[DONALD TRUMP]: “There was no quid pro quo! Wait — ‘quid pro quo’ means video of prostitutes peeing on a bed, right?” September 24, 2019, is the day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made a really official-looking address to the nation to announce that an “official impeachment inquiry” was now underway in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now we have Donald extorting the leader of an allied nation. “Nice little Eastern European country you got there. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.” OK, President Trump didn’t use that kind of mob code. He used this kind: “The United States has been very, very good to Ukraine. I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal. … I would like you to do us a favor, though.” (scroll down for full article)
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__________
[DONALD TRUMP]: “There was no quid pro quo! Wait — ‘quid pro quo’ means video of prostitutes peeing on a bed, right?”
September 24, 2019, is now a milestone in U.S. history, and it will take on ever-increasing significance over time. That is the day, last Tuesday, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made a really official-looking address to the nation to announce that an “official impeachment inquiry” was now underway in the United States House of Representatives. Forget the payoffs to paramours; forget the colossal, daily constitutionally prohibited self-dealing; forget accepting illegal Russian election help and obstructing the investigation (at least 10 documented times) into that illegal help.
Now we have Donald extorting the leader of an allied nation. “Nice little Eastern European country you got there. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.”
OK, President Trump didn’t use that kind of mob code. He used this kind: “The United States has been very, very good to Ukraine. I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal. … [You want the Javelin missiles?] I would like you to do us a favor, though.”
As with his 2016-election-related offenses, the president has admitted publicly to many of the egregious facts surrounding his attempted Ukrainian shakedown. If it ain’t broke … . This has worked for him in the past, to water down the perceived impact of his crimes.
The Gist of the Impeachment-Worthy Accusation
Congress authorized $391 million in military aid to Ukraine to fight off Russian-backed rebels, but the aid had not yet been transferred. Ukraine had a presidential election in April 2019. The new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a pro-Western reformer, won with 73% of the vote, and he was anxious to work with the Trump administration to secure the military aid to fight off the Russians.
Trump inexplicably delayed the aid a week before his July 2019 call to Zelensky. On the call, Trump pressed the new Ukrainian president to re-launch long-completed probes of Joe Biden (D-Del.) and his son Hunter (who had served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company). This ostensibly would damage Trump’s most likely 2020 presidential opponent. But by all accounts (except from GOP Trump sycophants), there is no evidence to suspect wrongdoing by Biden or his son. The Ukrainian government, Ukrainian press, U.S. press, and likely the FBI have investigated the issue over the past few years and found nothing.
It is true that then-Vice President Joe Biden — along with most Western democracies — had pressed Ukraine’s former government to fire a known-to-be corrupt prosecutor general. That prosecutor general had been protecting the gas company employing Biden’s son from corruption investigations. If Biden were shielding his son, he would have laid off the corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor, letting him continue to protect that gas company (and other rogue organizations) by not investigating them.
Ultimately, Trump released the funds to Ukraine but only after the above narrative had been reported extensively in the media and the Senate was about to force the release. Additionally, around that time it was discovered that an intelligence community whistleblower’s report (on this subject) was blocked from being transferred to Congress (which the law requires) by Trump’s acting Director of National Intelligence. The pressure on Trump has become so great that he has 1) released the funds to Ukraine, 2) agreed to release a transcript of his call to Zelensky, and 3) agreed to release the whistleblower’s complaint to Congress.
