How Safe Is The Whistleblower? Are We In The U.S. Or In Russia?

I don't understand why Buzzflash was sending out fundraising e-mails for itself in the midst of the end of the quarter federal elections deadline, but aside from that, one of their e-mails was very worthwhile reading. Whether Trump or Barr had Trump-crony Jeff Epstein murdered while he was in federal custody or not-- one of them probably did, and Trump is blaming Hillary Clinton for the deed (a classic Trump indication of his own guilt)-- Trump has absolutely painted a target on the back on the Ukraine whistleblower. Buzzflash: "His or her personal safety is threatened, attorneys write in letter to Congress. Contrary to some reports, the whistleblower is not currently receiving federal protection. Apparently, Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes claimed that the whistleblower was under federal protection, based on a letter from his or her attorneys. A Wall Street Journal reporter, however, followed up with Mark Zaid, one of the whistleblower’s attorneys, who charged that 60 Minutes 'completely misinterpreted the contents of our letter.' Indeed the letter to congressional leaders from the Compass Rose Legal Group, and an enclosed more detailed letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, emphasized 'conveying our serious [ongoing] concerns for our client’s personal safety.'"

"The letter to Maguire directly quotes Trump’s thinly veiled threat to the whistleblower last week as cause for concern. It also mentions a fifty thousand dollar bounty offered by Trump loyalists to any person who provides information leading to the identity of the whistleblower. On Sunday, Trump asserted that he deserves to 'meet my accuser.' Given that Trump has a history of inciting violence, the whistleblower’s attorneys have good cause to be concerned about his or her personal safety. It begs the question that besides behaving like a mafia don, Trump is engaging in witness intimidation, obstruction of justice and violations of the whistleblower act." Are we in the U.S. or in Russia?

Speaking of which, Trump's Kremlin allies are insisting that transcripts of Trump's calls with Putin cannot be released without Russian permission. That would be true-- if the U.S., and not just Trump, were a Russian colony. Reuters: "The Kremlin said on Monday that Washington would need Russian consent to publish transcripts of phone calls between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Congress is determined to get access to Trump’s calls with Putin and other world leaders, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee’s chairman said on Sunday, citing concerns that the Republican president may have jeopardized national security." As Buzzflash reminded it's readers, "The safety of the whistleblower is deemed clearly at risk by his or her attorneys, and given that any federal protection would ultimately fall under the purview of the Trump administration, such “protection” might be no protection at all."

Eva Putzova is the progressive Democrat running for Congress in Arizona's vast first district. I think she spoke for a lot of Americans when she said yesterday "As if we needed any more reasons to impeach Donald Trump, his not-so-veiled threat of civil war if he is removed from office should be added to the list. Trump is encouraging people to overthrow the government of the United States through violence. This constitutes treason--  the first cause for impeachment under  Article II, Section IV of the Constitution. I encourage the Congress to act accordingly." Montana Democratic congressional candidate Tom Winter sees it much the same way. "The president," he told us today, "is threatening actual war if he is held to account by a democratically elected Congress. How many Rubicons does this administration have to cross before it is held to account?" The progressive Democrat running in the suburbs southwest of Atlanta, Michael Owens told us this morning that "Retweeting the threat of a Civil War is an escalation from Trump that goes far beyond even his normal divisive rhetoric. We should never allow this to be normalized or be excused away. This shouldn't be defended by anyone on either side of the aisle regardless of the color of your district. It is dangerous, hate-filled and anti-American."

Lets send our thoughts and prayers-- for real-- that Adam Schiff gets to the whistleblower before Trump and Barr do. Monday morning, Trump enablers in the Senate were smearing him all morning. Texas Trump-backer John Cornyn-- who is up for reelection next year without a strong Democratic opponent-- started the ball rolling: "It doesn’t come from a person with personal knowledge. It’s like I heard these people say this, and now I’m reporting it. I think that is pretty bizarre. Secondly, after a certain point, it doesn’t just allege facts, it really is kind of a dossier or political diatribe, so I think there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical. Having said that, we are in the process of talking to the director of national intelligence and the inspector general." Strange Cornyn would go with that gaslighting after even the White House-doctored transcript confirmed everything the whistleblower reported.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chair, congenitally dishonest closet queen Lindsey Graham pulled his head out of Trump's ass long enough to lisp through his shit-packed lips that he wants "to know who was the person that went to the whistleblower." You bet he does-- for Trump. Graham, who knows more about blowing than anyone else in the Senate, said "This was a fairly sophisticated effort to write a narrative rather than blow a whistle." Graham is also running for reelection-- and also with the weakest possible opposition, a crooked lobbyist Schumer picked for the job. (A new poll shows Lindsey leading the crooked lobbyist-- but only be 7 points, 50 to 43%.)

But Republicans are realizing this is going to be a very bad electoral cycle for them. Trump's approval rating has cratered and is going lower and, almost daily, Republican congressmembers are eschewing reelection battles for jobs on K Street. Today, Corey Lewandowski announced he's re-thinking his plans to run for the Senate against Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire-- a day after a poll came out showing him losing in a landslide 56-34%, numbers that indicate there's not much love for the mediocre Shaheen but total disdain for Trump and his enablers.