Zelensky said publicly "No Pressure" meaning No Quid pro Quo so now the you call him is a liar. One hopes he sues for slander.
Every American should read this column. It defines “quid pro quo,” which is my nomination for word of the year.
I’m not sure if it would have been better for the Whistleblower, my nominee for Person of the Year, to have waited until after the interview with Fareed Zakaria. However, he/she may not have had any prior knowledge of the planned interview.
The saddest part of this entire episode is that the Republicans do not care that the president is corrupt. They are willing to let the voters decide whether he should be removed from office.
God help us if the Russians, who reportedly already hacked every voting system in the country, do so again in 2020. In which case, Senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and others won’t be letting Americans decide. They’ll be letting Vladimir Putin decide.
11
This article should be required reading by all the jurors in the Senate trial as it shows just how integral the machinations in the White House were to the decisions made by Ukrainian leadership. The Ukrainians just wanted the money to save the lives of their countrymen, and instead of receiving foreign aide that had been legislatively provided by our government, they were forced to strategize about how best to deal with our corrupt government in order to get it.
And importantly, in Ukraine, a young administration that was bolstered by the hopes and dreams of their citizenry for a new dawn in their history with no Soviet-style corruption and based on the Rule of Law, was forced into business as usual for them. Now, another generation of Ukrainians see that corruption is just the way it is. And it shouldn't have been this way. We, the United States, should have been what they copied and looked toward as a role mode, at least the way we were before the Trump administration. This is just so sad.
9
Everyone around Trump has been compromised by the same process applied to Zelensky.
5
It is funny to read about "unproven election interference by Ukraine in the 2016 presidential election. Stories about that were common knowledge in Ukraine and Russia since 2016. Every respectable commentator in Eastern Europe knew that the Ukrainian government released negative information on Paul Manafort to hurt the Trump campaign. The Ukrainian embassy in the US had a clear program of encouraging ethnic Ukrainians to vote for Clinton. Members of the Ukrainian government had dozens of Tweets and facebook posting of an anti-Trump nature. These were quickly removed after Trump's victory.
The only reason Zelensky did not release the damaging information on Biden, and other Americans involved in fleecing Ukraine, is that The Ukrainian government is betting that the Democrats will unseat Trump and win the next election.
The record of Ukraine making the right political choice is not one that inspires confidence in the mental abilities of its government officials.
1
@archer717
“...to pressure Mr. Zelensky to make a public statement on the two investigations: one into whether former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had pressed for the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma, a natural gas company where his son served on the board; the other into unproven accusations that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that meddled in the 2016 election to promote the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.”
So in other words, Trump wants to prove that Ukraine wanted to promote Clinton and Russia had nothing to do with the US election.
The investigation into the Ukraine involvement in a US election ( for the sake of our country) is the alibi Trump needs to cover himself for investigating the Bidens, which is personal and outlawed by the US constitution.
3
“We are not idiots, or at least not all of us,” Mr. Klimkin said. He's right. Trump, in trying to make Zelensky choose between the threat of withdrawn funding OR make this politically-supportive announcement is not only an idiot but a criminal too. Thank goodness there were leaks to stop the Zelensky interview on CNN or Trump would be under a much bigger mess than the mess he's dealing with now.
2
This is clearly how sleazy our government operates. I am convinced the constant lies and deception is a real indication of what occupies our White House. It's embarrassing and beneath the dignity of any idea of a democracy.
30
I haven't the time or patience to read the 626 posts but in glancing I did not come upon the word blackmail. And if so
I wonder who were the subject/s.
This sounds more like a bad movie plot than anything. Chilling, just chilling.
Of course the Ukrainians knew that military aid to the tune of $400 was being withheld. Because the money never arrived. Duh.
And of course, they believed the president had the power to withhold it. Which Trump apparently did too. That is beyond frightening.
Congress had approved the funds for a specific purpose, to aid the war against Russia in Ukraine. And the president did not have the authority to keep it.
Congress has no other option than to impeach the president. He has violated every basic principal and tenant of the Constitution. And lied about it.
8
She many words @Jorge, so little content. Agreed that appearances of conflict are to be avoided and ethics laws need to more clearly forbid them. However, there still is a huge difference between the appearance of a conflict and the actual conflicts that exist throughout this administration beginning with guy on top.
1
Who were the Senators?? They are as crooked as Trump!!!
15
To all Trump doubters... How can you doubt doubt a person who has “Great and Unmatched Wisdom” ... ???
1
@Henry: I am amazed that so many people who claim to know what God thinks are in awe of Trump because they cannot follow what he thinks.
