# The Trump Impeachment Inquiry **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 24, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771 "2019-09-24T20:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 269
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5361 "2019-11-21T21:38:23Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > Thanks to those of you discussing the polling on impeachment in more detail. Math and statistics are not my strong suit and I haven’t had a chance to listen to as many 538 podcasts lately. Think of it like if you average how “gray” something is by picking black balls out of barrel A and white balls from barrel B. If you decide to take more from A then your average will be more black, if you take more from B then it will be more white. Fundamentally, your graph isn’t actually a graph about the color of the balls - those are set and unchanging - it’s just a graph of which barrel you’re pulling from more often. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5362 "2019-11-21T21:43:16Z")
A good point I read on Twitter. Schiff basically let Nunes and Jordan, et al. flap their gums for the last week and a half, rarely addressing their ridiculous conspiracy theories and outright lies, always just … “thank the gentleman,” … and move on. Letting them sit in their own bathwater. Then at the end of the hearing, when he’s got all time he wants to take and the Republicans will not be able to rebut a damn thing, he rolls it all up into one giant shit-ball to set on fire to bring the proceedings home. Masterful strategy. Too subtle for a Republican to think of. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5363 "2019-11-21T21:55:49Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > A good point I read on Twitter. Schiff basically let Nunes and Jordan, et al. flap their gums for the last week and a half, rarely addressing their ridiculous conspiracy theories and outright lies, always just … “thank the gentleman,” … and move on. Letting them sit in their own bathwater. Then at the end of the hearing, when he’s got all time he wants to take and the Republicans will not be able to rebut a damn thing, he rolls it all up into one giant shit-ball to set on fire to bring the proceedings home. > > Masterful strategy. Too subtle for a Republican to think of. “But but but… It’s not FAAIIIRRRR!” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5364 "2019-11-21T22:01:40Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Then at the end of the hearing, when he’s got all time he wants to take and the Republicans will not be able to rebut a damn thing, he rolls it all up into one giant shit-ball to set on fire… …via spray-tan blowtorch. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5365 "2019-11-21T22:08:14Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > A good point I read on Twitter. Schiff basically let Nunes and Jordan, et al. flap their gums for the last week and a half, rarely addressing their ridiculous conspiracy theories and outright lies, always just … “thank the gentleman,” … and move on. Letting them sit in their own bathwater. Then at the end of the hearing, when he’s got all time he wants to take and the Republicans will not be able to rebut a damn thing, he rolls it all up into one giant shit-ball to set on fire to bring the proceedings home. > > Masterful strategy. Too subtle for a Republican to think of. I think you’re right. In the opening statements this morning by Schiff and Nunes, Schiff basically reiterated all the under-oath testimony pointing to the corrupt activities of Trump and his minions. Nunes’ statements had no connection to reality. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5366 "2019-11-21T22:37:13Z")
What I learned from Nunes’ closing statement today outlining the chronology of the Democrats’ calls for impeachment: Apparently, it is the Democrats fault that the very next day after Mueller had testified before Congress, Trump called Zelensky and put into motion the chain of events that would lead to these impeachment hearings. I mean WTF?!?! Does anybody not try to explain to him the lack of logic in this? ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5367 "2019-11-21T22:52:59Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > To some extent, I respect the nitpicking but, likewise, Michael Mann’s hockey stick graph was wrong - only the corrected version was also a hockey stick and everyone else’s attempt to do the same thing as Mann had also produced a hockey stick. > > Any of the three versions of the graph is trending downward. It is probably correct that some of the severity is a factor that we’re migrating from prioritizing underlying graph B where, previously, we were prioritizing underlying graph A - and I did miss that aspect, I’m not saying that I didn’t get caught by the misread. But, ultimately, the proof that Trump is guilty is better and clearer today than it was two weeks ago and has only improved with time. That should make “impeach and remove” go upwards. It should make both underlying graphs go upwards. > > I mean, I can certainly hope to have cynicism proved invalid but that’s not the current winning argument, from the data at hand today. Anecdotal evidence supporting the “hearing fatigue” theory: my wife. She and I both despise Trump and will be thrilled the day he leaves the White House, but the other day she said she just wasn’t sure anymore that the charges were serious