Donald Trump withheld military aid and a promised presidential meeting from the government of Ukraine. After he did so, he called the President of Ukraine to ask that he investigate Joe Biden, one of his possible general election opponents.
Furthermore, he asked that the President of Ukraine investigate a conspiracy theory we know to be false — that they somehow were the ones truly responsible for the election interference we all know Russia committed in 2016, a fact admitted to by Senate Republicans and the Trump Administration. He did so because that factual conclusion is inconvenient to the President’s domestic political fortunes.
It was President Zelensky’s assistance with these two domestic political tasks - casting doubt on the fact of Russia’s interference in our democracy, and beginning a politically motivated investigation into a domestic political rival, which Trump and his people have openly admitted motivated him to delay the aid Ukraine desperately needs to stay whole and independent.
In committing these actions, Trump took the step of subverting the national foreign policy of the United States of America to his personal, domestic political interests. He decided that seeking unlawful election aid — the contribution of something of value by a foreign government to his campaign efforts — is not only worth violating federal election law, but endangering the stability of Ukraine, and by extension our relationship with that critical ally and our allies in Europe who are concerned with creeping Russian geopolitical aggression.
Republicans in Congress and on TV know these facts, and they cannot truly dispute them. It is plain as day on the TELCON Trump released — proudly — to the American people, where immediately after President Zelensky asked for delivery of desperately needed Tomahawk anti-tank missiles, the President of the United States of America asked for a favor.
It is true that aid has been held up to Ukraine before. As noted by Republicans, Vice President Biden delivered just such a message during the Obama administration. But unlike this crisis, when the President withheld aid in contravention of the counsel and advice of not only American foreign policy experts, but international interests, Biden did so at the explicit instruction of President Obama, and both were in agreement with the international community. In fact, the prosecutor fired was targeted not because of an investigation of Biden’s son, as claimed by Republicans, but because he was failing to investigate domestic corruption. There is no such excuse for Trump.
It is shameful that Republicans are willing to put the word of known corrupt foreign officials over that of our own foreign policy and intelligence experts, and, indeed, over the interests of our nation, which we all share.
Whether you are a liberal or a conservative, know that we are stuck together in this country. If we cannot admit, to ourselves, the obvious truths, then the death of America is not a matter of “if,” but instead a matter of “when.”
Samuel Jennings
Chehalis