3
Mr. Trump wanted the Ukrainian president to speak on CNN, William B. Taylor Jr., the top American diplomat in Ukraine, testified.
CNN? Really? His fake news central? Proves malintent alone.
2
Thank god Trump has surrounded himself with incompetent buffoons. It makes all of this so easy. It's just amazing how stupid all of these people are.
7
@Maury: Their election is an expression of the mentality of the people who voted for them.
5
What an absolute disgrace Trump and his cronies have become to the USA. Undoubtedly he is the worst President your country has ever had.
8
I believe it’s beyond “the worst” president. He’s undoubtedly the most dangerous president, at least in my lifetime.
8
Here ladies and gentlemen is your Qou!
1
Maybe after Giuliani is disbarred he can go on Dancing With The Stars.
11
Note to Ukrainians: You elected an American lapdog. Are you still laughing?
3
Who are the two senators you reference in paragraph 2??
10
Adult students of Ukraine not informed by the mess US media has med of the story of Ukraine understand that, while politicians are elected in Ukraine, they do not run the state, violent armed militia operating oligarchs do. And that these oligarchs are not businessmen, they are political mafia rich on stolen gas & oil, who head violent neofascist orgs like Azov Battalion, Right Sector, and Svoboda.
In Ukraine power is not determined at the ballot box. See here for a detailed story on how Ukraine is in the grip of it's mafioso:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u45EYyANL_M
4
What this reveals is that Gulliani's strategy was successful. The fledgling democracy (Ukraine) was ready to yield to the personal needs of tRump, the president of the most powerful country in the world, in order to save his (Ukraine's) country from Russian (our adversary) dominance.
This is the final nail in the coffin.
4
"No Quid Pro Quo" - but only because that it is too benign a term for what was going on.
The real question is whether it is Blackmail or Extortion. According to a previous NYT article on an unrelated subject:
"With extortion, a person makes a threat, often physical or destructive, to obtain something or to force someone to do something. The textbook example is the mafia warning: Pay me money or I will hurt you. In 2004, an underboss of the Gambino crime family was charged and later convicted in an extortion scheme that involved a Connecticut nightclub owner paying the family for “protection.”
"With blackmail, a person threatens to reveal embarrassing or damaging information if a demand is not met. That demand can be for money or something else of value. In 1792, Alexander Hamilton paid $1,000 to the husband of a woman he was having an affair with, after the man threatened to reveal the relationship. While Hamilton paid the initial amount, he ignored subsequent demands."
By these definitions, Extortion does seem to be the better fit. The very existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state was threatened. But somehow Blackmail seems like a more fitting term, given the amateurish behavior of the primary actors, both inside and outside the government.
9
I have been speaking with a gentleman on Reddit who insists repeatedly that Trump did nothing wrong. He has had two pieces of evidence, "The transcript proves this whole thing is a lie," and "Everyone in Ukraine's government said there was no quid pro quo." A few days ago, I sent him information about Vindman and Sondland's testimony wrecking the transcript for him. His response, "Then why didn't the Ukrainians know about it? The democrats are so desperate."
Today, I sent him information about this article. His response, "They're lying. The transcript proves there's no quid pro quo. The democrats are so desperate."
4
Keep after your friend. Ask him who he is listening to and why. In particular, why does he find his source more reliable than the sworn testimony of Trump employees?
What we are dealing with is massively successful right wing propaganda. One hopes that facts, patiently, politely, pointedly, and persistently applied, can be an antidote.
4
Trump was prepared to betray Ukraine just as he betrayed the Kurds. Leave them to the tender mercies of their enemies. The difference being, he could force the Ukrainians to participate in his Joe Biden character assassination scheme, while they pleaded for help.
2
Sondland has admittedly reversed himself. He is not a reliable witness. Going forward, nothing he says going is believable or worthy of belief.
Who hacked? After 4 years we still haven't figured that out? Maybe it was some 14 year old kid with a PC in her parent's basement.
The whistle blower: I have to wonder why anti-Trump publications like the The Times have yet to release the name of the whistle-blower, which is known. Even I know it. He's a disgruntled man who got fired from NSA, before he went to CIA, who then worked in the White House during the Obama-Biden Administration, before he was let go and returned to CIA.
Unless his credibility and his political outlook are examined and evaluated, whatever he says should be ignored.
In a criminal case you have the right to confront your accuser. Though this is not a criminal case the identity of the accuser should be revealed so we can assess the credibility of a person who seeks to undermine the presidency.
1
Well, Trump knows that if any news has to be taken seriously, then it needs to be told on CNN. Not Fox News!
