{UAH} TODAY'S STATE DEPT IG HEARING WAS NOT GOOD FOR DEMOCRATS {Part one}

The ‘propaganda’ provided by the State Department IG isn’t a distraction. It’s the key

Mark Sumner

State Department Inspector General Steve Linick departs the U.S. Capitol, Oct. 2, 2019

On Wednesday, State Department Inspector General Steve Linick called staffers from three House committees to return to Washington and attend an urgent briefing. As the call came in the midst of an impeachment proceeding, and following multiple explanations that “urgent” as defined by the intelligence community means something directly affecting national security, expectations were running high. So even some of those who attended the briefing seemed to come away confused when what Linick handed over was not another whistleblower complaint, but a set of documents—some of them appearing to be hand-lettered—that pushed a series of conspiracy theories. The documents, described by Linick as propaganda, had apparently been presented to the State Department by some outside source. But what that source might be, and how the documents were used, seemed a good deal less than clear.

The importance of what Linick was providing certainly wasn’t helped by a post-briefing press appearance from Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, who called the information handed over “essentially a packet of propaganda and disinformation spreading conspiracy theories” and a “completely irrelevant distraction.” Raskin appears to have been absolutely correct in that first statement. And absolutely dead wrong in the second.

A day later, the reason that Linick was so concerned about this particular stack of faux-official reports is much more clear. As CNN reports, this particular pile of trash had the same origin as the rumors that appear to be driving Donald Trump’s actions—they came from Rudy Giuliani.

As might be expected, most of the documents are devoted to promoting a long-debunked narrative that Joe Biden forced the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor to protect his son. But also in the stack were documents that held accusations against former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Overall, this packet of information appears to be the same information that Giuliani used to sell Trump on the idea that Biden was guilty of wrongdoing and that Yovanovitch was a “very bad person.” In short, these were the documents that formed the basis of Trump's accusations against Biden and Yovanovitch during his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In the wake of Wednesday’s briefing, pundits seemed to scoff at the idea that Linick had treated the packet of clearly shady material with such importance. But what Linick handed out was the foundation of the entire conspiracy theory that not only informed Trump’s call to Zelensky, but has shaped American foreign policy in Ukraine. “Urgent” may be an understatement.

Giuliani has confirmed that he sent some of the documents handed out at the briefing to the State Department all the way back in March, just as he was beginning his multiple trips to find someone who would sign on to look for dirt to throw at Joe Biden. Those documents then went to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The State Department then not only helped set up Giuliani to talk with Ukrainian officials on trips to both Kyiv and Madrid, but also dismissed Ambassador Yovanovitch, apparently based on a conspiracy theory that was contained in Giuliani’s documents.

The documents didn’t stop with Pompeo. Pompeo promptly called back Giuliani to let him know that his hand-crafted collection of nonsense “would be investigated.” Pompeo then distributed the documents to other officials at the State Department, one of whom was likely special envoy Kurt Volker, who testified on Thursday in a closed-door session before House committees involved in the impeachment inquiry. Along the way, the documents also went to the State Department’s special counsel, and from there to Inspector General Linick. 

Giuliani also sent the same collection of material—including documents containing what appears to be a fake White House seal—to officials in Ukraine. They included the accusations against Yovanovitch while she was still in-country serving as U.S. ambassador. Linick apparently had sat on the documents since they came his way in May.

But following the whistleblower report and the beginning of the impeachment inquiry, Linick realized that he was holding the documentation behind actions the State Department may have taken to assist Giuliani, sack Yovanovitch, and distort policy in Ukraine.

Linick is a lifelong Republican, appointed to the State Department by George W. Bush. He has served as inspector general in the last three administrations.

EM         -> { Trump for 2020 }

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"