In yet another strange turn of the Trump/Ukraine story, President Trump is now accusing Democrats of crimes for investigating his potential crimes.
Trump is mad about the fact that the whistleblower who reported that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden went to the House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, after submitting a complaint at the CIA. The whistleblower did not speak with Schiff and was told to follow the proper protocols by a committee aide. Trump is also mad that Schiff read a weird “parody” of his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a House hearing.
While instructing a whistleblower to follow proper protocols and reading a statement in Congress is far from “treason,” Trump has repeatedly accused Schiff of committing “treason.”
Trump says Pelosi committed treason too:
Trump, lashing out amid an impeachment inquiry he fears will stain his “resume,” now baselessly claims that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi committed treason too.
"Nancy Pelosi knew of all of the many Shifty Adam Schiff lies and massive frauds perpetrated upon Congress and the American people," he wrote.
"This makes Nervous Nancy every bit as guilty as Liddle' Adam Schiff for High Crimes and Misdemeanors, and even Treason. I guess that means that they, along with all of those that evilly 'Colluded' with them, must all be immediately Impeached!"
Another Distraction:
“Fact check: There are some basic factual problems with those tweets — first off, members of Congress can't be impeached,” The Washington Post reported. “And while Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has said his committee counseled the whistleblower about how to file a complaint, there is no evidence the speaker was involved.”
Trump’s complaints about the whistleblower come despite the fact that his own White House released a partial transcript confirming the whistleblower’s claim that Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate Biden. The intelligence community's inspector general, the director of national intelligence, and the CIA's top lawyer -- all appointed by Trump -- found the whistleblower's complaint "credible" and submitted criminal referrals about Trump's call to the Justice Department.
A second whistleblower with “firsthand” information has now come forward to the intelligence community’s inspector general to confirm the first whistleblower account because he had “grown alarmed by the president’s behavior.”