Donald Trump has a bizarre relationship with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. He said nothing when Russia put a bounty on the heads of American soldiers. He said nothing when Russian military troops rammed our military vehicles and killed our Syrian allies, the Kurds, according to The New York Times. He said nothing when Russia poisoned an outspoken Russian advocate. Why?
The House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) has subpoenaed the president’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Not only that, his committee also subpoenaed Trump’s acting head of the department’s intelligence office.
Murphy’s allegations include “suppression of intelligence reports about Russia’s election interference:”
‘[T]he suppression of intelligence reports about Russia’s election interference and efforts to modify intelligence assessments to match Trump’s rhetoric on white supremacy, Antifa, and terrorism threats at the border.’
The reason for the subpoenas was that the DHS refused to work with Schiff’s Intelligence Committee. Specifically, Schiff claimed that the DHS “unlawfully obstructed” one of the committee’s investigations into a whistleblower’s allegations.
Schiff tweeted, according to The Forbes magazine:
‘They are effectively blocking the whistleblower from testifying and have failed to provide key documents. We will not tolerate DHS’s obstruction and attempts to run out the clock.’
One of the subpoenas orders the DHS to provide all the written and digital records related to the investigation by October 6. The second subpoena ordered the acting head Joseph Maher to testify before then, on October 2.
Schiff’s allegation was that the departmental officials prevented his committee from doing its work, investigating allegations brought by a former official in the agency Brian Murphy. The former employee came forward after he was ordered to quit “reporting on the Russian threat to the U.S. election:”
In a statement Schiff released, he wrote:
‘[T]he suppression of intelligence reports about Russia’s election interference and efforts to modify intelligence assessments to match Trump’s rhetoric on white supremacy, Antifa, and terrorism threats at the border.’
Schiff’s committee asked Maher to testify before them to explain under oath why the DHS was “preventing” an intelligence whistleblower from giving testimony. He also wanted to know why the DHS “failed to produce” the materials the committee had requested.
In addition, the Republican leader wanted to have Maher explain the reason he refused to answer questions about his “knowledge and involvement” in matters related to this investigation.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
