Who is on the line?

So this happened in America. The president was on the phone with a foreign leader and what he was saying so "alarmed" a member of the intelligence community and the individual went to his superior as a whistle- blower and told them that what the president was saying to this other world leader (cough cough, Putin) was a threat do national security. The communication was coded, URGENT.

All of this, of course, will not matter to the cult of trump. They will make excuses for the president's actions and declare that whatever he was doing he was doing it to make America great again. Just more "fake news". 

To be fair, the president of the United States can say pretty much whatever he wants to a foreign leader. As someone said earlier, he can promise to sell Alaska to the Russians and that shouldn't prompt an intelligence official sounding a national security alarm. So clearly what was said had to be bad enough to get this senior intelligence person's attention.   

What the president might (or might not) have said to a foreign leader (cough, cough, Putin) might have been devastating, but what we know happened next is just as troubling. The justice department, as they have been known to do, has been stonewalling congress and covering for their president.

"The complaint was deemed "credible and urgent" by Mr. Atkinson and so he brought it to the House Intelligence Committee's attention, as required by law. Trump's "acting" Director of Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, stepped in and blocked disclosure to the Committee, in defiance of the law that says it "shall be" given to Congress. This is yet another coverup by the most corrupt administration in history. But, this is critical intelligence that cannot be delayed for 6 months while it winds through the courts, and indeed, should not go to court at all."

I have to give trump credit, though, he hit the jackpot with Bill Barr. Here is a man who has been acting more like trump's personal lawyer than someone who is supposed to be the chief law enforcement official for the people of the United States. Barr will do everything in his power to make sure that whatever Mr. trump said to that world leader will not see the light of day.

Sadly, as I have written countless times when writing about the behavior of the grifter in charge, this too shall pass. The American people have trump shenanigans overload, and nothing seems to change what has already been baked into the cake. He will just keep lying, stealing, and bluffing his way though this presidency. And we will keep shaking our heads and wondering how in the hell people can in good conscience continue to support him. 

*Pic from theroot.com