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2019-10-11 -Lurid Crime Tales-

Sen. Tom Cotton Unloads On Intel Community Inspector General: ‘Evasive,' ‘Insolent,' And ‘Obstructive'

[The Federalist] Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., unloaded on the inspector general at the center of the anti-Trump whistleblower kerfuffle, calling him "insolent" and "obstructive" in a scathing letter released on Wednesday afternoon.

Michael Atkinson, the Intelligence Community Inspector General, or ICIG, is under fire for secretly eliminating a requirement that whistleblowers provide first-hand information to support allegations of wrongdoing. The ICIG admitted that it secretly changed its rules and forms in response to an error-ridden complaint filed against President Donald Trump that consisted entirely of gossip, rumor, and second-hand information.

"Your disappointing testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on September 26 was evasive to the point of being insolent and obstructive," Cotton, a Republican member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), wrote on Wednesday.

Cotton said Atkinson refused to disclose to SSCI members why Atkinson initially determined the anti-Trump complainant had a partisan political bias against Trump.

"Despite repeated questions, you refused to explain what you meant in your written report by ’indicia of an arguable political bias on the part of a rival political candidate,'" Cotton wrote. "This information is, of course, unclassified and we were meeting in a closed setting. Yet you moralized about how you were duty bound not to share even a hint of this political bias with us."

"But now I see media reports that you revealed to the House Intelligence Committee not only that the complainant is a registered Democrat, but also that he has a professional relationship with a Democratic presidential campaign," Cotton continued. "I’m dissatisfied, to put it mildly, with your refusal to answer my questions, while more fully briefing the three-ring circus that the House Intelligence Committee has become."

Cotton demanded that Atkinson disclose the exact nature and examples of the anti-Trump complainant’s partisan political bias against the president, and to disclose whether Atkinson or his staff communicated to anyone at CNN that the sole basis for the political bias finding against the complainant was a Democratic voter registration. Ahead of Atkinson’s testimony in the House, CNN’s Jake Tapper falsely asserted, citing a "source familiar with the investigation prompted by the whistleblower," that the complainant’s voter registration was the sole evidence of the complainant’s political bias.

"Did you or anyone subject to your control or influence share with CNN that the ’arguable political bias’ was merely that the complainant is a registered Democrat?" Cotton asked. He also directed Atkinson to disclose the anti-Trump Democratic presidential candidate with whom the complainant had a professional relationship.

"This information is also simple, unclassified, and personally known to you," Cotton wrote. "Therefore please reply in writing no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 11."

"I look forward to your answers, even two weeks late," Cotton concluded.

You can read the entirety of Cotton’s letter here.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-10-11 02:18|| || Front Page|| [7 views ] Top

#1 I'm sure the esteemed senator feels a lot better now.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2019-10-11 03:00|| 2019-10-11 03:00|| Front Page Top

#2 The ICIG admitted that it secretly changed its rules and forms in response to an error-ridden complaint filed against President Donald Trump that consisted entirely of gossip, rumor, and second-hand information.

Shitshow, Part 121.

Posted by Lex 2019-10-11 05:02|| 2019-10-11 05:02|| Front Page Top

#3 "Evasive, insolent" and "obstructive"

A member of the 116th Congress. They should know a thing or two about "evasive, insolent, and obstructive.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-10-11 06:08|| 2019-10-11 06:08|| Front Page Top

#4 Sen. Cotton is on the record anyway and maybe more people are aware of the problems within the 114th Congress (primarily the House) as the results of his efforts.

I wrote to my CongressCritters for many years to express my views as a citizen. At some point I began to think that a frustrating experience and time waster. The conclusion was that there was a whole lot of criminality going on in D.C. that couldn't be impacted by letter writing.

Posted by JohnQC 2019-10-11 09:46|| 2019-10-11 09:46|| Front Page Top

#5 No one likes the honest man
Because he's a good man, He wants to do it honestly and win by the book, what Trump didn't have when he arrived, was an Aggrandizement Management Plan. Every successful dictator and even some democratic regimes that wish to stay in power have one these days. Of course, theirs is the sole reason they are in politics, but a 'Philosopher King' could use such a plan to make a deepState dig its own grave.

Divide and Conquer
It involves clear division and delegation of promised proceeds from coming gravy trains and tax-payer funded snafus. The highest echelons are directly appointed and play on for pure power and legacy but the mid-level administratives will not be denied their corruption. It's best to create a working relationship with them, demarcate what they can do and and what they will absolutely not touch. If a reasonable deal was made with the deepState loyalists promising them continued tinkling coffers with protection, albeit not at the previous averages - I'm sure they would have rallied around this President too.

Further they are all in it for individual gains alone. I'm sure every one of them loathes the crazies, those in it not for just money but true ideologues and insurgents. The deepState flunkies could be effectively bribed into switching loyalties, turning on the ideologues.

Purge and reset
Once the law and intelligence apparatus was consolidated under the executive by deal and directive, the purging and silencing of ill-chosen representatives and their delinquent electorates could begin. After that it wouldn't matter if the intelligence, security and law apparatus was indulgent. They could be purged too. I'm talking visits in the night and phone and internet outages in blue states, mayors congressmen and senators jailed for corruption, perp-walked on TV.

Posted by Dron66046 2019-10-11 12:38|| 2019-10-11 12:38|| Front Page Top

#6 Remember when the Obama administration purged the IGs left over from the Bush years?

Posted by magpie 2019-10-11 13:00|| 2019-10-11 13:00|| Front Page Top

#7 Obama replaced several top military officers too including DIA and generals in his starting years I think.

Posted by Dron66046 2019-10-11 13:13|| 2019-10-11 13:13|| Front Page Top

#8 More to the point: Did Atkinson secretly eliminate the requirement that whistleblowers provide first-hand information to support allegations of wrongdoing before or after Schifferbrains consulted with the whistleblower in question? Did Atkinson do so at the behest of Schifferbrains?

Posted by Abu Uluque 2019-10-11 13:24|| 2019-10-11 13:24|| Front Page Top

02:43 Elmaper+McGurque1612
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