Back before Trump was even sworn in, Congresscritter Chuckles Schumer made a comment about the intelligence services having multiple ways to get back at Trump for saying bad things about them. Warning or threat, take your pick. Curious.
Jump forward to December of 2018 and Nancy Pelosi quietly changing the rules of the House to exclude Republicans (and others) from participating in the impeachment process. She stood tradition and accepted practices of 200 plus years on their ear. Curiouser.
In August of this year, the intelligence community suddenly revised the form used to document “Disclosure of Urgent Concern” aka the whistleblower form. Minor change? Not hardly. The form was redone to allow submission of hearsay concerns — i.e. the complainant did not have to have first hand knowledge of the alleged problem. Curiouser indeed.
Also in August of this year, it appears that Congresscritter Schitt was given the whistleblower complaint. Or, might he have had it earlier? There is strong evidence that this was not a typical complaint and that whoever filed it had a lot of help. Was that help from a member or members of the committee and/or lawyers associated with them? And yet curiouser again.
Conspiracy or not, what has happened has set a very dangerous precedent. I agree with Mr. Wright on his thoughts, and will add my own.
First, no President from any party can now trust the intelligence community on any level. There were already issues of leaks of Presidential communications, hence the move to a government secure server (as opposed to an unsecure server in a bathroom). The will have to assume from the start an adversarial relationship and consider that any one person in the community can and will act against them.
Second, they will no longer have faith in the intel or the intel analysis provided. As the intelligence community has moved into policy over the last few years, anyone with a brain will have to presume that the intel and analysis is corrupt on some level.
It’s actually not the first time for that, as Reagan came into office having doubts about the analysis (if not the intel) of the Soviet Union from various parts of the intelligence community. In my own biased opinion, he was quite right to do so. His solution was an extensive “kitchen cabinet” that provided input on everything from the Soviet Union to science. Trust but verify was not just for the Soviets.
Finally, no matter what else comes out of this, it will be seen by the public as one more institution that is corrupt. The loss of faith in institutions harms society and the Republic. Given current rhetoric and violence, the loss of faith in the rule of law may well be a crippling blow — particularly when it comes on top of the loss of faith in the FBI and the DOJ.
All we can do now is hang on. If it turns out that this was indeed orchestrated, the results will be to no one’s liking. Even if not as orchestrated as it appears at first glance, the damage to the credibility of the government and the electoral process will still be profound.
There is no way for Pelosi et al to back down now. Well, they could, but they will not. They are throwing the dice on a longshot, and no matter what, it is the Citizens of the United States and the Republic itself that will pay the price.