Tells you something isn't it
5
Wow.
I don't think I've ever heard of or come to know a more slimey human than Donald Trump.
Have you ever known anyone like him?
Even a subway pick pocket is less offensive.
Here's the problem:
An infant will mess its diaper with such regularity that one habituates to the odor and the need to change it.
As the Geico commercials say: "It's just what babies do!"
Now, with Trump, his lying and scamming and shameless narcissism is like that baby making a regular mess. One mess runs into the next. So, the public can't really grab onto one. It's all a daily blur. Any of his transgressions would sink another president but Donald keeps 'em coming each day.
We've habituated.
Here's the answer.
Pick one of his crimes and harp on it.
Issolate one particularly odious, out of line, "I can't believe he did that" transgression and milk it.
Just one.
Hmmm, so many to choose from!
I like Trump University for its flat-out slimey, inhuman, fraudulent nature.
Who would start a phony "University" designed to cheat people?
Would your dentist or auto mechanic do that?
Heck no!
It's illegal to defraud people!
But Donald did it.
Pick at that scab and focus the public mind on that. Talk about and don't stop.
Tie the fraud around his neck so it's all one thinks about when they see him.
Otherwise it's dirty diapers each day with no effect.
Wife cheating would be another scab to pick. Especially only months after the birth of his son!
Pick one and pick at it!
Endlessly.
10
Let’s not forget Helsinki.
3
And then there’s turning his back on our Kurdish allies.
3
This is a great idea, but the scandal we focus on will be outshone by the scandal we don't know about yet.
4
Under the constitution, the president determines US foreign policy. He can’t be impeached for conducting it differently from what some civil servants think is right. There is no absolute truth saying the US must finance a war against Russia in territory controlled by Moscow since the 17th century. I myself strongly disapprove of that policy. It’s a massive, completely unnecessary provocation against the Russians. So Mr Trump, in the event of an actual impeachment, will have no trouble providing a valid argument for his actions, whatever the real reason might have been.
@Michael : It was a bribe. I'll give you this if you give me that. A classic quid pro quo. It's named in the Constitution as an impeachable offense. Bribery. He used taxpayer monies appropriated by Congress and approved by him to fund Ukraine's military hardware to fight a hot war with Russia where people are dying. He did this for his own political gain, to cheat on an election, to get dirt on a political opponent. Impeachable, named by the Constitution. Why do you not understand this? Read the Constitution instead of watching Laura Ingraham.
16
@Michael
Yes, he can determine foreign policy, but Congress has the power of the purse. However, he can't bribe a foreign government by withholding congressional funding unless that foreign government provides dirt on a political opponent. That is bribery, an impeachable act as outlined by the Constitution.
14
“Luck” but also the fact that he dragged his feet until the last moment.
As you write in the article he had not much of a choice but to his credit he didn’t complacently rush into “bowing” and that’s also what saved him.
9
Trump shouldn’t just be impeached for abuse of office. He should be tried for treason.
30
Imagine what might have happened if Trump's extortion had not come to light. Mr. Zelinsky would have read the script on CNN. Trump would say he had nothing to do with it - just Mr. Zelinsky fulfilling a campaign promise to root-out corruption. "Burisma Biden" would enter his vocabulary through the primaries and beyond.
Fast-forward to summer 2020. Biden is the nominee and Ukraine is desperate for more military aid. Mr. Guiliani and Mr. Sondland return to Ukraine. This time, they want "results" in the form of tangible evidence - manufactured if necessary - to smear Biden. Having played ball once with Trump, it would be very hard indeed for Mr. Zelinski to say no.
Thank you, whistleblower, for your courage!
27
Hunter Biden and the Obama State Department were in cahoots but that is about as newsworthy as the media cover-up of the Epstein debacle.
1
@Susan - So why hasn't Trump, with the entire U.S. government at his disposal been able to uncover any wrong doing?
9
An interesting article but somehow it reads like it bends the facts here and there to fit the quid pro quo theory. I find it difficult, for example, to believe that Kramer could have as much inside information about the debate - if there really was one - within Zelinsky's cabinet. And I'm puzzled by the sentence ending
"...unproven accusations that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that meddled in the 2016 election to promote the candidacy of Hillary Clinton." To "promote"? I thought the Russians were trying to "DEmote" her candidacy. Am I missing something here?
Russia doesn’t care who wins or loses. The goal is to destabilize the USA. Everything makes sense seen through the perspective of pure nationalism.
2
@archer717 : Yes, you are missing the point. The conspiracy theory that Giuliani keeps pedaling to this unfit president is that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election to benefit Clinton.
