Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

How stupid are these people?

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

“But what about the lurkers?”

The lights are all blinking red.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Adam Schiff Writes A Letter

Adam Schiff Writes A Letter

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The Friday night news dump was unusually late this week.

Adam Schiff, Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote a letter to Joseph Maguire, Acting Director of National Intelligence. Read it – it’s short and to the point.

A whistleblower in the Intelligence Community disclosed a concern to the DNI intended for the congressional intelligence committees on August 12. The Intelligence Community Inspector General then determined that the concern was both urgent and credible. At that point, Maguire had seven days to turn the material over to the House and Senate Intelligence committees. The deadline was September 2. He didn’t.

It looks like Schiff has also requested the material from Maguire. That would mean he heard about it through another channel, possibly notified by the IC IG.

Maguire also consulted the Department of Justice (corrupt William Barr) on whether he should turn the material over. That consultation is not allowed by the law; he’s just supposed to turn the material over.

His basis for not turning the material over is that

the complaint involves conduct by someone outside the Intelligence Community and because the complaint involves confidential and potentially privileged communications.

That describes people who are most likely to be trying to do something bad, like spies, and of course confidential information would be part of it. No point to whistleblowing on something that’s been in the news. “Potentially privileged” might suggest presidential communications. Like other legal arguments the administration makes, it boils down to “No, we don’t want to disclose and will use an utterly transparent excuse.”

Schiff puts all that together

Schiff wants the material by Tuesday, emphasizing that it is an urgent matter. If Maguire doesn’t come up with it, Schiff wants him in front of the committee by Thursday. He also says that the whistleblower had better be protected from reprisal. Good luck with that.

I can imagine a great many possibilities for the content of the complaint, but that’s because there is so little information and the administration is so corrupt.

Next week should be interesting.

 

Cross-posted to Nuclear Diner

 

Reader Interactions

93Comments

  3. 3.

    gene108

    @feebog:

    And so totally out in the open, and so much of it, people just get overwhelmed and get into outrage fatigue mode. They start to tune it out, so they can get along with their lives.

    I think corruption is so baked into Trump’s persona now that it’s been normalized.

    Unless Congress gets its own police force, to enforce subpoena’s and arrest people, who do not cooperate, there seems to be no real way to hold an Executive Branch to account that doesn’t want to comply.

  6. 6.

    trollhattan

    The maladministration has shattered so very many presumed rules and boundaries that I assume this will be one more. “Come and get me, copper!” should be the Trump 2020 campaign slogan. We can only hope Trump’s coda becomes, “Made it ma, top of the world!”

  9. 9.

    SFAW

    @germy:
    Judicial Watch’s motto/slogan: “Yeah, we’re traitors. So what? WTF are you going to do about it?”

    Of course, that motto also applies to Shill Barr’s DoJ, the Cabinet, Moscow Mitch, Lindsey Graham, and the entire Shitgibbon maladministration.

    Had Thanos targeted the RWMFs, instead of a random 50 percent, the Avengers would look at each other and say “We’re OK with that,” and taken Thanos out for a beer or 10.

  10. 10.

    Mai naem mobile

    I am so tired of this administration. So tired. I feel like I am watching a really crappy movie that j want to fast forward to the last five minutes to fi d out what happened. I just want to forward to 1/20/2021 to see what happens. You can’t forward just to 11/3/2020 because you have no idea what this Mafioso administration will do between Nov and Jan. You don’t even know if the Russian Asset will leave willingly or will have to be kicked out by the US Marshalls or whoever is responsible for it.

  15. 15.

    H.E.Wolf

    @James E Powell:

    Oh boy, a letter.

    It’s a good letter. This is why we work to get out the vote. I doubt anyone believes that Devin Nunes, the Republican former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, would have objected to the current Administration’s activities – or that he would have begun the process of calling anyone to account.

    Let’s expand the Democratic majority in the House next year, and flip the Senate.

    All y’all who are carping from the sidelines, tithe some of your carping time to lend a hand. The country can use your help!

  16. 16.

    Raoul

    @James E Powell: Schiff is following a necessary path. We are still a party that pays attention to the steps that lead to consequences. Schiff lays out the ways that the Acting DNI is actively *breaking the law*. If we get past next Thursday and there are no further consequences, then I can make room for cynicism.
    But I think Schiff sees blood in the water, and is circling and will go in for the kill. He isn’t a shrinking Nancy P.

  18. 18.

    WereBear

    @Raoul: But I think Schiff sees blood in the water, and is circling and will go in for the kill.

