Democrats sound alarm after seeing Trump team hide evidence by abusing classification rules
The Trump administration and their cronies in the Justice Department have been pulling out all the stops in their efforts to make sure that the damning evidence implicating the President in the scheme to use international aid to bully Ukraine into opening sham probes into the Biden family never reach the public.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) sounded the alarm on Thursday morning after an intelligence briefing in which he was given the opportunity to examine a supposedly “classified” document detailing a September 18th call between Vice-President Mike Pence and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The document has been submitted to the Senate but the White House refuses to lift the “classified” designation, meaning it cannot be shared with the public.
What he saw, however, was nothing of the sort.
Just left the secure room having read the classified document regarding VP Pence’s Sept 18 call w Zelensky.
1. Nothing in it is classified. It should be made part of the public record immediately.
2. Hiding evidence of wrongdoing through bogus classification is unacceptable.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 23, 2020
The Trump Administration has regularly abused classification rules to hide information the public and public servants should know.
– the Trump/Zelensky call
– the Pence/Zelensky call
– the Iran War Powers notificationThis is unacceptable and unconstitutional. Period. Stop.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 23, 2020
The role that Vice-President Mike Pence played in the Ukraine scandal is of utmost importance because he is set to take the presidency after Trump if the impeachment is successful — and he should not be eligible to do so if he actively participated in the same crimes that Trump is accused of.
I reviewed the so-called “classified document” that was referenced at the trial yesterday. I see nothing “classified” about it. Hiding politically embarrassing info from public view is not grounds for classifying it. Part of the cover-up.
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) January 23, 2020
Add your name to tell McConnell to allow impeachment witnesses. We demand Trump get a fair trial!
Taking advantage of the tremendous and frankly excessive power wielded by the executive branch, the Trump team has turned the legal mechanisms meant to protect our national security and intelligence apparatus into an unwitting accomplice of his criminal schemes.
Not only is it a callous show of disrespect to all the lives that are kept safe by the classified information designation, it represents yet another effort to obstruct justice and keep Congress from getting the information it needs. It is yet another example of how the Trump administration is weaponizing every aspect of government to serve the personal agenda of Donald Trump and how important it is we run him from office one way or another. The people deserve to see all the evidence and the opportunity to make this decision for themselves.
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