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demmiblue

(36,751 posts)
Fri Oct 4, 2019, 04:39 PM Oct 2019

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

Source: NBC

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.

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




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CIA's top lawyer made criminal referral on whistleblower's complaint about Trump conduct (Original Post) demmiblue Oct 2019 OP
**Trump appointee** Dennis Donovan Oct 2019 #1
That's interesting. Obviously some of tRump's appointees have ethics. n/t CaliforniaPeggy Oct 2019 #2
Or just a sense of self preservation. uncle ray Oct 2019 #3
It could be that too! n/t CaliforniaPeggy Oct 2019 #4
The dirt is getting deep over tRump's head as he continues to dig his hole deeper and deeper. n/t RKP5637 Oct 2019 #5
Trump's personal lawyer, Bill Barr, took the complaint to ground. Optical.Catalyst Oct 2019 #6
and let me guess barr stuffed it down the nearest toilet EveHammond13 Oct 2019 #7
Damn those lawyers and their insistence on obeying the law. TomSlick Oct 2019 #8

Optical.Catalyst

(1,355 posts)
6. Trump's personal lawyer, Bill Barr, took the complaint to ground.
Fri Oct 4, 2019, 06:03 PM
Oct 2019

Complaint? There ain't no stinkin' complaint here!

TomSlick

(11,035 posts)
8. Damn those lawyers and their insistence on obeying the law.
Fri Oct 4, 2019, 07:47 PM
Oct 2019

Having been a government lawyer for several years, it is my experience that most of that ilk will do what the law requires and advise their agency to do so.

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