    It is an extraordinary opportunity. How much love and respect for the real rule of law is out there?

    We have to find out.

  19. 19.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Snarki, child of Loki:

    Take Maguire into custody in the House basement, and waterboard him until he talks.

    I know it’s a full moon and all, but my goodness. Speaking only for myself, I find fantasies of violence and torture to be creepy and off-putting. Blech.

    I’ll go full-moon wild in my own way for the rest of the weekend, by writing some GOTV postcards. That’s as far into the fast lane as I get. :-)

  21. 21.

    MomSense

    @Raoul:

    Since I am now suffering from a complete loss of time awareness thanks to the trump mess, I can’t remember the timing of Coats leaving relative to this whistleblower. Is this perhaps the real reason trump wanted to get rid of him?

    ETA I would be careful about casting Nancy P as shrinking. I’m sure she has gamed this out. Nancy wants trump in jail. She wants maximum damage to him before the election and no chance of a pardon by Pounce.

  24. 24.

    Jess

    Hoping and praying, and then demanding, that when the Dems get back into power we prosecute every last one of these motherfuckers.

  26. 26.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @MomSense: Coats and his deputy (she was forced out) left a little after the whistleblower filed the complaint. Some folks last night on Twitter were fitting dates together. Quite a few were reporters. I expect to see more about this story, with timelines.

  27. 27.

    charon

    ETA I would be careful about casting Nancy P as shrinking. I’m sure she has gamed this out.

    I think Nancy’s strategy includes factoring in the impact of Trump’s dementia progressing rapidly enough to be pretty obvious by, say, SOTU.

  28. 28.

    StringOnAStick

    @Eric NNY: The peachy orange glasses he has on in his mirror shots are what really sells it. “It” being he’s a self indulgent narcissist who thinks we should all be awed that he gets paid enough to spend all his spare time in a weight room.

  32. 32.

    James E Powell

    @Raoul:

    We are still a party that pays attention to the steps that lead to consequences.

    When has one of these stern letters ever led to consequences?

    What could Schiff do? Change his public position on impeachment. That would be news that at least a few would notice. The stern letters? Republicans laugh at them, the great mass of voters never hear about them.

  33. 33.

    JaySinWA

    With last nights RCMP Cameron Ortis scandal I wondered if this was related. The timeline sounds close.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-crime-police/top-canadian-police-intelligence-officer-charged-with-leaking-secret-information-idUSKCN1VY2AP?il=0
    Supposedly Canada was informed by US about a flipped contact Ortis tried ot sell info to.

    Then again the revival of the Russian agent exposure with his current location is a possibility as well. So many possibilities.

  35. 35.

    Repatriated

    @Cheryl Rofer: He resigned four days after Mueller testified before Congress and reminded everyone that there was still an ongoing counterintelligence investigation…

    Blood in the water doesn’t even begin to describe the implications if that’s the subject.

  36. 36.

    MomSense

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I had a feeling then and now that Coats leaving had to do with corruption and wanting to bury a scandal. I just honestly struggle with time now. Did scandal x y z happen 2 days, 3 weeks, 6 months, 50 years ago?

  41. 41.

    Ruckus

    @gene108:

    I think corruption is so baked into Trump’s persona now that it’s been normalized.

    I think you are right it has been normalized but in trump’s persona it was always normal. It’s been normalized to be the federal government. Or at least the people trump has brought in.
    Conservatives for decades have been saying that the government is corrupt. And they are out to prove that by being some the most corrupt holders of power ever.

  42. 42.

    Emerald

    @Raoul:

    He isn’t a shrinking Nancy P.

    ‘Scuse me. Nancy SMASH is the best political strategist alive. If she’s holding off on anything (and she isn’t—hearings in six committees started months ago) she’s doing it for a very good reason. Going straight to impeachment in the summertime would have been flat stupid. She’s timing it for maximum impact. I see two scenarios judging from some statements she’s made: 1. do the hearings timed for maximum impact on the elections, don’t bring it to a vote and let the People decide in the election, or 2. do the hearings timed for maximum impact on the elections, bring it to a vote and let the Republicans strangle in the wind with their “not guilty” votes. I think it’ll be #2, because that’s exactly what she said a few weeks ago. She knows we need to take the Senate.

    She also said: “Make no mistake, we know exactly what path we’re on. We know exactly what actions we need to take. And while that may take more time than some people want it to take, I respect their impatience.”

  43. 43.

    trollhattan

    On first hearing of this I though “oh, somebody put a grenade on a DJI and pulled a prank on the Saudis” but it’s a far more effective attack than that.