This conspiracy theory originated in the place where all roads lead for this president. To the Krelmin, to Putin.
Trump is a conspiracy theorist. He came into politics via the Birther conspiracy. He's not fit and needs to be removed however way is the fastest.
6
Might part two of this article focus on whether Ukraine was coerced into contacting our mutual European allies seeking their intercession with Trump, or to get all, or part, of the military aid from them, instead of the U.S.
3
I think we need an open and honest accounting of what both Joe Biden and Hunter were doing in Ukraine. We need an investigation of Burisma too. I don't think we know what went on in Ukraine and Ukraine is known for the high level of corruption which has always existed in that country.
1
@Judy Weller, It's been investigated and debunked. Long ago. Do your own research.
9
@sophia Who sis rhia investigation? If it was Ukraine, they can't be believed. The government over the years had demonstrated a lack of interest in the Truth.
Is there reporting on which senators said this:
“Only Mr. Trump could unlock the aid, he had been told by two United States senators, and time was running out.”
8
My votes on on mcconnell and lindsey. Those two would do ANYTHING for trump.
3
@PRKS But what does Andrew Kramer say?
And so there was Pence in New Hampshire today, saying "there was no QpQ and the President did nothing wrong."
How can this "christian" fanatic evangelical lie blatantly?
Don't be fooled, and tell everyone you know that "quid pro quo" is merely a DESCRIPTION of a situation, and that description is not the act, and it's the act that is the issue. It's kind of like causing a car accident but maintaining that you didn't veer right. "There was no veer" is the description of something that obviously did happen.
17
Has our corrupt president given yet another Christmas gift to Putin? Has his and Giuliani’s machinations irreparably hurt Ukraine’s new president who, unlike ours, was trying to fight corruption, not promote it? I cringe at these stories — he tried so hard to do the right thing, amidst so many conflicting signals. And he gets dragged through our garbage in a very public and undercutting way. The US owes Ukraine. I doubt that we’ll ever be trusted on the world stage as long as a Republican is in the White House.
17
No wonder Trump thinks a free press is "the enemy of the people". People like him can't get away with their little corrupt pressure and extortion schemes (using taxpayer money) when the "enemy press" and "traitor" leakers expose his shady "drug deals" to the world.
And now that corrupt "enemy press" is exposing all Trump's deceit, self-dealing, and corruption to the world. And exposing how the Republican party is so craven and decrepit that they are enabling and ignoring Trump's deprivations and abuse of his power; the Republicans are vigorously ignoring Trump's willful violation of the US constitution, and in the process throwing out their own constitutional duties and manifestly breaking their oaths of office.
"Shame" is not a strong enough word to use for this. "Impeachment" is stronger, and "Lost election" has a nice finality for those Republicans in the Congress so spinelessly in thrall to Trump that the neglect and ignore their duty to the constitution and the law.
12
Republicans in the electoral college installed an "extortionist" into our oval office, even though he lost the election by 3,000,000 ballots to Mrs Clinton.
And this criminal is going to make America great?
The only thing that will be great is his, and his families bank accounts. America, where are you now ?
An extortionist is running the country.
Think about it.
15
Dear NYT:
After all the ominous hand-wringing over a Trump / Zelensky quid pro quo, it turns out to have been lots of smoke, and little if any, fire.
This is a case study in how ambiguity can be mined for propaganda nuggets. The Times knows better.
Even The Times cannot say just what Zelensky's "quid" would have been, and indeed, the one fact we know is that the quid did not happen. Zelenesky himself has insisted he was not pressured by Trump, and there was no deal.
No impeachment witness has testified to first hand knowledge that Trump demanded a Biden investigation announcement (although it appears Ukraine may -- and should -- proceed on its own.)
Moreover, nothing in The Times' reporting has established that the Zelensky statement would have been anything more than a public commitment to root out corruption.
As Mr. Klimkin stated: “From the contacts that took place, it’s difficult to say if they led, or did not lead, to concrete deals."
A generalized statement that Ukraine would battle corruption would be salutory -- and surely, not grounds for impeachment.
Finally, it is quite clear that the Bidens did act in a manner that raised at least the appearance of a conflict, as set forth in a contemporaneous article in The Times. See https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/world/europe/corruption-ukraine-joe-biden-son-hunter-biden-ties.html.
Surely you do not advocate that corrupt US politicians escape scrutiny merely because they run for office against Trump?