enough to impeach and remove. (Neither of us follows the hearings closely. I get most of my info here, and she catches up on NPR driving to and from work.) Apparently some of the GOP excuses were filtering through to her-- even on NPR: that the process was partisan, that the offense wasn’t big enough to merit impeachment, etc etc. I tried to rebut them all one-by-one over dinner, but eventually she just said it was all too much to process and maybe Congress has better things to do. Now if an intelligent, informed, fiercely Trump-hating Democrat can feel that way, I can only imagine how less informed, less passionate people might feel. Never mind Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5368 "2019-11-21T22:58:36Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > What I learned from Nunes’ closing statement today outlining the chronology of the Democrats’ calls for impeachment: Apparently, it is the Democrats fault that the very next day after Mueller had testified before Congress, Trump called Zelensky and put into motion the chain of events that would lead to these impeachment hearings. > > I mean WTF?!?! Does anybody not try to explain to him the lack of logic in this? I can’t help but face-palm after reading the _Salon_ article for yesterday’s statement: > [@](#): > > “It’s a long list of false charges, and that’s merely a partial list,” Nunes declared after reading the largely corroborated list. > > Nunes then went on to claim that Democrats were again pushing false charges in the Ukraine case. > > “When the Democrats can’t get any traction for their allegations of a quid pro quo, they move the goalposts and accuse the president of extortion, then bribery, and as a last resort, obstructing justice,” Nunes said, moments before Sondland explicitly described a “quid pro quo.” Derysh, I. (2019, November 20). “Nunes read the wrong opening statement”: GOP strategy flops as Sondland throws Trump under the bus. _Salon_. Retrieved November 21, 2019 from [https://www.salon.com/2019/11/20/nunes-read-the-wrong-opening-statement-gop-strategy-flops-as-witness-throws-trump-under-the-bus/](https://www.salon.com/2019/11/20/nunes-read-the-wrong-opening-statement-gop-strategy-flops-as-witness-throws-trump-under-the-bus/) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5369 "2019-11-21T23:00:40Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > What I learned from Nunes’ closing statement today outlining the chronology of the Democrats’ calls for impeachment: Apparently, it is the Democrats fault that the very next day after Mueller had testified before Congress, Trump called Zelensky and put into motion the chain of events that would lead to these impeachment hearings. > > I mean WTF?!?! Does anybody not try to explain to him the lack of logic in this? Well, as I recall, at least a couple of Dopers blamed Mueller for the Zelensky call by saying that the report’s weak sauce gave DJT implicit permission to do whatever the fuck he wanted to,. (I can find the cites if someone wants them.) Can you explain to me the logic in _that_? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5370 "2019-11-21T23:15:54Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > [Keneth P. Vogel](https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/1197319399755124736), _NYT_: > > > [@](#): > > > > SCOOP: In investigation of LEV PARNAS & IGOR FRUMAN, SDNY has subpoenaed: > > ▶Top TRUMP fundraiser & lobbyist BRIAN BALLARD > > ▶2 fundraisers for the pro-TRUMP @AmericaFirstPAC > > ▶a businessman from whom Parnas sought $ for Fraud Guarantee to pay @RudyGiuliani > > … > > The subpoena issued to the businessman solicited by LEV PARNAS (for an investment in Fraud Guarantee) expressly mentions RUDY GIULIANI. > > > > \*The businessman in question did not invest in Fraud Guarantee. Bonus tidbit that Politico noticed is that Pam Bondi worked at Ballard Partners and quit to work on impeachment, for Trump. For any who don’t remember, Bondi was suspected as having been bought off from charging Trump for Trump U in Florida, during the campaign. > **[New Records Shed Light on Donald Trump’s $25,000 Gift to Florida Official...](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/us/politics/pam-bondi-donald-trump-foundation.html)** > > Documents obtained this week by The New York Times, including a copy of Mr. Trump’s check, at least partly undercut a timeline that looked like a quid pro quo. More importantly, for the impeachment question, one might suspect that she left Ballard Partners to deal with impeachment because she might be complicit in the activities of Giuliani, Parnas, and Fruman and needs to ensure that they all retain the “Presidential Pardon” backstop. I feel like Schiff should be mentioning this. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5371 "2019-11-21T23:51:23Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > To some extent, I respect the nitpicking but, likewise, Michael Mann’s hockey stick graph was wrong - only the corrected version was also a hockey stick and everyone else’s attempt to do the same thing as Mann had also produced a hockey stick. > > Any of the three versions of the graph is trending downward. It is probably correct that some of the severity is a factor that we’re migrating from prioritizing underlying graph B where, previously, we were prioritizing underlying graph A - and I did miss that aspect, I’m not saying that I didn’t get caught by the misread. But, ultimately, the proof that Trump is guilty is better and clearer today than it was two weeks ago and has only improved with time. That should make “impeach and remove” go upwards. It should make both underlying graphs go upwards. > > I mean, I can certainly hope to have cynicism proved invalid but that’s not the current winning argument, from the data at hand today. But also remember that the polling lags by a few days to a week. So we shouldn’t expect the effect of the Sundland testimony to show up in the polls until sometime next week. