As the day was heating up on Capitol Hill, President Trump was at a private breakfast in New York with the staff of the US Mission to the United Nations.It may have started out routine, but it didn’t stay that way. Here I’m going to quote an LA Times article by Eli Stokols to within a molecule or two of copyright violation because someone gave Stokols a recording. The Clinton’s go-to reporter at the New York Times, Maggie Haberman, had to rely upon this for sourcing:

according to a person briefed on what took place, who had notes of what the president said.

WTF does that mean? Is it even English?

Back to the Stokols story:

“Basically, that person never saw the report, never saw the call, he never saw the call — heard something and decided that he or she, or whoever the hell they saw — they’re almost a spy,” Trump said.

“I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information? Because that’s close to a spy,” he continued. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”
…
In his remarks, Trump cited his awkward meeting with Zelensky on Wednesday where both leaders were asked about the implicit quid pro quo detailed in the call summary and whistleblower complaint.

“They said, ‘Was he pressuring you?’” Trump said, describing the question to Zalensky, who responded that he hadn’t felt any “push” but also said he didn’t want to get involved in a U.S. political squabble.

“You know, these animals in the press,” Trump went on. “They’re animals, some of the worst human beings you’ll ever meet.”

This is the funny part. Imagine the state of affairs when a State Department employee in New York feels comfortable doing this. It is either the ballsiest troll ever or even the New York Times’s core audience has grown tired of this crap.

Someone in the room shouted out “Fake news!” egging the president on.

And egged on he was.

“They’re scum,” Trump continued. “Many of them are scum, and then you have some good reporters, but not many of them, I’ll be honest with you.”

He then accused Sen. Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.), who met with Zalensky in Kyiv this month, of pressuring the Ukrainian leader to accuse Trump of improper behavior.

“Democratic senators went over there and strong-armed the guy,” Trump said, affecting Murphy’s voice for a moment. “‘You better damn well do this or you’re not going to get any money from Congress.’ Oh, I see, that’s OK?”

“And then you have Sleepy Joe Biden who’s dumb as a rock,” Trump went on. “This guy was dumb on his best day and he’s not having his best day right now. He’s dumb as a rock. [FACT CHECK: True.] So you have Sleepy Joe and his kid, who’s got a lot of problems, he got thrown out of the Navy — look, I’m not going to, it’s a problem … so we won’t get into why. He got thrown out of the Navy and now this kid goes into Ukraine, walks away with millions of dollars, he becomes a consultant for $50,000 a month and he doesn’t know anything compared to anybody at this firm. He’s a stiff. He knows nothing. He’s walking away with $50,000.”

Enjoy the show.

Listen here: “I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information? Because that’s close to a spy,” President Trump said. https://t.co/HsUIczrgZR pic.twitter.com/TR2LRY9iN5

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 26, 2019

I find myself largely in agreement with this. The guy at the center of the storm is not a whistleblower by any stretch of the imagination. Not only did he not witness any illegal behavior, he didn’t even witness any behavior. He’s a gossipmonger who is trying to damage the President because of what seems to be more personal animus than a policy basis. I hope Trump finds out this guy’s name and gives him the recognition on Twitter that he deserves. I’m not alone in my assessment of the whistleblower’s status, the Office of Legal Counsel agrees. I think everyone throws around treason and traitor a bit too freely, but after watching the Democrats and some people who used to write here in action, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m in a minority. If Trump has been accused of treason, he has certainly earned the right to repay that insult in its own coin. On the serious side, this shows that quite a few of the intelligence agency employees attached to the White House are openly partisan and will happily use their position to forward those goals. I’d be all in favor of Trump going after the people doing this with all the vigor that Bill Barr can wring out of the Justice Department.

On the merits, I’m not impressed at all with the whistleblower complaint. There is literally nothing in there that is illegal and, unless you’re a Democrat, there isn’t very much to object to.

Two thoughts here. Does anyone really believe that he made these statements in front of this audience without the intent that they’d be made public. Think about it. State Department employees in New York are not really a core Trump constituency. The second thought comes by way of the New York Times:

At a fund-raiser at Cipriani 42nd Street in Manhattan immediately after the United Nations event, Mr. Trump walked out before the crowd of several hundred donors clutching paper in one of his hands and said, “This is the call.” He then said it was “the greatest thing” to happen to the Republican Party because they had raised so much money off the controversy.

And NBC

As the acting director of national intelligence began to testify Thursday morning before Congress, Trump departed for a Manhattan fundraiser where he was to be surrounded by familiar faces from his former life as a New York businessman.

Raising money has been one bright spot for Trump. Adding to the $5 million haul the impeachment inquiry news brought in on Tuesday and Wednesday, the president raised $5 million at a fundraising dinner at a private home in Manhattan on Wednesday night, according to a Republican spokeswoman.

He was expected to bring in an additional $3 million at the breakfast Thursday morning, for a total of $13 million so far this week.

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