2
@Jorge
And also see, a more recent followup by The Times' Ken Vogel:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/us/politics/biden-son-ukraine.html
Republicans came out with the no quid pro quo meme that never quite fit. Quid pro quo is rather quaint and sounds benign... "you do this for me and I'll take care of that for you".. harmless right?! This Ukraine scheme is more of an extortion plot than anything.."you do this for me and I won't break your legs". Maybe that's why they can't quite nail down the quid, because there isn't really supposed to be a quid.
The end of American exceptionalism laid bare.
6
NAme these 2 senators who were involved and who threatened Ukraine with withholding the money!
12
Paradox: Ukraine may help the US to regain the democratic system it lost with President Trump and the Republican Party!
That’s how it looks as Trump’s scandalous attempt to extort Ukraine is revealed thanks to his impeachment.
We’re so glad that President Zelenksyy and Ukrainians were spared the humiliation of knuckling under a Mafia don.
See: http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/the-white-houses-godfather-fantasy.html
5
Who are the two senators referenced in article?
11
And the two US Senators who told President Zelensky ‘only Trump could unlock the aid were???
Keep digging NYT!
12
Of course this casts a dark cloud over every bit of foreign policy that Trump has put his finger on.
14
It used to be the world could look to the US as a world leader in honor and integrity. Our word was gold. The USA set the standard for honesty and goodwill to our friends and neighbor alike.
Now we are a laughing stock. Imagine having a President so tarnished by a weak and narcissistic behavior. And every single Republican Congressman and Senator who do not have the backbone to impeach and remove Trump from office has contributed to our loss.
21
"Avoiding partisan politics in the United States had always been the first rule of Ukrainian foreign policy..." Really? The details in this article, if true, are damning and damaging to Trump. But fantastical, unsubstantiated non-sequitirs like the statement above leave just enough doubt about the credibility of the author to leave ardent Trumpers unconvinced. Come on NY Times, the world is depending on you to play it straight and let the truth win on its merits. Don't embellish.
Sondland is Ambassador to the EU, why is he even talking to Ukraine issues? Stay in your purchased lane sir.
12
@JT
Because the man from whom Sondland made the purchase, moved Sondland to that lane.
1
Looks like the « Ukrainians-didnt-know-about-the-freeze » is just gone.
See you on TV, Republicans.
8
Biden's son gets a sweet job in Ukraine while his dad is VP, and dad presses for firing of a state prosecutor as a precursor to resuming US aid. C'mon NYT, if you really are a news group how about supplying some more investigation and detail of that? The optics if it are pretty clear, but all your print is that it is "unproven". So how about proving what is the truth? Or is that just a catchy news slogan?
First of all, the NYT was the first news organization in 2015 to report and point out the perception of conflict of interest of Joe Biden’s role in American-Ukraine policy while his son sat on the board of a Ukrainian company (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/world/europe/corruption-ukraine-joe-biden-son-hunter-biden-ties.html).
Regarding your other points, the clear difference between what Trump has done and what Biden did was that Biden was threatening to withhold aid to Ukraine as an official Obama administration policy, in coordination with numerous European nations, who collectively pushed for the Ukrainian prosecutor’s removal. (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/world/europe/political-stability-in-the-balance-as-ukraine-ousts-top-prosecutor.html).
Additionally, the firm that Hunter Biden worked for was not even under investigation at the time of the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s removal. It had been halted in 2014.(https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-07/timeline-in-ukraine-probe-casts-doubt-on-giuliani-s-biden-claim).
In summary, Joe Biden, in his official capacity as VP of the US, in coordination with numerous European nations and the US State department, pressured Ukraine to remove their nation’s top prosecutor who was notorious for failing to pursue corruption, all the while his son worked at a Ukrainian firm that wasn’t even under investigation in Ukraine.
13
@baba ganoush Imagine having a President that hires a lawyer (Rudy Giuliani), but admits he does not pay this lawyer. This lawyer is in and out of our State Department without the proper credentials and ethics disclosures.
We don't know who pays this lawyer. Is the State Department paying him? Are campaign contributions paying this lawyer. Or are foreign sources channeling funds to this lawyer.
Should we have a friend/lawyer to the President (and apparently with the blessing of this President's Atty Gen Barr) be off on an investigation and not know who is his paymaster?
If it is proven that Rudy Giuliani is being paid by foreign sources, will this be considered a foreign sourced campaign donation?
If it is a foreign campaign donation actively solicited by the presidents lawyer do we not have another reason to impeach this president.
11
The firing of the prosecutor was requested by many European diplomats and the entire Obama administration since the prosector refused to act against blatant corruption. No investigation of the energy company Hunter Biden worked for was being conducted when his father requested the firing. No investigation was undertaken of Hunter Biden’s legal job. The Trumps have gotten cushy jobs with less knowledge about those jobs. There was no violation of ethics.
