Rachel Maddow just nailed down one of the most important details of the Trump whistleblower scandal
Earlier today, as Donald Trump’s whistleblower scandal was exploding in real time, Palmer Report pointed out that there was a key aspect to the scandal that was largely getting lost in the shuffle. This evening we were relieved to see that MSNBC host Rachel Maddow used her show to drive that same point home.
Although Donald Trump is the target of the whistleblower complaint, and Bill Barr is the one who’s leading the charge in trying to cover it up, the responsibility for the complaint largely falls on the Director of National Intelligence. It’s why House Intel Committee Chairman Adam Schiff sent his subpoena to the DNI. The trouble: there is no DNI anymore.
Maddow pointed out on her show tonight that just a few days before the whistleblower report was officially filed, Donald Trump announced that Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats was resigning. Coats’ Deputy Sue Gordon was in line to become Acting DNI, until several days after the report was filed, when Coats reportedly barged into a meeting and told her she had to resign. None of it made much sense at the time. Now it makes a lot more sense.
It’s sure starting to look like Dan Coats knew this historically ugly scandal was coming, and didn’t want to be the one stuck in the middle of it, nor did he want his sidekick Sue Gordon to be the one stuck in the middle of it. If that’s the case, it means that Coats has known all along what’s in that report. We would humbly urge Adam Schiff to consider subpoenaing Coats as well.
