmen who will most assuredly trade info for leniency, Trump's days are numbered.

18 minutes ago, J Town said:

Could?  I think we've already crossed that bridge, it's now just a formality. And with the recent arrest of two of Rudy's henchmen who will most assuredly trade info for leniency, Trump's days are numbered.

Rudy himself might be waking up to loud knock on his door in the next few days.

 

 

7 minutes ago, bendejo said:

Rudy himself might be waking up to loud knock on his door in the next few days.

I believe he's fully aware of the deep doo doo he's gotten himself into:
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/01/politics/giuliani-hires-watergate-prosecutor/index.html

On 10/8/2019 at 12:44 PM, Scot123 said:

Your hatred is unbelievable and what you have stated is not true. The majority of Democrats asked said they did not care if there was any credible evidence they just wanted Trump impeached. Not exactly the majority of Americans. I think you need to read the whole conversation. There is nothing wrong there. Stop being a sheeple following democrat lies. OMG shift! It is the first time (I think) in American history that inpeacment has started without a vote. Every one has the right to cross-examine witnesses or is America now a lawless state without democracy. I never liked Trump but what a great job he has done so far but all I see is screaming tantrums and criminal activity being carried out by Democrats. What have the accomplished..... Nothing. They have no policies, they have no real candidates and all this fake, fake fake is going to make the next election a landslide for Trump. Illegal wire taps, fake reports, calibrating with foreign powers with foreign agencies and governments was and is being done by dems. Now its coming out Obama lied about knowledge of said illegal activity against Trump. Stop being a sheeple. 

And that was our reporter, Scot123, reporting live from the Twilight Zone...

On 10/8/2019 at 6:25 PM, generealty said:

I, and I am sure many others are starting to get 'Trump Impeachment Syndrom'. Why can't they just start working together. I am not a US Citizen, but I read daily news and I do not think the Dem's have worked with him from day one. Not good for American people. After all, surely their priority should be working for America and not their party.

That's exactly what they're doing when investigating a president that's not working for the American people.

14 minutes ago, J Town said:

I believe he's fully aware of the deep doo doo he's gotten himself into:
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/01/politics/giuliani-hires-watergate-prosecutor/index.html

 

"Every time I turn around, Rudy's on another TV show," Sale continued. "He and I could have a conversation, and then I turn on the television and he could be doing something else."

 

What a hoot!

 

On 10/8/2019 at 8:03 PM, TPI said:

Cor thort! didn't Obama do all of those things? Wasn't it on his watch (2016 elections), didn't he separate illegal aliens from their children? Didn't he allow the Ukraine to interfere with the election? Didn't he along with HRC sell uranium stock from America to Russia? I'm an Ozy, I don't have any "skin in the game", if the GOP are one eyed doesn't it appear that the Dem's are a little cockeyed as well? The US seems like a very very strange place!

"I'm an Ozy, I don't have any "skin in the game".  Please, pull another one. It's clear from the falsehoods you posted how biased you are. And your assertions are in their way informative but only a about your obvious biases.

 

No Obama didn't allow Ukraine to interfere with the elections because Ukraine didn't interfere with the elections. That was Russia. And Obama tried to enlist Republicans in an effort to put a halt to it and they refused.

 

No, Obama along with Hillary Clinton didn't sell uranium stock to the Russians. The State Dept. was only one of 9 cabinet offers who approved the sale of an American uranium company to a russian one. And the lead agency in this was the Treasury Department. There is no evidence that Clinton even participated in this decision.  And while a Russian company did buy the American company, it is not allowed to export the actual uranium anywhere except with express US approval.

 

And no, Obama didn't separate children from their parents except under very exceptional circumstances where it was believed that the parents/guardians posed a threat to the children or the parents/guardians had a prior criminal record. And even in the latter case, border officials had discretion in criminal cases. This was not the wholesale separation zero tolerance policy enacted under Trump. 

 

 

 

 

 

27 minutes ago, bendejo said:

Rudy himself might be waking up to loud knock on his door in the next few days.

 

 

Indeed. This could have a major impact on the whole impeachment probe.

 

Link: How is Rudy Giuliani still the President's personal lawyer?

 

"On Wednesday, two Ukrainian men -- Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman -- were arrested at Dulles International Airport as they tried to board an international flight. Earlier that day, the two, according to The Wall Street Journal, had lunch with Rudy Giuliani."

".....the same Parnas and Fruman who had been helping Giuliani look into debunked allegations regarding the actions of Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in Ukraine."

The political appointees within State, DoD, Treasury and WH who participated in the conspiracy to hold up Congressionally approved funds to Ukraine are in deep do-do.

 

Suspect one or more will flip, brining down who knows whom? Not hard to see Mick Mulvaney go under the bus. Whomp, Whomp. Hopefully pompeo and mnuchin used cut-outs.