    Saudi Arabia’s oil production has been severely disrupted by drone attacks on two major oil facilities run by state-owned company Aramco, reports say.

    Sources quoted by Reuters and WSJ said the strikes had reduced production by five million barrels a day – nearly half the kingdom’s output. The fires are now under control at both facilities, Saudi state media say.

    A spokesman for the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen said it had deployed 10 drones in the attacks.

    The spokesman, Yahya Sarea, told al-Masirah TV, which is owned by the Houthi movement and is based in Beirut, that further attacks could be expected in the future. He said Saturday’s attack was one of the biggest operations the Houthi forces had undertaken inside Saudi Arabia and was carried out in “co-operation with the honourable people inside the kingdom”.

    TV footage showed a huge blaze at Abqaiq, site of Aramco’s largest oil processing plant, while a second drone attack started fires in the Khurais oilfield.

    –BBC

    And a whole weekend for the jittery markets to get moar jitterier.

  44. 44.

    MisterForkbeard

    @germy: “Schiff has notified the DOJ that the law was broken repeatedly and has also notified them of WHY he thinks they did so. Clearly, Schiff is out of control and needs to be stopped.”

    Christ, what a goon.

  47. 47.

    Millard Filmore

    @trollhattan:

    Saudi Arabia’s oil production has been severely disrupted by drone attacks on two major oil facilities run by state-owned company Aramco, reports say.

    You have convinced me to get off my fundaments and drive to the gas station.

  48. 48.

    Marcopolo

    @Cheryl Rofer: Whistleblower complaint filed 8/12. Coates out 8/15. Remember, at this time Coates also went out of his way to barge into a meeting his Second in Command was holding to instruct her to immediately tender her resignation. If I recall, she had initially been planning to contest how the DNI succession was happening.

    So yeah it looks fishy. Hopefully we will find out.

  49. 49.

    Yarrow

    @Cheryl Rofer: Thanks, Cheryl, for this post. Glad to see it get attention. It was a very late Friday news dump for sure.

    @Raoul:

    Schiff is following a necessary path.

    Yep. People sure do get upset at all sorts of things. Clamoring for action. Action is taken but it’s now not the right action. They are laying the groundwork because when things go forward they’ll need to have done things like this.

  50. 50.

    Mart

    @MomSense:

    I just honestly struggle with time now. Did scandal x y z happen 2 days, 3 weeks, 6 months, 50 years ago?

    I keep mentioning Amy Siskind’s work as she has documented Trumps atrocities since he declared his candidacy. She explains that authoritarians create so many new normals that society loses its foundation. Her compilation is here:

    Also too, Barr is cancerous to democracy.

  51. 51.

    JaySinWA

    It was a very late Friday news dump for sure.

    @Yarrow: When I read about Schiff’s letter I thought there must be a bunch of reporters saying “Damn, there goes my weekend”,

  52. 52.

    HalfAssedHomesteader

    I want everyone who used their federal authority to protect Trump to be tried and sent to prison.

  53. 53.

    Another Scott

    Apropos of nothing (groucho-roll-eyes.gif), how would you interpret the following sign:

    Heath Notice – No Pets on School Grounds

    when said sign is near a sidewalk that is on the boundary between a county park and an elementary school yard?

    And more generally, would one include sidewalks in a definition of “school grounds” when said sidewalk connects a park to a public street or other county park?

    Mumble grumble…

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (“Why yes, a RWNJ did yell ‘I wish I had a camera!!’ while I was walking Ellie exclusively on the sidewalk today, why do you ask??”)

  55. 55.

    oatler.

    Abe Simpson: “He’s gonna get the frownin’ of a lifetime!”
    We all trusted Mueller’s slow, careful project to eject Trump, and yet…

  57. 57.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @germy:

    That would be embarrassing. Could you imagine if the only thing people remember about you is something that happened several decades ago like being a high school athlete or getting embarrassed on national TV when you open Al Capone’s vault?

    — Willie Davis (@iamwilliedavis) September 12, 2019

  60. 60.

    Fair Economist

    @trollhattan: Oil refineries and other processing are inherently fragile. If they’re vulnerable to asymmetric drone warfare it really changes the geopolitical situation, and in view of the political messes many oil producers are in, the global energy situation as well.

  61. 61.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @MomSense:

    I would be careful about casting Nancy P as shrinking. I’m sure she has gamed this out. Nancy wants trump in jail. She wants maximum damage to him before the election and no chance of a pardon by Pounce.