Impeachment Timeline
1st quarter 2019 — Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani meets several times with Ukrainian government officials (Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko et al.), to begin serious push to implicate Joe Biden and son in false conspiracy theory claiming then-VP Biden got the then-Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin fired to protect Joe’s son Hunter
3/20/2019 — Ukrainian prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko accuses U.S. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch of giving him a do-not-prosecute list; State Dept. calls this an “outright fabrication,” but Trump tweet-promotes the story; Don Jr. follows up with tweet-attacks on Yovanovitch four days later
4/18/2019 — Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Report released
4/18/2019 — Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko retracts do-not-prosecute-list story
4/21/2019 — Volodymyr Zelensky elected Ukrainian president, with 73% of vote
4/25/2019 — Joe Biden (D-Del.) announces presidential run
4/25/2019 — Trump promotes false conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in 2016 U.S. election to help Hillary Clinton, on Fox News
5/7/2019 — U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is recalled, fired soon after; she was a nonpolitical career diplomat perceived to be interfering with Rudy Giuliani’s false conspiracy theory push, to implicate Joe Biden and son in the non-scandal
5/9/2019 — Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani acknowledges planned trip to Ukraine, to push for investigations into Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hillary Clinton; he canceled trip two days later after blowback but continued Ukrainian lobbying efforts
5/16/2019 — Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko announces there is no evidence of any Biden wrongdoing
5/19/2019 — Trump promotes false Biden-Ukraine conspiracy, on Fox News
5/20/2019 — Volodymyr Zelensky inaugurated as Ukrainian president; Trump ordered VP Pence to cancel attendance, withholding important U.S. recognition and support
5/23/2019 — White House tells Congress it intends to release aid to Ukraine
7/18/2019 — Trump delays aid, tells Congress there is an “interagency delay”
7/24/2019 — Special Counsel Robert Mueller testifies to Congress
7/25/2019 — Trump calls President Volodymyr Zelensky, ostensibly to congratulate his victory but quickly veers into urging him to open investigations into the Bidens for most of the 30-minute call
7/28/2019 — Director of National Intelligence Dan Coates to resign; Trump tweets it
8/8/2019 — Trump appoints acting DNI, Joseph Maguire, bypasses Coates No. 2, Sue Gordon, who should have been elevated to acting DNI; she later resigns
8/12/2019 — Whistleblower complaint filed: not yet public; intelligence community inspector general determines complaint to be “credible” and an “urgent concern” after two-week inquiry
8/15/2019 — DNI Dan Coates and No. 2 Sue Gordon serve their last day
Late August — DOJ determines no grounds for pursuing whistleblower complaint, president did “nothing wrong” based on Trump-Zelensky call transcript and complaint; DOJ told DNI not to relay complaint to Congress (which violates whistleblower law)
Late August — Lawmakers raise concerns about delayed aid, fear Ukraine needs it immediately to fend off Russia; aid will expire if not released by 9/30/2019
8/28/2019 — Trump continues to hold back Ukraine aid
8/29/2019 — Trump cancels meeting with Ukrainian president in Poland, in direct snub to Zelensky, using Hurricane Dorian as his excuse
9/1/2019 — VP Mike Pence visits President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine, says aid is still being withheld, discusses “corruption,” denies mentioning Biden
Early September — President Volodymyr Zelensky privately expresses concerns about Giuliani’s efforts to press for Biden investigation
9/5/2019 — The Washington Post reports Trump attempting to force President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating Biden family
9/9/2019 — Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson tells Congress (and press first reports) about whistleblower complaint; reveals existence, with no details, and acting DNI’s refusal to transmit it to intelligence committees
9/10/2019 — Congress demands to receive whistleblower complaint
9/10/2019 — National Security Adviser John Bolton resigns (or is fired), in a huff
9/11/2019 — Trump releases Ukraine aid, just before Senate votes to force its release; $250 million of military aid and $142 million in State Department funds finally go to Ukraine
9/13/2019 — House subpoenas whistleblower complaint; acting DNI Joseph Maguire refuses to comply, saying it’s exempt because it involves “conduct by someone outside the intelligence community”; this is assumed to be Trump
9/17/2019 — Acting DNI Joseph Maguire will not testify or hand over complaint, “because he is being instructed not to, that this involved a higher authority, someone above”
9/18/2019 — Media reports inappropriate “promise” by Trump to a foreign leader: whistleblower complaint reportedly involves disturbing “promise” made by Trump to a foreign leader, so troubling it prompted intelligence official to file formal whistleblower complaint
9/19/2019 — Media reports whistleblower complaint involves Ukrainian president: intelligence IG tells Congress the issue involves “multiple events”; Giuliani admits pressing Ukraine to investigate Bidens
9/20/2019 — Trump evades Ukraine-Biden-investigation question, won’t say if he discussed Biden on call with Zelensky; WSJ reports Trump pressed Zelensky “about eight times” to investigate Bidens
9/22/2019 — Trump admits discussing Bidens on Ukraine call, acknowledged “mentioning” them in the course of talking about Ukrainian corruption
9/23/2019 — Trump admits delaying Ukrainian aid, because of Ukrainian “corruption”
9/24/2019 — Trump changes reason for delaying Ukrainian aid: because he wanted Germany and France to pay their fair share
9/24/2019 — Trump says he will release Ukraine call transcript
[IMPEACHMENT: DAY 1 — 9/24/19]
9/24/2019 — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announces impeachment proceedings, says today marks beginning of “official impeachment inquiry”
9/24/2019 — Senate tells Trump to release whistleblower complaint, passes resolution by unanimous consent
9/24/2019 — Trump says he will authorize release of whistleblower complaint, by the following Thursday’s congressional hearing with acting DNI
9/24/2019 — More House Democrats on impeachment train: support goes from 136 yesterday to over 200 by evening
9/25/2019 — White House releases Trump-Ukraine call “rough transcript”: Trump clearly asks President Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hillary Clinton: tells Zelensky to contact U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Rudy Giuliani to help with investigations: “Whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great”; offers White House meeting if Zelensky initiates investigations
9/26/2019 — Congress releases whistleblower complaint to public; it is devastating; acting DNI Joseph Maguire testifies before Congress about delay in transferring complaint to Congress
The New York Times’ “6 Key Moments in the Trump-Ukraine Phone Call”
“President Trump declassified and released on Wednesday a reconstructed transcript of his 30-minute conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. The five-page document reveals the discussion between the two men that took place on July 25. A group of National Security Council officials referred to as ‘notetakers’ transcribed the call from the White House Situation Room. Trump appears to have spoken to Mr. Zelensky from his residence.”