8
Disgusting that Trump has lowered us to Russian-style political tactics and propaganda....disgraceful. America quickly went from pillar of the international community to laughing stock and untrustworthy corrupt government. I'm embarrassed that he's president and that 40% of American's still, still, support this morally bankrupt man.
20
Maybe some 10 years old Russian and hack the records on this and post them to the WORLD.
One more smoking gun!
3
This article makes it clear that the quid pro quo never happened (purportedly because of the leak). So now the offense is the "intent of a quid pro quo". That's getting pretty thin.
It's also pretty clear from this that the Ukranians were not really adverse to Trump administration requests except for how they would be interpreted and presumably weaponized by our Democrat politicians. "Aides were arguing in favor of 'bowing to what was demanded'... despite the risk of losing bipartisan support in the United States by appearing to assist Mr. Trump’s re-election bid." It suggests that they mostly wanted to act "... so as not to antagonize the Democrats."
1
@carl bumba Yeah, it never happened because Trump was caught. He was forced to drop his scheme. I suppose you think it's not robbery, if the thief is forced to return the goods and that attempted murder is not a crime.
There was quid pro quo. The money was used as an incentive to force Zelensky to talk about investigating Biden. It doesn't matter that Zelensky didn't do take the US up on the offer. What matters is the offer was made.
11
That's an incredibly tendentious reading of the article. There is zero evidence that the Ukrainian government wanted to investigate the Bidens or the Demop.
2
The easiest way for Mr. Zelensky to curtail corruption might be to refuse all calls from the White House and wherever Rudy burrows.
13
The difference between quid pro quo and extortion was explained to me yesterday.
In the first, two parties each have something the other wants and agree to the exchange - I give you this for that.
In the latter one party has something the other party wants and forces that other party, under duress, to relinquish that thing, or be hurt in exchange for not doing so.
This is worse than quid pro quo - it's pure extortion - as practiced by someone with a great deal of experience, now referred to as Mr. President. His accomplices, the entire GOP.
Vote them out? No. Lock them up.
If only....
36
Fortunately, Trump & Friends got caught this time... But, for anybody who truly and sincerely believes that The Donald and Rudy would not have eventually demand that those investigations produce the specific "dirt" on Hillary and Biden, well -there's a sucker born every minute...
8
Trump defiles everything he touches. He has corrupted not only the Republican Party but also the Ukrainian president and his administration. Trump is more infectious than Ebola.
16
GOP politians, have you no shame?
How can you continue to support this man?
14
Name The Senators!
17
It looks like Ukraine is as corrupt as Donald.
1
This sounds like an episode of the Roadrunner with Trump the Wile E. Coyote.
3
Has anyone determined how much of the $391M was actually spent down? Considering they only had 19 days before the end of the fiscal year, it seems unlikely they managed to distribute all of it; Kent’s transcript suggests as much.
So how much was not used, and how much was rushed through without ideal safeguards? Did the rush contribute to potential misuse?
2
@Anne $450 million dollars were given to Ukraine at the last minute.
3
The use of the money had already been clarified by Congress. There was no need for additional negotiations. All of it was disbursed, as was originally intended. The Trump administration was supposed to release the funds months earlier. Many Ukrainians died due to the delay of funds.
2
It is amazing how much Trump's designs on Ukraine benefited Putin as well. With Trump in Putin's pocket, Zelensky' capitulation to Trump's demand; the obvious and inexplicable alignment to Putin's asset in the U.S., would show Putin's reach, even into the military aid available for the Ukraine's defense.
15
If Mr. Zelensky publicly acknowledges that quid pro quo occurred, then there is a very real chance that the rest of the NATO nations will fund Ukraine's needs for the rest of his term. They may do this simply out of sheer delight that he took aim at a much hated US president (in Western Europe). Mr. Zelensky might also secure unrelenting support from any Democratic candidate that will likely trump Donald in the November 2020 polls.
1
Or it could be that quid pro quo actually happened, just like the transcript and Sondland and Volker and Vindman and everything else seems to show. That seems the much more likely possibility.
3
Burisma was NOT even being investigated when Biden delivered the message that the prosecutor needs to go because he was not investigating corruption. In other words, Biden wanted to have the prosecutor fired because he was NOT investigating the company. In addition, the refusal of money was Obama's policy supported by other European leaders and the the IMF. It was not Biden's decision. Biden was just the messenger. The democrats, journalists, and Biden himself need to clarify this more forcefully.