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5372 "2019-11-21T23:52:30Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Bonus tidbit that Politico noticed is that Pam Bondi worked at Ballard Partners and quit to work on impeachment, for Trump. > > For any who don’t remember, Bondi was suspected as having been bought off from charging Trump for Trump U in Florida, during the campaign. > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/us/politics/pam-bondi-donald-trump-foundation.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/us/politics/pam-bondi-donald-trump-foundation.html) > > More importantly, for the impeachment question, one might suspect that she left Ballard Partners to deal with impeachment because she might be complicit in the activities of Giuliani, Parnas, and Fruman and needs to ensure that they all retain the “Presidential Pardon” backstop. > > I feel like Schiff should be mentioning this. I too wish more focus was put on this side-story. The whole asking another country to investigate a rival’s son who sits on the board of some shady company is much more difficult for the American public to grasp than old-fashioned bribery, “you fire this lady, we pay you money”. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5373 "2019-11-21T23:53:57Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I won’t be able to watch this week, I’m living without TV and internet ( except on my phone) this week. But I read every word of her closed door testimony and that’s EXACTLY what she is saying. And EXACTLY what I’ve been saying. > > This was engineered by Russia. The Ukrainian conspiracy theory and the documents Rudy had been waving around are Russian disinformation. Fruman and Parnas are Russian agents. > > The Russia / Ukraine war is serious high stakes endeavor and the energy security of Western Europe is at stake. Getting the US to waiver in their support of Ukraine is a key foreign policy goal of Russia. People don’t think of Russia as a petrostate, but it is the worlds second largest oil exporter (behind Saudi Arabia) and the largest natural gas exporter. > It’s about so much more than that phone call. One of the goals of the Trump/Giuliani scheme was to replace the board of directors at Naftogaz, another Ukrainian gas company. This change was being pushed by Rudy Giuliani and the two Russian agents. > > This is where the story is, I think. Because US foreign policy actively encourages Ukrainian companies to put Westerners on their boards, it’s part of the effort to clean up corruption by strengthening corporate governance. If Trump and Giuliani were looking to subvert that by plotting to put “friends of Putin” of the board, that might be a high crime. Not bribery though. The other one. Sounds kinda… What’s the word…? Swampy. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5374 "2019-11-21T23:56:08Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > Sounds kinda… What’s the word…? > > Swampy. Do dopers think Rudy was taking orders from the Kremlin or just a helpful (and greedy, and probably law-breaking) idiot? ETA: Or innocent, I guess that’s an opinion too. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5375 "2019-11-21T23:57:50Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > A good point I read on Twitter. Schiff basically let Nunes and Jordan, et al. flap their gums for the last week and a half, rarely addressing their ridiculous conspiracy theories and outright lies, always just … “thank the gentleman,” … and move on. Letting them sit in their own bathwater. Then at the end of the hearing, when he’s got all time he wants to take and the Republicans will not be able to rebut a damn thing, he rolls it all up into one giant shit-ball to set on fire to bring the proceedings home. > > Masterful strategy. Too subtle for a Republican to think of. I’m thinking [something along these lines](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8gAYUupm2k). ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5376 "2019-11-22T00:08:17Z")
So what about this [FBI seeks interview with whistleblower who triggered impeachment inquiry](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-seeks-interview-with-whistleblower-who-triggered-impeachment-inquiry/2019/11/20/aa54eb1a-0bc2-11ea-97ac-a7ccc8dd1ebc_story.html) There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of information about what the FBI would want to talk to him about. I’m not sure what more information he would have about any investigation that they would be a part of that he would be able to help them with beyond what has already been covered in the impeachment inquiry. The cynical side of me thinks that maybe they are being pushed from above to claim they need to talk to him so they can pass his identity on up. But that seems a little ham handed even for them. