Ellen Nakashima, Shane Harris, Greg Miller, and Carol D. Leonnig, writing in The Washington Post, tells the familiar tale of someone thinking the President of the United States did something so wrong as to use an official whistleblower complaint, and now the White House is blocking the investigation. This is kind of a big deal.

The complaint involved communications with a foreign leader and a “promise” that Trump made, which was so alarming that a U.S. intelligence official who had worked at the White House went to the inspector general of the intelligence community, two former U.S. officials said.

Two and a half weeks before the complaint was filed, Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian and political newcomer who was elected in a landslide in May.

That call is already under investigation by House Democrats who are examining whether Trump and his attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani sought to manipulate the Ukrainian government into helping Trump’s reelection campaign. Lawmakers have demanded a full transcript and a list of participants on the call.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment.

The Democrats’ investigation was launched earlier this month, before revelations that a U.S. intelligence official, who previously worked in the White House, had lodged a complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community. The Washington Post first reported on Wednesday that the complaint had to do with a “promise” that Trump made when communicating with a foreign leader.

The smart money is the whole whistleblower complaint centers on President Trump promising the new president of Ukraine $250 million in armaments if he’d reopen a criminal investigation involving Joe Biden and his son.

That’s one of them high crimes Presidents get impeached for, right?

Look, Trump realizes the truth of his phone call is going to come out. He is already doing what he does when this happens: tell everyone it happened and that there was nothing wrong with it.

That’s untrue.

He’s already admitted to talking about Biden during the call.

Peter Baker, writing for The New York Times, lays it out in the first two paragraphs

President Trump acknowledged on Sunday that he discussed former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. with Ukraine’s president as Democrats ramped up calls for an investigation into whether he improperly pressured a foreign leader to investigate a political opponent.While Mr. Trump defended his July phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine as perfectly appropriate, he confirmed that Mr. Biden came up during the discussion and that he accused the former vice president of corruption tied to his son Hunter’s business activities in that former Soviet republic.

Previously, Alan Cullison of The Wall Street Journal reported Trump told the Ukraine president to work with Rudolph Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. It appears this was definitely in relation to over $250 million in security aid. The implication is Trump was withholding the money in exchange for an investigation, and when he realized the whistleblower complaint centered on this, he released the funds.

Giuliani already admitted on national television he sought an investigation on Trump’s behalf.

If Trump tried to use military aid to Ukraine as leverage, he’s no better than a fucking mob boss. The security of America and Ukraine is just a way for Trump to get revenge on his potential political enemies. He used the office of the Presidency for his own personal gain. He elevated his own personal interests over national interests. This comes as no surprise to anyone paying half attention.

And, it doesn’t matter if there was no quid pro quo. If on the phone call he asked a foreign government to investigate a political opponent, that’s it. It’s a crime. If he’s innocent, then he’d release the recording and put an end to it.

If this is what happened, and it looks entirely plausible and likely, he’s going to have to be impeached. The politics here doesn’t matter. Lay out the entire case in open hearings. Get the whistleblower to come forward. Get the audio recording and transcript of the phone call. I know the Senate isn’t going to convict him. Republicans need to be put on the record as enabling this criminal.

Maybe a few of them won’t go along.