I'm still waiting for the democrats and the media to ask Republicans: How would you respond if Obama had withheld congressional funding from a foreign government unless it investigated Romney and his family?
16
An intriguing aspect of this debacle is determining Russia’s current military strategy in Ukraine. It seems doubtful that Trump, in his chumminess with Putin, would have supplied lethal arms to Ukraine if the Ukrainians had any need or desire to deploy them against Russians (regardless of how much they claim non intervention), so the quid pro quo may have been defined by Putin advising Trump of his regional policy, occupying eastern Ukraine with no further advances risking wider conflict planned. Attempting to lever Zelensky with aid that Trump knew would likely not be needed other than as a deterrent smacks of a new level of diplomatic disingenuousness. The Trump administration probably felt that it could make friends with two warring factions, and exploiting the weaker in return for favours. In other words, Trump was running a protection racket.
It seems highly likely that US figures such as Sondland and Giuliani sought to capitalise on Ukrainian vulnerability by seeking a foreign government’s impugning of the Bidens. The US would have been more than capable of investigating any wrongdoing on its citizen’s behalf without Ukrainian help, if any existed, lending credence to the probability that Ukraine would have found something even if nothing existed, giving the Republican Party ammunition against the Bidens and securing the aid that it requires. This is clear evidence that Trump and the Republican machine actually invites foreign based election meddling.
3
The Republicans honestly don’t see anything wrong with the transcript of the phone call.
So...
1/3 of the population sees what’s going on.
1/3 of the population sees but looks the other way.
1/3 of the population honestly has no clue.
14
What are the names of the 2 US Senators mentioned in the article ? It sounds like they might be part of the extortion efforts by Trump and his Crime Family.
18
I too want to know the names of the Senators.
10
And if said Senators are shown to be complicit in the extortion scheme, how can they be allowed to vote in an impeachment trial?
12
re senators, why were their names omitted from the article
6
Would any of the named Ukrainians in this incredibly well-researched story be willing to testify next week or the week after, either in Washington or via secure video-teleconference? That should be the ultimate nail except for Don Don's RINOs. And the fact that the putative (Putinative?) victim, knowing that he still does not have that which is being held over his head for his cooperation, says that he did not feel threatened means nothing.
3
As this article makes clear, Trump’s demands placed an unconscionable burden on the shoulders of newly-elected President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. Indeed, the turmoil Trump’s pressure occaisioned shows exactly why Trump removed Marie Yovanovitch as Ambassador to Ukraine. As an experienced professional diplomat, she would never have been party to such a shameless shakedown. Instead, Gordon Sondland, whom Trump appointed as Ambassador to the European Union, pushed Trump’s plans — never mind that the U.S.-Ukraine relationship is entirely outside Sondland’s ambassadorial purview because Ukraine is not a member of the European Union. Sondland was so eager to please Trump that he came within a hair of perjury until he refreshed his memory this week. Trump, meanwhile, still insists that his July 25 phone call to President Zelensky was "perfect." In the face of such persistent criminal behavior, impeachment is the only possible recourse.
13
The Lindsay Graham's of the world have so tethered themselves so tightly to Trump that they reflexively deny all facts. Trump has admitted his crimes publicly. The transcript and witnesses corroborate the corruption. What more is there? The GOP no longer is playing politics but are openly encouraging corruption and criminality. 62% said it does not matter what Trump does. This is an active assault on American society.
12
Please note that the Trump administration wanted to force Ukraine to *announce* the investigation, not *complete* the investigation.
Trump has a predator's instinct for weakness and he knows, knows, knows that the US media would have covered the announcement with all the breathless fanfare that accompanied Hilary's email server.
The announcement was the precipitating event designed to trigger an endless media firestorm regardless of outcome.
6
Trump has three defenses. 1) There was no quid pro quo; 2) there was a quid pro quo but I was acting in good faith, trying to protect the American public from corruption; 3) there was a quid pro quo, made in bad faith, but it’s just not awful enough to warrant impeachment. The testimonies of countless diplomats make the first defense impossible. The fact that he was trying to get Zelensky to make a public announcement kills the second defense (a public declaration benefits only Trump, not the American people). So it seems he’ll have to go with option 3: Yeah, I did it... so what? I don’t think the Senate will remove him, but a lot of Republicans are going to look particularly awful backing that defense.
7
I learned through this article that, clearly, the military aid was only released in the second week of September because of the Whistleblower complaint and the uproar from Congress after they suspected what has now become clear to everyone through the various testimony given by our former Ambassador to the Ukraine, Mr. Taylor, Col. Vindman, and Mr. Sondland.
