The Ukraine whistleblower story has been disintegrating all week. It really took a dive yesterday when it was revealed that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) had prior knowledge of the complaint while publicly he was professing otherwise.
But the Washington Post dropped a story tonight that suggests Democrats may have an even more flawed story lined up in the box.
The WaPo claims:
An Internal Revenue Service official has filed a whistleblower complaint reporting that he was told at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted to improperly interfere with the annual audit of the president or vice president’s tax returns, according to multiple people familiar with the document.
The problem? Once again, this is anonymous hearsay complaint, not even firsthand but a thirdhand claim of what allegedly occurred.
With the sudden and convenient whistleblower rule change, are we now to expect a flood of hearsay complaints based on “someone told me something.” How ridiculous is this?
Then while such information is supposed to be confidential after it is filed, once again we see an obviously convenient leak to the WaPo who is then all too happy to publish anonymous hearsay if it helps to serve the Democratic narrative. Democrats need to be called on the carpet for this.
It’s unclear who the “political appointee” in question is or even if it’s a pro or anti-Trump person. It’s not even clear if it refers to the president or the vice president’s returns.
But that isn’t stopping the Democrats from getting geared up, according to the WaPo, who said congressional Democrats are now circulating on Capitol Hill and have flagged it to a federal judge. Rep. Richard Neal told Bloomberg he is consulting with legal counsel about whether to release the whistleblower complaint. Democrats are calling it “deeply significant allegation” “if true,” the WaPo says.
Ah, the “if true” standard strikes again. If true, unicorns can fly. Thirdhand hearsay. Journalism at its finest.
Meanwhile, the WaPo admits that they themselves have not been able to confirm that anything wrong happened.
“The Post has been unable to verify the allegation in the whistleblower’s complaint of improper communication between Treasury and IRS on the tax audit program.”
But hey, it’s cool, we’ll run with it anyway.
James Jackson, a deputy inspector general at the Treasury Department, said in September when asked about the whistleblower complaint at a congressional hearing: “We can’t confirm or deny that we may or may not be doing anything. I can tell you, though, that anytime we get any kind of allegation in this world, in this realm, we investigate it aggressively.”
Jackson added: “We are not aware of any misconduct.”
In his interview with The Post, the whistleblower dismissed the contention of critics that the complaint was uncorroborated.
“That’s what investigations are for,” he said.
No, investigations apparently are now witch hunts without actual evidence of wrongdoing at the start to serve the Democrats’ desire to somehow go after the president. Because 2020 is coming and Orange Man Bad and we, the Democrats, have to throw what we can against the wall.
For shame.
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