    THIS should be a rotating tag…

  62. 62.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    @Emerald: Wouldn’t The Angry Apricot have to testify before the Senate if there were to be an impeachment trial? That alone would be worth the price of admission. And Madam Smash would likely be bearing that in mind.

  65. 65.

    Eolirin

    @Fair Economist: It is nice that this suggests a more rapid adoption of green energy technology, and on purely economic and natsec grounds.

    Not that that will matter to the US under the current political dynamics. But it may help with China and India. Though the disruption if this happens too quickly will also likely benefit nationalist movements, so that’s less good.

  66. 66.

    jeffreyw

    “Let’s run down there and put that ReTrumplican cocksucker in jail”!
    “Now now, son. Let’s take our time, gather the facts, and put all of them in jail.”

  67. 67.

    Mary G

    Twitler is now attacking Joy-Ann Reid. “…doesn’t have the ‘it factor’ needed for success in show biz.”

  68. 68.

    HalfAssedHomesteader

    @WereBear: I’m willing to limit it to people who served in his administration including the NOAA director. Tried and if found guilty of covering for Trump (abuse of authority) sentenced appropriately.

  69. 69.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @oatler.: Well, there really are only three ways to approach this stuff. 1. Ignore and/or accept it. 2. Begin an uprising. 3. Investigate and document to set up impeachment and/or prosecutions down the road.

    Pick one.

  72. 72.

    FelonyGovt

    This brazen lawlessness – refusing to comply with lawful orders and subpoenas based on imaginary “privileges” and other nonsense- is what the Mexicans refer to as “impunity”. It is incredibly dangerous. I don’t know exactly what Schiff can do about this, but I hope he pursues it.

  73. 73.

    Ken

    @germy:

    Trump called out in a loud voice: “Where’s my favorite dictator?”

    How many people said “Here”? And did they then get in a slap-fight, each crying in a loud voice “No, I’m his favorite”?

  75. 75.

    Taobhan

    I remember when we were silly enough to believe that, if the Democrats won the House in 2018, they would be able to investigate the hell out of the Trump administration. None of us had any inkling that Trump would just simply stone-wall EVERY request from House committees for documents or testimony. If it had occurred to us, we never would have imagined Trump would be able to get away with it but he has so far. This is probably why the Republicans fought so hard to stack the courts in their favor. We never expected this level of lawlessness. It represents a new and very dangerous inflection point for our supposedly democratic form of government. The GOP has decided to just grab the reins of power in a coup and never let go of them.

  76. 76.

    Elizabelle

    @MomSense:

    I would be careful about casting Nancy P as shrinking.

    I’m glad you said something. I can’t stand the bitchy sniping. First time I saw that, I just clicked right off this thread. As one does, when one encounters trolling.

  78. 78.

    Ryan

    We’re finally going full Issa. You’ve got 2 days to comply. Not a week, not a month before we file a case in court.

  79. 79.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Watching The Last Night of the Proms. Bloody brilliant. There an estimated 40K people in Hyde Park watching, no idea how many others in Glasgow, Swansea and Belfast.

  80. 80.

    Felanius Kootea

    @Taobhan: This is what’s scary. The “yeah we broke the law but what can you do about it?” moments. I really hope the Democrats have a plan that is legal but bypasses the DOJ. Good Lord. The Republicans seem hellbent on making the US a failed state.

    Did anyone see the op-ed by the 3 Republican presidential primary challengers in the Washington Post? Looks like there will be lawsuits filed against the state GOP groups that are choosing to eliminate primaries.

  81. 81.

    Dan B

    It feels to me that we passed a point where there are enough people involved in the GOP anti-democratic project who are transparently breaking the law, and, enough ideolgical judges to make it nearly impossible to dislodge them. Too many people know they would go to jail in this administration to allow a restorstion of democratic norms.

    I imagine myself in a bureaucratic position in a branch of the IC or the military and no longer know who is patriotic and who is aligned with the Trumpists / Putin / FSB. Exposing illegal acts not only threatens my career but could expose my family and friends to attack.

    Besides the signs we are seeing: ignoring subpoenas, etc., what will we see next? The Russian CIA asset seems in clear danger. Is Antifa next on the hit list? A muslim cointelpro action that inflames the semi-militarized base or Mitch’s wannabe Tom Cotton arresting the Squad?

    Is the lawlessness so pervasive that old school gentlemanly conservatives, cough-Brooks-cough, won’t even tsk tsk at the arrest of hundreds of Never Again protestors and/or their leaders?

