***CIA's top lawyer made criminal referral on whistleblower's complaint about Trump conduct***

[MelissaB]

CIA's top lawyer made criminal referral on whistleblower's complaint about Trump conduct

Experts are raising questions about why the Justice Department did not open an investigation.

Oct. 4, 2019, 4:31 PM EDT
By Ken Dilanian and Julia Ainsley

WASHINGTON — Weeks before the whistleblower's complaint became public, the CIA's top lawyer made what she considered a criminal referral to the Justice Department about the whistleblower's allegations that President Donald Trump abused his office in pressuring the Ukrainian president, U.S. officials familiar with the matter tell NBC News.

The move by the CIA's general counsel, Trump appointee Courtney Simmons Elwood, meant she and other senior officials had concluded a potential crime had been committed, raising more questions about why the Justice Department later closed the case without conducting an investigation.

In the days since an anonymous whistleblower complaint was made public accusing him of wrongdoing, President Trump has lashed out at his accuser and other insiders who provided the accuser with information, suggesting they were improperly spying on what was a "perfect" call between him and the Ukrainian president. But a timeline provided by U.S. officials familiar with the matter shows that multiple senior government officials appointed by Trump found the whistleblower's complaints credible, troubling, and worthy of further inquiry starting soon after the president's July phone call.

While that timeline and the CIA general counsel's contact with the DOJ has been previously disclosed, it has not been reported that the CIA's top lawyer intended the call to be to make a criminal referral about the president's conduct, acting under rules set forth in a memo governing how intelligence agencies should report allegations of federal crimes.

More: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/cia-s-top-lawyer-made-criminal-referral-whistleblower-s-complaint-n1062481

[MelissaB]

1. Very next paragraph

The fact that she and other top Trump administration political appointees saw potential misconduct in the whistleblower's early account of alleged presidential abuses puts a new spotlight on the Justice Department's later decision to decline to open a criminal investigation — a decision that the Justice Department said publicly was based purely on an analysis of whether the president committed a campaign finance law violation.

[MelissaB]

2. And this one!

Justice Department officials have said they only investigated the president's Ukraine call for violations of campaign finance law because it was the only statute mentioned in the whistleblower's complaint. Former federal prosecutors contend that the conduct could have fit other criminal statutes, including those involving extortion, bribery, conflict of interest or fraud, that might apply to the president or those close to him.

[Roland99]

15. So they determined there was no tangible value inherent in all that corruption??

How quaint

[TeamPooka]

17. Barr going to jail. I wonder what his quid pro quo was

[Ilsa]

26. We can hope, but I bet Pence or trump pardons him. nt

[onetexan]

28. regardless, he will go down in history as the Dumpster's henchman. No decent college except

the likes of Loony Liberty University will have him on their staff. He'll die as a reviled asshat without honor.
Steinbeck said "We should live our lives so when we die men will not rejoice in your death."
When he and Dumpster, and the whole lot of these spineless Republicans who won't stand up to him dies, the millions of us on the right side of history will rejoice.

[True Blue American]

30. Two ethics charges have been filed against Barr.

[onetexan]

31. Thank u for update. Im traveling so have not heard news today.

[C_U_L8R]

3. There's been a lot of covering up

Lets keep peeling back layers and expose more Trump crimes.
His empire is built on crimes and bullshit. It was bound to unravel sooner of later.

[Perseus]

18. I keep wondering if he actually has an "empire"

I have to think he owes so much money that none of what he "owns" he really doesn't "own", he just owes a lot of money and nothing else. I am sure he is paying his debts with tax payer money now, but I don't think it amounts to canceling the debt. My prediction is that once he is kicked out of office he will be ruined, his name is toxic and being a failure I doubt anyone will want to deal with him again.

[C_U_L8R]

19. He has one right now

Unfortunately it's ours.

[Grey]

20. I have been wondering this for a while,

have you noticed that the trumps have no jewelry? Isn't that how wealthy people "humble brag?" No fancy watches, no huge cuff links or tie pins? When the trumps showed up for the state dinner in London not one of the trump women had so much as a string of pearls? I have looked at pictures all over the web and can't find a picture of any of them with more than a wedding ring. Didn't trump try to "borrow" a picture from someone but got offered a golden toilet instead?

[smirkymonkey]

23. That is an interesting observation.

Apparently, Trump has apparently been giving out phony platinum and diamond cuff links as gifts for years, trying to pass them off as genuine Harry Winston items. Eventually people would find out they were only well-crafted fakes.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/06/charlie-sheen-daniel-radcliffe-donald-trump-stories

I wonder if he or anyone in his family has ever owned a piece of expensive jewelry from a prestigious retailer. Even if he had, he probably would have had to pawn it to pay off his debts.

[njhoneybadger]

4. We need a Ted Kennedy to raise some hell

[a kennedy]

14. Or Al Franken........

[NightWatcher]

5. Was the complaint for prosecution of trump or others?

[struggle4progress]

6. I found this in the law library at Trump University

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Barr. . . . nt

[Mike 03]

8. Extraordinary.

[Leghorn21]

9. To repeat:

“The fact that she and other top Trump administration political appointees saw potential misconduct in the whistleblower's early account of alleged presidential abuses puts a new spotlight on the Justice Department's later decision to decline to open a criminal investigation — a decision that the Justice Department said publicly was based purely on an analysis of whether the president committed a campaign finance law violation.”



Hey, all you top Trump administration political appointees - nice work.

DON’T STOP NOW

[bullimiami]

10. And the Trump Syndicate knew well before anyone in the House

That there were complaints coming up the line and they tried to bury them.
Luckily the whistleblower didn't give up and ended up at the IG.

[malaise]

11. Barr the door

Lock them all up! They are going down

[triron]

12. I recall Rachel reporting this a few days ago.

[ffr]

13. Need to find the correct path to impeach Barr

Astonishing!

[Mr.Bill]

16. If we impeached Barr

Trump would probably appoint Ted Nugent as AG.

[orangecrush]

21. Holy crap!

[Trumpdumper]

22. Good, smart, ethical lawyer

She was a clerk to William Rehnquist. Say what you will about his political leanings, he was not stupid, and he did not hire stupid people.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

24. K&R

[Lib 4 Life]

25. barr should be told to resign.

[Pepsidog]

27. Gotta be a way to swear out a complaint going around DOJ.

[Martin Eden]

29. Trump's call was indeed "perfect"

-- a perfect case for imeachment.

Barr works for Trump, not for American justice.