Trump Told Ukraine's Leader to Work With Barr to Investigate Biden

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump urged the president of Ukraine to contact Attorney General William P. Barr about opening a potential corruption investigation connected to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to a transcript of a July phone call at the center of accusations that Mr. Trump pressured a foreign leader to find dirt on a political rival.

The director of national intelligence and the inspector general for the intelligence community each referred a whistle-blower’s concerns about the call for a possible criminal investigation into the president's actions, according to a Justice Department official.

Law enforcement officials reviewed the matters and declined to open an inquiry, the official said.

During the call, Mr. Trump told President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine that he should be in touch with both Mr. Barr and the president’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, according to the transcript released by the White House on Wednesday.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/us/politics/ukraine-transcript-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

[George II]

1. That's it, the "we can get it, but it would be wrong" smoking gun.

[Mike 03]

2. BARR!! OMFG.

We have to act. There's no way we screw this up.

[Bidenator]

3. no mention of $400 million is a disappointment- predict no minds will be changed n/t

[lagomorph777]

5. Completely unnecessary to mention the $400M. Zelensky was already more than aware of it.

This is naked extortion, and any sane person sees it at a glance.

[William Seger]

6. He didn't need to mention it; Zelensky knew exactly what he meant

[bucolic_frolic]

7. The moving parts of a quid pro quo don't need to be together

What matters is that all the operatives move in sync, and here we have choreography

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Things I thought I'd never read:

Google News:

Live updates: Rough transcript shows Trump offering Ukraine’s Zelensky assistance of U.S. attorney general to investigate Biden
A transcript released Wednesday of President Trump's call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky showed Trump offering the help of the U.S. attorney ...
The Washington Post
1 hour ago

Politics
Live updates: Trump to meet with Ukraine’s Zelensky following release of transcript of July call

By John Wagner
September 25 at 10:06 AM

A transcript released Wednesday of President Trump’s call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky showed Trump offering the help of the U.S. attorney general to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and promising Zelensky a White House meeting after he promised to conduct such an inquiry.

The latest development in the burgeoning controversy over the July call came on a day in which Trump was also scheduled to meet with Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in the afternoon.

The July 25 call has been the subject of intense scrutiny since The Washington Post reported last week that a whistleblower had come forward with concerns about the matter. It has ignited an impeachment drive in the House, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announcing Tuesday the launch of a formal inquiry and accusing Trump of violating the Constitution in seeking help from a foreign leader to damage a political opponent.

Trump has acknowledged publicly that he asked Zelensky to investigate Biden’s son, who served on the board of a Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company that came under scrutiny by authorities there. ... Trump has denied doing anything improper, but lawmakers have raised concerns about his directive to freeze nearly $400 million in military assistance for Ukraine in the days leading up the phone call with Zelensky.
....

Read more here.

Devlin Barrett, Matt Zapotosky and John Hudson contributed to this report.

John Wagner is a national reporter who leads The Post's new breaking political news team. He previously covered the Trump White House. During the 2016 presidential election, he focused on the Democratic campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley. He also chronicled Maryland government for more than a decade. Follow https://twitter.com/WPJohnWagner

[FakeNoose]

8. Now he's going to throw Barr under the bus

First it was Rudy, he was expendable. Now you're sacrificing Barr?
Really Chump, are you that desperate?

[scipan]

9. garbage article.

For one thing, they never mention the Trumpistas broke the law by not sending the complaint to congress.

[McCamy Taylor]

10. Impeach Barr too. He already broke the law.

[Kid Berwyn]

11. The Department of Just Us

Unless he’s the whistleblower, Barr is looking at a long stretch in the pen.