    It seems the far right is mounting an offensive on dozens of fronts to obscure their next assaults. Is our hope that Eric Prince and a rogue group in the Pentagon or CIA are duking it out for dominance and that chaos may be what saves us?

    These are theoretical musings but I’d rather be emotionally and intellectually prepared for some awful acts than surprised and thrown into panic. It feels like the brazen criminality and open disregard for the law foreshadow a total attempt at a takeover of our institutions. I don’t believe there is a coordinated cinspiracy but that enough actors have placed their bets on the end of accountability that they will be encouraged to increasingly brazen acts to prevent an honest election in 2020.

    I’m looking forward to a fun birthday, a big one, in a couple weeks, same birthday as the PRC. I’m exactly the same age. Was thinking of a big Chinese owned restaurant but I’m worried about Hong Kong. It might be a little tense if things go badly before China’s big celebration.

  82. 82.

    Dan B

    @Taobhan: Agree with what you and Felony Government just posted. But I did have more than an inkling that the subpoenas would be ignored and stalled. The GOP is desperate to hold onto power so this is what they have become: power before law, winning before fair play. They’ve never been “free market”. They just mouth the words and live comfortably with their blind spots. Strength triumphs over true empathy. Jesus preached about what happens to souls who follow a self centered path but quarterly profits!

    Feels like we’re past the inflection and not wanting to see what’s around the bend. But it feels ominous, partly because we’re loathe to talk about fir fear we’ll become irrational or be labeled irrational.

    I’m going for a variation of tge Boy Scout motto: Be prepared, but don’t overdo it.

  83. 83.

    Mart

    Speaking of bombing refineries, I was at a factory in Hamburg Germany that was next to a large fuel oil refinery during World War II. They were grading for a new addition and found three unexploded ordinances. The plant estimated that over 1,000 allied bombs landed on their property trying to take out the large fuel oil refinery.

  84. 84.

    cynthia ackerman

    @Taobhan:

    I agree with you.

    At risk of the pedant label, coup is not quite accurate. The literal translation means a sudden blow to power/institutions.

    What the vast right-wing conspiracy has managed, to the brink of success, is a decades-long erosion of power/institutions in its favor, and relying as much on many forms of political jiu-jitsu by which their opponents’ perceived strengths — restraint, circumspection, compromise/triangulation, shades of gray, adherence to norms and laws, etc. — work in favor of the children of darkness.

    Don’t know if poli-sci folks have a term for this “slow-motion coup,” but in coming years I hope we shine a lot of sunlight on it.

  85. 85.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Dan B: I’ve been wondering about the apparent plans they’re making to round up all the homeless people in California into giant camps. Under what authority would the federal government do this? Are they going to claim they’re all illegal immigrants and just have ICE do it? Are they going to try to overthrow the California state government? Is it all just Trump and friends being incoherent/generating nonsensical red meat? I can’t tell.

  86. 86.

    cynthia ackerman

    @cynthia ackerman:

    PS — I realize the way the rise of Republican cancer works is not entirely unique in history.

    Nazis in the thirties comes to mind, among others.

    And that underlines the danger we face.

  88. 88.

    Jay

    Oh wow. The RCMP official who was just charged with breaching official secrets law oversaw a Russian money-laundering probe into allegations that millions in defrauded Russian tax dollars (exposed by Sergei Magnitsky) were funneled through Canada. https://t.co/Lnge5V7Nn6— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) September 14, 2019

  91. 91.

    Procopius

    @MomSense: I think the Nancy critics are deluded into thinking that everybody sees all of Trump’s activity as actual crimes. We don’t, and some of those things that actually are illegal seem trivial. Obstruction of justice, for example, is so common that not everybody is able to get wound up about it. So is overcharging and draconian punishment instead of human compassion. The way it looks to me, a large part of the Democratic members of the House of Representatives believe that if they impeach Trump their voters will kick them out in 2020. From various article I see, Pelosi has about 115 committed votes. She needs 218 to get impeachment passed in the House, after which it will surely die in the Senate. Can you imagine the political consequences if the Blue Dogs and New Democrats vote against impeachment? That’s what it looks like they would do now.

  92. 92.

    Procopius

    @trollhattan: This appears to be done by the Houthis, who apparently build their own drones, based on blueprints given them by Iran. Iran has medium range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles as well as drones. Some are mobile and move every day, some are dug into deep hardened shelters. There’s no way an air assault could get many of them. Just imagine the consequences if America attacked Iran. There’s a good reason why United Arab Emirates have started talking with Iran.

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