Johnson's #1 Favorite
Mode of Communicating
(To BS His
Home Base Voters)
Pretty startling GOP tactics unfolding but not totally unexpected a mere 104 days before the 2020
presidential election – the GOP’s “dirty
tricks” machine is swinging into high gear.
See this
story from Politico and from other news sites about their newest effort.
Details: Democratic congressional leaders sent a letter (July 20) to FBI Director Christopher Wray
demanding a briefing on foreign efforts to target members of Congress as part
of an influence campaign.
They asked the FBI for an urgent briefing arising out of
concern that members of Congress are being targeted by a foreign operation
intended to influence the 2020 presidential election.
Though the letter did not
mention the Johnson investigation, it included a classified addendum that the
two sources say identified the probe as one of the sources of their concern.
The letter was written by Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) and Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and it was
also signed by the House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA),
and the Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Sen. Mark Warner
(D-VA), wherein they say: “We are gravely
concerned, in particular, that Congress appears to be the target of a concerted
foreign interference campaign, which seeks to launder and amplify
disinformation in order to influence congressional activity, public debate, and
the presidential election in November.”
All four Democrats are members of the Gang of Eight (4 others
are Republicans) – the group who are briefed on classified intelligence by the
executive branch.
Their concern is that a
Senate investigation being led by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has become a vehicle
for “laundering a foreign influence
campaign to damage Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden” (that
according to two people familiar with the demand).
They say Johnson’s investigation
targets Biden’s son Hunter, and by extension in order to smear candidate Joe
Biden.
Johnson’s probe: It centers
on claims that a Democratic public-relations firm sought to leverage Hunter
Biden’s role on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, to influence
the State Department under the Obama administration.
Johnson also has asked
several former State Department officials to testify, and he is eyeing subpoenas as soon as this week (July 20) if
they do not agree to appear for depositions voluntarily.
Keys to Johnson’s Probe: He renewed his demand for transcribed interviews and documents from former
officials days after a Ukrainian lawmaker — Andriy Derkach – who had met with
Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to discuss investigating the Biden family
held a news conference to accuse the Biden’s and Amos Hochstein (former special envoy for international
energy affairs at the State Department), of an elaborate conspiracy to
steal hundreds of millions of dollars from Ukraine.
Note: The
last time senators were briefed on election security and foreign influence, Democratic lawmakers confronted Johnson behind closed doors
about his investigation.
At that time, they argued that it
threatens the integrity of the 2020 election and relies on Russian
disinformation to tar a political opponent.
They cited in particular
Johnson’s initial effort to subpoena Andrii Telizhenko, who has pushed unsubstantiated
claims about coordination between the Ukrainian government and the DNC in 2016.
Johnson then dropped his plan
to subpoena Telizhenko after the FBI’s foreign influence task force briefed
senators about him, focusing on concerns over his credibility.
My 2 cents: From this story and other reading I conclude by using a fav
Trump phrase: “This is a witch-hunt.” Only now it’s from his side run by Sen.
Ron Johnson (R-WI).
Overall, it’s pretty blatant, worrisome, and very concerning.
Recall that this GOP blasted the Mueller Russian investigation and that
whole thing saying it was a “hoax, fake news, and witch-hunt.”
Now however, they are using the same tactics that were used in the 2016
election to fit their agenda now in 2020 – at least in my view and from all the
materials available right now.
So, shame on Sen. Johnson, but you know what, this is SOP for the GOP: “To
Employ Massive Dirty Tricks and Hypocrisy.”
So, stay tuned this is not over yet more to come sadly and it will be
just as crappy, too.
Thanks for stopping by.
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