Was There Another Cover-Up In Response to the Whistle-Blower?

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/opinion/trump-whistleblower-fec.html

The Justice Department should have shared a campaign-finance investigation with the Federal Election Commission.

By Neal K. Katyal and Joshua A. Geltzer
Mr. Geltzer and Mr. Katyal are law professors at Georgetown.

Oct. 2, 2019

One of the first things new prosecutors at the Justice Department learn is that cover-ups are rarely singular. There is often a cover-up of the cover-up.

Allegations of one cover-up, then another, emerged last week. Officials in the Trump administration tried to “lock down” the phone call memo between President Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine (the first cover-up), and then officials in the executive branch made efforts to keep this information from reaching Congress (the second cover-up).

Now we have discovered what may be a third cover-up. In its handling of the investigation and a potential campaign-finance violation, the Department of Justice appears to have ignored a rule that a matter under investigation must be referred to the Federal Election Commission. Critically, if the department had followed the rule, the Ukraine affair would have been disclosed to the American public.

Were it not for the efforts of the whistle-blower, everything about this would have been hidden from the F.E.C. and the American people.

Here’s how the Justice Department failed to follow the rule. As part of the scramble in the executive branch caused by the whistle-blower’s complaint, the Justice Department secretly investigated Mr. Trump for a potential campaign-finance violation. The department reportedly cleared him because the contributions solicited from a foreign government to his campaign were not quantifiable “things of value.” That’s the key phrase in one of the most important campaign-finance laws.

Remember that Mr. Trump’s own intelligence community inspector general — a former federal prosecutor — determined that the whistle-blower complaint was an “urgent concern.” Further, the complaint set out facts suggesting that Mr. Trump had indeed violated the federal statute that criminalizes soliciting any “thing of value” from a foreign citizen in connection with an election. A thorough investigation seemed warranted.

After it looked into the complaint, the Justice Department disagreed — it said that because the amount of the contribution couldn’t be quantified, the department would not even bother opening a criminal investigation (which would still have been short of bringing an actual prosecution).

</snip>

[MFGsunny]

1. This! n/t

[Lindsay]

2. But it's okay because,

IIRC, a couple of Republicans quit the FEC, and Trump doesn't intend to nominate replacements because he doesn't like the FEC, so we no longer have one. So no problem.

[AllaN01Bear]

3. No longer usa ,land of coverup. has been for a long time

[lastlib]

4. So they forgot to refer it to FEC? How convenient....!!

(Lousy filthy repuglikan sonsofb*tches..... --- )

[DENVERPOPS]

5. It is no big secret

Lastlib,

It is no big secret that Trump & Repubs have quite literally destroyed and emasculated the FEC from being able to do anything.
They trashed the FEC intentionally ahead of the next election in 2020. Mitch also un-funded the only three groups doing investigations of past and future election fraud and corruption.

They can't find anything going on with election tampering if there aren't any investigations or investigators can they?

Thx

[c-rational]

6. +1

[lastlib]

9. You nailed it.

There is NOTHING those corrupt, lying thieving evil basturds won't do to seize power. They hate democracy; they want a fascist oligarchy with themselves as the oligarchs. They want the government crippled until they ARE the government. And they will supplicate themselves to tRumpski as long as he furthers their agenda.

[Javaman]

7. when I read shit like this, I can't help but think of the ending to The Deer Hunter...

[spanone]

8. K&R...YES