Third Culture Queen vol. 19

Special Topic: Trump, Ukraine and Impeachment

Sep 27, 2019

Hey y’all,

Unless you’ve been on a technological detox for the past week, you may have heard of a “perfect” phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky that may just spell the end for Trump’s presidency.

Below you’ll find a timeline of key events in the Ukrainian Dispute, as well as a list of links that can provide even more detail into what has occurred this week. It should be no secret to you how I feel about this week’s events and what the fate of our tyrant-in-chief should be but, for now, I wanted to provide y’all with the keystones so you can draw a conclusion yourself.

There are lot of moving parts, and it’s only getting crazier by the day.

But, before you consume anything else – if you haven’t yet – read these documents:

Unlike the Mueller Report, these case documents are collectively 20-pages long and the only ones you need to read are the call transcript (5-pages) and the whistleblower complaint (9-pages).

There is absolutely no reason to engage in conversation, debate or discussion of anything kind with someone who has not read at minimum the 15-pages above. An already divided United States is going to be torn even farther apart from this process and it’s vital that every American arm themselves with the facts and not their politics.

If you’d like to discuss the impeachment inquiry, join the conversation!

Happy Reading,

Kyle

PS – Make sure to check out this week’s Superpower Struggles, Regional Resentments, and Interesting Times!

Timeline – CNN

The following details the major developments surrounding the Ukraine controversy:

July 25: Trump and the Ukrainian leader talk by phone.
Aug. 12: A whistleblower files a complaint with the intelligence inspector general.
Aug. 30: Trump considers blocking $250 million in military aid to Ukraine, effectively pausing disbursement of the funds during a formal review process.
Sept. 2: Deadline for Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to send whistleblower complaint to Congress — he does not send it.
Sept. 9: The intelligence community inspector general notifies House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of an "urgent concern" that DNI has overruled. Three House committees launch investigation of efforts by Trump, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and others to pressure the Ukrainian government to assist the President's reelection efforts. The committees request information about Trump's July phone call with Zelensky.
Sept. 12: The administration hold on Ukraine aid is lifted.
Sept. 18: The intelligence community inspector generaland the acting DNI say they will brief the House Intelligence Committee.
Sept. 22: Trump acknowledges that he discussed Joe Biden in a July call with Zelensky. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi writes to the acting DNI stating that if the administration refusals continue, it would constitute a "serious possible breach of constitutional duties by" Trump and would take Congress "into a whole new stage of investigation."
Sept. 23: Trump tells reporters at the United Nations that his conversations with Ukraine's leaders were without fault and said he wanted the world to see what he said.
Sept. 24: Pelosi announces formal impeachment inquiry into Trump. The President tweets the White House will release a transcript of his call with Zelensky.
Sept. 25: The White House releases their transcript of Trump's call with Zelensky. The Whistleblower's complaint is delivered to Capitol Hill and the whistleblower tentatively agrees to meet with congressional lawmakers.
Sept. 26: The acting DNI briefs the House Intelligence Committee.
Sept 27: Secretary of State Pompeo subpoenaed by US House.

Articles

For more details, check out the stories below (most recent news first):

Food for Thought

Brace Yourself for the Internet Impeachment (New York Times)
The last time America watched an impeachment inquiry, it was largely an analog affair. When the House voted to begin impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton in 1998, only one in four American homes had internet access. AOL and Yahoo were the biggest websites in the world, and “tweet” was a sound birds made.
If the inquiry opened by House Democrats this week results in a formal impeachment of Mr. Trump, it will be the first of the social media era. In many ways, it is a made-for-the-internet event. The political stakes are high, the dramatic story unspools tidbit by tidbit and the stark us-versus-them dynamics provide plenty of fodder for emotionally charged social media brawls.
As impeachment looms, disinformation experts are bracing for a fresh cyclone of chaos, complete with fast-twitch media manipulation, droves of false and misleading claims, and hyper-polarized audiences fiercely clinging to their side’s version of reality.
If Democrats want their impeachment narratives to stick, they will need to do a better job of controlling the online battleground, where partisan opportunists jockey to set the narrative in real time and undermine the opposing side.
“Politics is being consumed like entertainment,” said Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist. “It’s a choose-your-own-adventure reality.”
Veteran digital strategists characterized the impeachment inquiry as a potent opportunity for raising money and collecting voter information. On Wednesday, Brad Parscale, Mr. Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, claimed that the campaign had raised $5 million from small donors in the 24 hours since the impeachment inquiry began.
“When we fund-raise online, we’re always looking for ways to create a sense of urgency, like a deadline,” said Mr. Wilson, the Republican digital strategist. “This is like the ultimate deadline.”
Related: Republicans who Impeached Clinton Have a Warning for Today’s Democrats (Oxy)

Third Cultured

Discussion about this post