- Trump asked for an investigation into the Bidens.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: “The other thing. There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.”
- Trump alluded to American aid, while not explicitly linking his request to unfreezing it.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: “I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time. … The United States has been very, very good to Ukraine. I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily. … I would like you to do us a favor, though.
- Zelensky agreed to pursue an inquiry into the Bidens.
[PRESIDENT ZELENSKY]: “[My prosecutor] will look into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue. … [W]e will take care of that and will work on the investigation of the case.”
- Trump said Barr would call the Ukrainian president about another investigation.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation in Ukraine, they say CrowdStrike [organization that discovered Russian hacking of DNC server in 2016] … The [DNC] server, they say Ukraine has it. … I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. … [T]hey say a lot of it [U.S. election interference] started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible.”
- Trump cast aspersions on Western Europe and Germany as Ukrainian allies.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: “Germany does almost nothing for you. All they do is talk and I think it’s something that you should really ask them about. When I was speaking to Angela Merkel she talks Ukraine, but she doesn’t do anything. A lot of European countries are the same way so I think it’s something you want to look at but the United States has been very, very good to Ukraine.”
- Trump portrayed Giuliani, his personal lawyer, as an envoy.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: “Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what’s happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great.”
(Savage, Charlie & Goldman, Adam & Vogel, Kenneth P.; “6 Key Moments in the Trump-Ukraine Phone Call”; The New York Times; 9/25/2019.)
Lead-Up
Before reading the full version of the notes/rough transcript of this now-infamous call between U.S. President Donald Trump and newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, it’s important to know a few things.
First, Trump has thought he has something on the Bidens’ dealings in Ukraine since then-Vice President Joe Biden played a role — with the support of most Western/European democracies — in ousting a corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor general. President Trump has perpetuated the false conspiracy theory that the elder Biden did this to protect his son.
But the prosecutor general was ignoring corruption at the Ukrainian gas company on whose board of directors Hunter Biden sat. The possible Biden corruption would have been in Joe leaving the crooked prosecutor in place, to ignore the company employing his son. Trump has mentioned this conspiracy occasionally but recently began milking it after Joe Biden (D-Del.) announced his presidential run in April 2019. Donald sees Joe as his likely 2020 opponent.
Second, another reason Trump has begun to milk this story is to continue his Ukrainian leverage over its new president. Trump needs dirt on his primary political rival, Joe Biden, and Zelensky badly needs U.S. military aid to fend off Russia.
In 2014, Ukraine’s president, a Russian puppet, was forced from office by the people. In retaliation, Russia invaded southern Ukraine and annexed (stole) the Crimean Peninsula, which is surrounded largely by the Black Sea. In the same year, Russian-backed rebels invaded Eastern Ukraine and have been waging war in that region ever since, killing about 13,000 people to date. Ukraine has been dependent upon the U.S. for military aid as it fights for its life — its existence — and freedom from Russian dominance.
Early this year, Congress authorized $391 million in military aid to Ukraine (and future Javelin anti-aircraft weapons sales) but Trump delayed it for suspicious reasons that kept changing. Zelensky was desperate to get that aid. He also was desperate to get a meeting with Trump, who had been giving Zelensky the cold shoulder since his April victory.
