Trump phone call partisanly

whistleblower documents. There’s just one thing ... they ALREADY have access. They were literally able to view the documents in the Capitol today.”

The whistleblower was concerned that Trump was pressuring a foreign leader to take an official action that would help his 2020 re-election, according to a legal memo released by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

The Inspector General’s office found “some indication of an arguable political bias” by the whistleblower in favor of a rival political candidate”, but determined that the allegation appeared credible, according to the office.

The Justice Department concluded that the whistleblower complaint did not need to be shared with Congress because the relevant law only covers conduct by intelligence officials, not the president, according to a legal analysis released by the department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

Trump didn’t ask Barr to contact Ukraine, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said, and Barr has not communicated with Ukraine about a possible investigation or any other subject. Barr first found out about the conversation several weeks after it took place, Kupec said.

Justice Department officials concluded last week that Trump’s conduct on the call did not amount to a criminal violation of campaign finance law because what he was asking for — an investigation of a political rival — was not a quantifiable “thing of value,” said a senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Justice Department said Barr will not recuse himself from Ukrainerelated investigations despite Democratic demands.

Stanley Renshon, a political scientist at City University of New York, said Trump now has evidence that his complaint that “they are out to get me” has substance.

“Americans remain a fair-minded people, and the question on the table now is whether Trump can convince voters that this has been the Democrats’ purpose since he was elected, and whether they will vote to end the impeachment process either by selecting or removing him from office,” Renshon told China Daily.

If the inquiry leads to articles of impeachment in the House, a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate would follow, on whether to remove Trump from office. A twothirds majority vote in the Senate is required to remove a sitting president.