How many inappropriate things he says with the whole world listening
It is no secret that Trump and his attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, have been pressuring Ukraine to open a corruption investigation into Democratic front-runner Joe Biden. Their contention is that Biden, as vice president, encouraged the firing of Ukraine’s top prosecutor because he was probing a company that employed Biden’s son. Numerous journalists have shown that this accusation is bogus. The prosecutor was notoriously lax in pursuing corruption cases. So rather than fomenting corruption, Biden was fighting it. Trump and Giuliani have been acting in a highly improper fashion to induce a foreign government to lie on Trump’s behalf.
Notice how filthy this is. Biden and Obama were leaning on Ukraine to get corruption out of its justice system. A corrupt justice system benefits rich crooks, and no one else. Making a justice system non-corrupt is a good thing, not a bad thing. Trump and Giuliani see this and, instead of thinking “a good move for the people of Ukraine,” they think “we can flip this to smear Biden.” What kind of people think that and then go on to do it? People like Trump and Giuliani – and, apparently, Trump and Giuliani themselves. It’s filthy. Not content with corrupting everything in the US, they want to spread the corruption to the rest of the world, so that they can have more power and money and corruption.
Filthy.
On Sept. 5, The Post’s editorial page reported that Trump had put a hold on $250 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine to force Zelensky to launch a probe of Biden. Several congressional committees are now investigating this explosive accusation for which there is considerable circumstantial evidence.
Kiev’s own readout of the call between Zelensky and Trump says that Trump urged Ukraine to “complete investigation of corruption cases, which inhibited the interaction between Ukraine and the USA.”…
Oddly enough, just as Congress began looking into these allegations last week, the White House finally released its hold on the $250 million for Ukraine.
Oh gee, I wonder why.
Trump’s defense — that he would not “say anything inappropriate with a foreign leader” knowing that others were listening in — is unconvincing, given how many inappropriate things he says with the whole world listening.
I’ve been thinking about that one. It’s an absurd defense, because he has no idea what’s inappropriate. None. Nearly everything he says is inappropriate. He has said thousands of inappropriate things on Twitter, knowing that others were listening in; of course he would do the same (and has) when talking to a head of state. He shoved the prime minister of Montenegro aside knowing that cameras were running; he has no clue how to behave or what not to say.
Trump has already won an election once with foreign help. If he is now misusing his office to force a foreign leader to help him in 2020, the House would be compelled to impeach, even if the Senate wouldn’t convict, simply to show that Trump is not a king who can violate the law with impunity.
Compelled how, though? Compelled by what or whom? It’s a very boneless, non-specific claim, especially when we the people have been yelling for impeachment until we are hoarse and cranky, and nothing ever happens. I think this idea of agentless “compulsion” is magical thinking.
I’d love to be wrong though.