Besides military economic aid, U.S. recognition of Ukraine and its plight, on the world stage, were extremely important to its efforts to fend off Russian invasion. By denying 1) Pence’s attendance at Zelensky’s inauguration, 2) the scheduled meeting with Trump in Poland, 3) a White House visit, and 4) supportive public comments from a U.S. president, Trump was withholding this recognition and moral support — until Zelensky agreed to “play ball.”
The new Ukrainian president clearly was being pressured to re-investigate the Bidens — in return for U.S. aid and support — though Joe and son have been already, thoroughly cleared of any wrongdoing.
Reports are now surfacing that President Trump used this same leverage over Ukraine in 2017. Congress had committed Javelins then, too, but Trump apparently held them up until Ukraine agreed to stop cooperating with the Muller investigation.
Third, Attorney General Barr’s DOJ had been asked by the DNI to review the whistleblower complaint, which involved Trump and Ukraine. The DOJ determined there was nothing to pursue and the complaint should not be turned over to Congress (even though that action is required by law). Now we see AG Barr’s name invoked by Trump five times as a source of help for Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.
Fourth, Trump mentioned his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani several times to Zelensky. Rudy has no business being involved in U.S. foreign policy. Numerous media reports have Giuliani working on behalf of Trump to conduct a parallel, separate foreign policy specifically focused on Ukraine and the Bidens that often has preempted State Department operations.
Full Rough Transcript of 7/25/2019 Trump-Zelensky Call, Released by White House 9/25/2019
(bold italics added by this writer)
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: Congratulations on a great victory. We all watched from the United States, and you did a terrific job. The way you came from behind, somebody who wasn’t given much of a chance, and you ended up winning easily. It’s a fantastic achievement. Congratulations.
[PRESIDENT ZELENSKY]: You are absolutely right Mr. President. We did win big, and we worked hard for this. We worked a lot but I would like to confess to you that I had an opportunity to learn from you. We used quite a few of your skills and knowledge and were able to use it as an example to our elections and yes it is true that these were unique elections. We were in a unique situation that we were able to achieve a unique success. I’m able to tell you the following; the first time you called me to congratulate me, when I won my presidential election, and the second time you are now calling me when my party won the parliamentary election. I think I should run more often so you can call me more often and we can talk over the phone more often.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: (laughter) That’s a very good idea. I think your country is very happy about that.
[PRESIDENT ZELENSKY]: Well yes, to tell you the truth, we are trying to work hard because we wanted to drain the swamp here in our country. We brought in many many new people. Not the old politicians, not the typical politicians, because we want to have a new format and a new type of government. You are a great teacher for us and in that.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: Well it’s very nice of you to say that. I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than they are. Germany does almost nothing for you. All they do is talk and I think it’s something that you should really ask them about. When I was speaking to Angela Merkel she talks Ukraine, but she doesn’t do anything. A lot of the European countries are the same way so I think it’s something you want to look at but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine. I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good but the United States has been very, very good to Ukraine.
[PRESIDENT ZELENSKY]: Yes you are absolutely right, not only 100%, but actually 1000%, and I can tell you the following; I did talk to Angela Merkel, and I did meet with her. I also met and talked with Macron, and I told them that they are not doing quite as much as they need to be doing on the issues with the sanctions. They are not enforcing the sanctions. They are not working as much as they should work for Ukraine. It turns out that even though logically, the European Union should be our biggest partner but technically the United States is a much bigger partner than the European Union, and I’m very grateful to you for that because the United States is doing quite a lot for Ukraine. Much more than the European Union especially when we are talking about sanctions against the Russian Federation. I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say CrowdStrike … I guess you have one of your wealthy people … The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation. I think you’re surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible.
[PRESIDENT ZELENSKY]: Yes it is very important for me and everything that you just mentioned earlier. For me as a President, it is very important, and we are open for any future cooperation. We are ready to open a new page on cooperation in relations between the United States and Ukraine. For that purpose, I just recalled our ambassador from United States, and he will be replaced by a very competent and very experienced ambassador who will work hard on making sure that our two nations are getting closer. I would also like and hope to see him having your trust and your confidence and have personal relations with you so we can cooperate even more so. I will personally tell you that one of my assistant spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently, and we are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine, and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine. I just wanted to assure you once again that you have nobody but friends around us. I will make sure that I surround myself with the best and most experienced people. I also wanted to tell you that we are friends. We are great friends, and you Mr. President have friends in our country so we can continue our strategic partnership. I also plan to surround myself with great people and in addition to that investigation, I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly. That I can assure you.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: Good because I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good, and he was shut down and that’s really unfair. A lot of people are talking about that, the way they shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad people involved. Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what’s happening, and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great. The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news, and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that. The other thing, there’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it … It sounds horrible to me.
