The game of American politics, which was detonated by "Tongwumen", continues to heat up. According to local media reports, the second whistleblower of "Tongwumen" has surfaced. On October 7, 12 Democrats from the US House of Representatives demanded the resignation of Gordon Sunderland, the US ambassador to the European Union who was involved in the "Tongwumen". In response to the fierce offensive of Democrats in the House of Representatives, the White House ordered Sunderland not to testify in the House of Representatives on October 8, and launched a new effort to prevent the Democratic Party from impeaching Trump. At the same time, Trump also continued to defend himself, accusing Speaker Pelosi of "impeachment investigation" as "treason" and saying that Pelosi should be impeached.
More whistleblowers explode.
At present, more and more "Tongwumen" reporters are "surfaced", and the content that they have already or will soon break the news has put Trump in an increasingly unfavorable situation.
According to American media reports, Mark Zaid, the lawyer of the first reporter of Tongwumen, recently claimed that he also represented another reporter, and the latter was also an official from the American intelligence community. Zaid said that the second whistleblower had interviewed Michael Atkinson, the US Attorney General, and had "first-hand information" about the contents of the report.
Public opinion believes that this is different from the information of the first whistleblower from indirect channels. Once confirmed, it will greatly enhance the lethality of the "Tongwumen" incident to Trump. It is reported that the second whistleblower has not formally filed a complaint so far.
According to the report, a member of the lawyers’ group representing the informants also said that they represented several informants, but refused to disclose the specific number.
Zaid said that the second whistleblower had not communicated with any committee of Congress. However, the Democratic Party believes that the speed of making the case public itself strongly demonstrates the existence of "Tongwumen". Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee in charge of the impeachment investigation in the House of Representatives, also urged more "Tongwumen" insiders to come forward on October 6.
Speaking of the origin of "Tongwumen", it can be traced back to August 12th. On the same day, a CIA official working in the White House National Security Council first reported Trump’s improper practices in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Zelensky on July 25th, which triggered the "Tongwumen". With the development of the situation, Pelosi announced on September 24 that she officially launched an "impeachment investigation" against Trump.
According to reports, after learning about the call from a White House official, the first whistleblower wrote in his personal memo on July 26th that Trump and Zelensky mainly talked about "transaction" during the call. "The President told Zelensky that he would soon send his personal lawyer and former mayor of new york, Rudy Giuliani, to Ukraine and asked Zelensky to meet him. Zelensky reluctantly replied that if Giuliani went to Ukraine, he would arrange a meeting. "
It is reported that the "transaction" in the call involved hunter biden, the second son of former US Vice President Biden. Trump asked Zelensky to investigate the dismissal of former Ukrainian Attorney General Shaojin and Biden Jr.’ s case. Public opinion believes that Trump’s move is to obtain "black materials" against political opponents. Biden Sr. leads the Democratic presidential candidates in the 2020 general election and may become Trump’s competitor for re-election.
According to the call records released by the White House on September 24th, Trump called Shao Jin "an excellent prosecutor" and his dismissal "unfair". He also said that there was a lot of talk about Biden’s son, and he believed that Biden had prevented Ukraine from prosecuting his son.
Shao Jin once investigated the Ukrainian gas company Bresma, and hunter biden was a member of the board of directors of the company. According to reports, a few days before the call, Trump also frozen military assistance to Ukraine. The Democratic Party believes that Trump will provide military assistance to Ukraine in exchange for his goal. However, the call record did not directly indicate this, and Trump also firmly denied it.
The game between the government and the hospital continues to escalate.
Since the launch of the "impeachment investigation" against Trump, the game between the White House and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has become increasingly fierce.
On October 7, the Democratic Party of the House of Representatives issued a subpoena to the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget, requesting relevant documents on Trump’s order to freeze foreign aid to Ukraine.
It is not clear how the relevant departments will respond. It is reported that the chief lawyer of the U.S. Department of Defense has recently asked relevant agencies to collect, sort out and save all relevant documents providing security assistance to Ukraine.
Since the "impeachment investigation" was launched, Democrats in the House of Representatives have issued "subpoenas" everywhere, involving the State Council, the White House, Trump’s personal lawyer Giuliani and Vice President Burns.
It is reported that the State Council failed to provide relevant documents before the deadline. On October 8, the White House sent a letter to Pelosi and the heads of three House committees, saying that the "impeachment investigation" was a way to overthrow the results of the 2016 election, so it would not cooperate. White House lawyer Pat Chiporon also said that the "impeachment investigation" violated the Constitution and past precedents.
Trump also said earlier that the House of Representatives should first vote on the authorization of the "impeachment investigation". But Pelosi refused to do so, saying that there was no such provision in the Constitution.
Democrats in the House of Representatives have asked three partners of Giuliani to provide relevant documents. At present, they have not complied. John Dodd, a lawyer representing two of the partners, said in a letter to the House Committee that some of the information they requested was protected by the privilege of lawyers and clients, and the processing of these materials could not be completed within the specified time. He said that he hoped to meet with the House Committee and evaluate these documents, but he also said that it would take some time to respond to the Committee’s request.
