Weekly Opinion Editorial
AMERICA NEEDS SOME DISRUPTION!
By Steve Fair
A whistle-blower is a person who exposes information or activity
deemed illegal, unethical or not above board within an organization. It can be activity that violates company
policy, the law, or general moral code.
There are a number of laws that protect whistle-blowers from retaliation
from those they expose. In early August,
an unnamed whistle-blower allegedly said President Trump encouraged Ukrainian
President Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter for money laundering
and implied that federal aid might be withheld if Zelensky didn’t comply. Intelligence
Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson(a Trump nominee) found the
whistle-blower’s complaint credible and sent it to Joseph Maguire, the acting
director of national intelligence. When
Maquire didn’t report it to the House and Senate Intelligence committees,
Atkinson wrote a letter directly to the committee chairs advising them of the
complaint.
Trump has admitted he discussed Biden with Zelensky,
but said he didn’t violate the law.
Democrats have seized the opportunity and are calling for Trump to release
the recordings/transcripts of the phone conversation. "It
will be entering a grave new chapter of lawlessness" if the resistance
persists,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
(D-CA) said. Some Democrats see blood in
the water and are calling for hearings and some want to impeach. Three thoughts:
First, Trump’s ‘word to the wise’ was not
unfounded. Rudy Giuliani, who now
serves as President Trump’s private legal counsel, alleged on Twitter Hunter
Biden was “making millions on the board of one of the most corrupt companies in
Ukraine.” He also hinted that the younger Biden’s company laundered $3 million
by transferring the money from Ukraine to Latvia, then to Cyprus, and finally
to the U.S. Democrats haven’t
talked much about the apparent Biden corruption and there is no talk of holding
hearing or investigating the allegations.
Second, there is no evidence of quid pro
quo(Latin meaning: something for something). Trump flatly denies that he offered $250
million in military aid in exchange for an investigation, but even if he did
that it still would not violate the federal bribery statute, which prohibits
public officials from taking or soliciting bribes. While it may be bad judgment for a POTUS, who
just underwent a three year investigation for Russian interference in an
election, to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political foe, it is not
illegal. Donald Trump does push the
envelope.
Third, Trump loves to disrupt the status
quo. Giuliani says he wakes up every
day planning to disrupt. Four years ago,
he disrupted the GOP primary. In his
first term, he has disrupted the political process. He has disrupted China, Iran, North Korea and
the established foreign policy. Some of
his disruption has been good- others not so good, but America could use some
disruption. We are drowning in national
debt, a growing government and a political class that is out of touch with
normal people. Disruption can divide and
separate, but rest assured, Trump is not doing business as usual.
Time
will tell if Trump’s disruption tactics will work with voters in 2020 or if he
pushed the envelope too far in his conversation with Zelensky. Right now, his Democrat opponents can only
attack his tactics, because his policies are working.
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