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5377 "2019-11-22T00:29:09Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > So what about this > [FBI seeks interview with whistleblower who triggered impeachment inquiry](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-seeks-interview-with-whistleblower-who-triggered-impeachment-inquiry/2019/11/20/aa54eb1a-0bc2-11ea-97ac-a7ccc8dd1ebc_story.html) > > There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of information about what the FBI would want to talk to him about. I’m not sure what more information he would have about any investigation that they would be a part of that he would be able to help them with beyond what has already been covered in the impeachment inquiry. The cynical side of me thinks that maybe they are being pushed from above to claim they need to talk to him so they can pass his identity on up. But that seems a little ham handed even for them. I think the FBI is clean. They arrested Nader and Parnas in recent times so even the DOJ itself isn’t completely broken. In general, I would suspect one of the two goals: 1. Investigating possible criminal bribery and extortion by Sondland, Giuliani, and others (excluding the President, obviously). 2. Investigating an allegation like that the whistleblower leaked information to the press. I would lean towards the second since the WB only knows things second hand. There’s no real reason to ask him questions about Giuliani and company except maybe out of completeness. My guess would be that he’ll answer through writing through his lawyer, end of story. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5378 "2019-11-22T01:09:36Z")
[ **Will Hurd Picks a Side** _If Democrats can’t persuade a moderate Republican like him to vote to impeach President Trump, they’re unlikely to win over any Republicans at all._](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/11/impeachment-will-hurd-republicans/602443/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) > [@](#): > > …This afternoon, however, Hurd used his allotted five minutes to update everyone on his thinking. “An impeachable offense should be compelling, overwhelmingly clear, and unambiguous. And it’s not something to be rushed or taken lightly,” Hurd said. “I have not heard evidence proving the president committed bribery or extortion.” > > The representative’s short speech was in the vein of a pox on both your houses. He said that during the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump’s mention of former Vice President Joe Biden and his request that Zelensky do him “a favor” by investigating him was “inappropriate, misguided foreign policy.” > … > > Hurd’s “wrong-but-not-impeachable” assessment of Trump’s conduct may be a preview of how Republicans in the Senate receive the House’s case for removal. There are still a few others in the broader House Republican conference, such as retiring Representative Francis Rooney of Florida, who could yet vote for impeachment. But despite hours of seemingly damaging testimony against Trump by current and former members of his administration, Hurd’s statement is the strongest signal yet of which way the impeachment winds are blowing. If Democrats can’t draw a Republican lawmaker like him to their side, they likely won’t be able to win over any at all. > … So there’s a gun but it’s not smoking, because although Donald waved it around and pointed it, he didn’t fire it. He was just being a poopyhead. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5379 "2019-11-22T01:24:01Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [ **Will Hurd Picks a Side** > _If Democrats can’t persuade a moderate Republican like him to vote to impeach President Trump, they’re unlikely to win over any Republicans at all._](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/11/impeachment-will-hurd-republicans/602443/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) > So there’s a gun but it’s not smoking, because although Donald waved it around and pointed it, he didn’t fire it. He was just being a poopyhead. What Tim Hurd is saying is what I’ve been saying: impeachment isn’t about the law; it’s about the politics. If the economy is rolling, you can’t impeach an incumbent president. Period. And yes, he probably could murder someone on 5th Avenue – at least today. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/5380 "2019-11-22T01:25:10Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > So what about this > [FBI seeks interview with whistleblower who triggered impeachment inquiry](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-seeks-interview-with-whistleblower-who-triggered-impeachment-inquiry/2019/11/20/aa54eb1a-0bc2-11ea-97ac-a7ccc8dd1ebc_story.html) > > There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of information about what the FBI would want to talk to him about. I’m not sure what more information he would have about any investigation that they would be a part of that he would be able to help them with beyond what has already been covered in the impeachment inquiry. The cynical side of me thinks that maybe they are being pushed from above to claim they need to talk to him so they can pass his identity on up. But that seems a little ham handed even for them. Bill Barr is going to do his best to criminalize whistle blowing, or at least make whistle blowers sweat it out. In short, the president is above the law. That’s what. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=268) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=270)