On October 8th, the State Council of the United States also blocked the US Ambassador to the European Union Sunderland’s plan to testify in the House of Representatives. Trump also said on Twitter that he would like to send Sunderland to testify, but "unfortunately, he will testify in a completely weakened House of Representatives, where the rights of the Republican Party are deprived and the truth cannot be seen by the public".
The Democratic Party called Trump’s move a "hindrance" to the investigation and said it would issue a subpoena to Sunderland.
It is reported that Kurt Voelker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, once talked to Sunderland via SMS about whether Trump asked Ukraine to investigate Biden on the condition of military assistance.
According to these short messages provided by Volcker to Congress, he sent a short message to Sunderland on September 1, asking, "Are we saying that the meeting between security assistance and the White House is conditional on investigation?" He later said in another text message on September 9, "As I said on the phone, I think it is crazy not to give security assistance to get help in the political campaign."
Sunderland replied that Volcker’s understanding of Trump’s intentions was "incorrect". Sunderland said, "The president has always been very clear that there is no transaction of any kind. The president is evaluating whether Ukraine has adopted the transparency and reform promised by President Zelensky in the election campaign. "
According to the report, their short messages also showed how the Ukrainian managed to arrange a meeting between Trump and Zelensky before the call on July 25th.
On October 7, Trump complained that the Democratic investigation was making him unable to perform his duties. He also asked to meet the reporter before, saying that the latter "monitored the president" and should be sentenced to death "as before". The whistleblower’s lawyer warned that his client was in danger and there were no relevant protection measures so far.
In order to seek the first whistleblower to testify and keep his identity from being revealed, the House Intelligence Committee is currently considering taking "special measures", including holding hearings outside Congress, such as the CIA or the US Cyber Command. Other measures include that the hearing will restrict the attendance and disguise the voice of the first informant who testifies.
Democratic Rep. Raja Krisnamuri said, "We can’t allow the president to meet the whistleblower in some form or threaten him."
Political influence has attracted much attention.
"Tongwumen" is a political event full of partisan nature from the beginning, and its development will have a far-reaching impact on the future partisan politics of the United States, especially the 2020 general election.
On the day the news of the existence of a second whistleblower was revealed, Trump tweeted, "Two whistleblowers, the same Democratic lawyer? They are all supporters of Obama and corrupt Hillary Clinton. This is ‘ Witch hunt! ’”
According to reports, after the "Tongwumen" incident, the voice of Democrats in the House of Representatives supporting impeachment increased greatly, which became one of the reasons that prompted Pelosi to change her negative attitude in the past and decide to launch an "impeachment investigation".
Previously, the leadership of the Democratic Party has been avoiding talking about impeachment directly. Ten days before the official announcement of the "impeachment investigation" on September 24, Pelosi also said, "Some people think that impeachment will be a very divisive move." According to the polls at that time, 59% of the respondents opposed the impeachment of Trump.
From beginning to end, Pelosi showed some caution and tried to avoid the possible adverse effects of the impeachment investigation on the Democratic Party.
So far, Pelosi still refuses to vote on the authorization of impeachment investigation in the House of Representatives. The analysis believes that Pelosi’s move has both practical and political considerations.
On the one hand, if the impeachment resolution is to be voted by the whole court, the Republican Party will have the right to demand the same subpoena. This has been the case in the past impeachment process, but some Democrats do not want this to happen. On the other hand, it is very complicated and time-consuming to formally pass a resolution to start an impeachment investigation, and it will be accompanied by political adverse effects. This includes the choice of words in drafting resolutions, holding debates in the whole hospital, and even putting some Democrats in trouble.
In the 2020 election, the Democratic Party has 55 seats facing re-election, while the Republican Party has only 40 seats. In addition, among the 31 constituencies currently controlled by Democrats, the Republican Party can regain the majority status of the House of Representatives as long as it retakes 19 constituencies.
The latest polls show that although the number of voters who supported the launch of the impeachment investigation after the "Tongwumen" incident has increased significantly compared with the past, at the same time, as many as 68% of voters and 67% of independents believe that the impeachment investigation is for political purposes. Polls also show that in 95 key constituencies, Republican candidates who oppose impeachment are ahead of Democratic candidates who support impeachment by 50% to 42%.
At the same time, Republicans who oppose impeachment are in the lead in both Republican-controlled and Democratic-controlled constituencies. In Republican-controlled constituencies, Republican candidates lead the Democratic Party by 53% to 40%; In the constituency controlled by the Democratic Party, the Republican Party leads the Democratic Party by 47% to 43%. In the constituency that Trump won in 2016 but is now represented by Democratic lawmakers, the Republican Party also leads the Democratic Party by 54% to 38%.
Therefore, the Democratic Party’s offensive against Trump through "Tongwumen" is also a double-edged sword. The influence of "impeachment investigation" and the subsequent development of "Tongwumen" on the 2020 general election will also become a hot issue in American politics and even the international community for some time to come. (Reporter Chen Xiaofang)