[PRESIDENT ZELENSKY]: I wanted to tell you about the prosecutor. First off, I understand and I’m knowledgeable about the situation. Since we have on the absolute majority in our Parliament; the next prosecutor general will be 100% my person, my candidate, who will be approved by the parliament and will start as a new prosecutor in September. He or she will look into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue. The issue of the investigation of the case is actually the issue of asking sure to restore the honesty so we will take care of that and will work on the investigation of the case. On top of that, I would kindly ask you if you have any additional information that you can provide to us, it would be very helpful for the investigation to make sure that we administer justice in our country with regard to the Ambassador to the United States from Ukraine as far as I recall her name was Ivanovich. It was great that you were the first one who told me that she was a bad ambassador because I agree with you 100%. Her attitude towards me was far from the best as she admired the previous President, and she was on his side. She would not accept me as a new President well enough …
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: Well, she’s going to go through some things. I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going to Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it. I’m sure you will figure it out. I heard the prosecutor was treated very badly, and he was a very fair prosecutor so good luck with everything. Your economy is going to get better and better, I predict. You have a lot of assets. It’s a great country. I have many Ukrainian friends, they’re incredible people.
[PRESIDENT ZELENSKY]: I would like to tell you that I also have quite a few Ukrainian friends that live in the United States. Actually last time I traveled to the United States, I stayed in New York near Central Park and I stayed at the Trump Tower. I will talk to them and I hope to see them again in the future. I also wanted to thank you for your invitation to visit the United States, specifically Washington DC. On the other hand, I also wanted (to) ensure you that we will be very serious about the case and will work on the investigation. As to the economy, there is much potential for our two countries and one of the issues that is very important for Ukraine is energy independence. I believe we can be very successful and cooperating on energy independence with United States. We are already working on cooperation. We are buying American oil but I am very hopeful for a future meeting. We will have more time and more opportunities to discuss these opportunities and get to know each other better. I would like to thank you very much for your support.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: Good. Well, thank you very much, and I appreciate that. I will tell Rudy and Attorney General Barr to call. Thank you. Whenever you would like to come to the White House feel free to call. Give us a date, and we’ll work that out. I look forward to seeing you.
[PRESIDENT ZELENSKY]: Thank you very much. I would be very happy to come and would be happy to meet with you personally and get to know you better. (I) am looking forward to our meeting, and I also would like to invite you to visit Ukraine and come to the city of Kyiv, which is a beautiful city. We have a beautiful country which would welcome you. On the other hand, I believe that on September we will be in Poland and we can meet in Poland hopefully. After that, it might be a very good idea for you to travel to Ukraine. We can either take my plane and go to Ukraine or we can take your plane, which is probably much better than mine.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: Okay, we can work that out. I look forward to seeing you in Washington and maybe in Poland because I think we are going to be there at that time.
[PRESIDENT ZELENSKY]: Thank you very much Mr. President.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP]: Congratulations on a fantastic job you’ve done. The whole world was watching. I’m not sure it was so much of an upset but congratulations.
[PRESIDENT ZELENSKY]: Thank you Mr. President bye-bye
[End of conversation]
Whistleblower Complaint
This morning, the official, notorious nine-page whistleblower complaint was declassified and released to the public.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL COMPLAINT, IN PDF FORM.
The New York Times’ “8 Takeaways From the Whistleblower Complaint”
- White House officials believed they had witnessed Trump abuse his power for personal political gain.
- White House lawyers tried to hide the reconstructed call transcript — and had done so before.
- The State Department saw Giuliani’s rogue outreach to Ukraine for Trump as a threat to national security.
- Trump’s push for investigations coincided with a “sudden change of policy with respect to U.S. assistance for Ukraine.”
- A widely criticized Ukrainian prosecutor piqued Trump’s and Giuliani’s interest by floating allegations to The Hill — but then backtracked.
- The whistleblower raised concerns about Barr’s[, Giuliani’s, and two U.S. ambassadors’] involvement.
- The inspector general kept the whistleblower’s identity secret.
- The inspector general flagged mitigating information, but concluded the complaint was urgent and credible.
(Savage, Charlie; “8 Takeaways From the Whistle-Blower Complaint”; The New York Times; 9/26/2019.)
Read it and weep (for America). ■
Trump Corruption Chronicles — We Must Never Forget
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