More importantly, I learned that if the aid had not been released before September 30, Congress would have had to vote again on the aid package, as a new fiscal year would have begun.
What a disgraceful abuse/misuse of Presidential power. If Republican House members and Republican Senators continue to not hold Trump accountable for his actions, they are traitors to our Democracy and Constitution.
They need to honor the oath of office they all took.
13
I am aware of most of what has been written in this piece. What I want to know is who are the two senators? They should be expelled, no matter which party.
12
If you are looking for profiles in courage they only go witnesses some defying administration orders to ignore subpoenas. Within the White House and GOP Senate and House Graham summed it up, the Trump policy incoherent laced with incompetence. Things so bad the Senator refused to read the transcripts of testimony. No profiles in courage none.
2
The big scandal is Ukraine is AFTER Hunter Biden took the no show job at Burisma.
Right afterwards, Joe Biden paired with senator Ed Markey of CT, the greenest of the green. To subsidize the fossil fuel industry in Ukraine. With US taxpayer money. A lot of money.
Joe Biden provided $4 billion to the natural gas industry of Ukraine. A big chunk of that went to Burisma. HOW big is being determined...
That goes to show that Trump was fighting real corruption in Ukraine. Which was not optional, he had to do it before providing help.
This will be a theme in the 2020 elections.
1
According to the law of MY nation, it doesn't matter. Regardless of who did what to whom or for how much, the chief executive of MY country does not approach a foreign anything asking for back channel dirt on anyone for any reason. If there is suspicion that an American national is engaging in unlawful behavior, then our intelligence and investigative agencies could quietly be approached to check it out. Your
defense of this sketchy, vindictive middle school drama is indefensible, plain and simple, and if you or the Chosen One had paid attention in class you would already know that.
12
@Linda "our intelligence and investigative agencies could quietly be approached to check it out"
No can do. Ukraine is a sovereign country. Such investigations need to be agreed upon at the highest level. President to president. As it happened.
"According to the law of MY nation, it doesn't matter."
Thank you. That is precisely what I was saying.
In 2020 voters will choose between the party which fights corruption no matter what the cost or harassment. And for which party the president loses a billion for the privilege of being in office.
Versus the party which doesn't mind having their politicians get a billion while in office for their families or foundations.
1
And it ain’t the first time. Trumpy did a first run on the last president of Ukraine. But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. It will all come out in time. The first scoop came from WaPo and was outlined by Rachel Maddow several days ago. It’s all just unbelievable.
2
Trump didn't want to help end Ukrainian corruption, he wanted to participate in it. This is our president, this is what we Americans have become.
14
Trump is starting to make Andrew Johnson look good. Congress told Trump to deliver military aid to Ukraine. Trump acted though the aid was his to allocate as he wished and used it for a criminal purpose, extortion for personal gain. This is an abuse of power. It is precisely the kind of action for which Johnson was impeached in 1868. Johnson was rescued from conviction in the Senate by one vote, probably bought.
5
Stop me if I'm mistaken but WhatsApp is end-to-end encryption. That means the flurry of messages between senior Ukrainian aides was either provided by senior Ukrainian aides or someone hacked WhatsApp again. Andrew Kramer slid right past this point. Which is it? The source changes how I might interpret this news.
Seriously? It’s “WhatsApp”, owned by zuckerberg. Private? Safe? About as much as Facebook and Instagram.
Republicans won't impeach Trump for anything, evidently, not even for this abuse of power, forcing Ukraine to announce false claims about the Bidens in exchange for military aid. Of course it's A-okay to impeach a Democratic President for bobbing and weaving about an consensual, personal affair. But impeach a Republican President for extortion? For conspiracy? For obstruction of justice? For withholding military aid until a foreign country interfered in a US election? Nope. Jeff Sessions is not even going to read the transcripts.
10
Trump's downfall will have been caused by several factors: corruption, obstruction, lying, etc., and, not least, by a woeful disinterest in separating his business interests (cheating, bribing, etc.) from his presidential responsibilities (honesty, collaboration, etc...).
In the end, the Fierce Dealmaker will have quashed the Fake Diplomat.
Meanwhile, as its 2019 "Word of the Year", the Oxford Dictionary should declare two gorgeous overachievers: whistleblower and leak.
1
Maybe I missed it, but where in the article are the two senators who told Zelensky Trump was holding up the aid for the announcement of the investigation identified? That seems crucial to this story.
8
How could this be true? When asked, Zelenskyy clearly said he felt no pressure from Trump during their perfect phone call on July 25th.
The only way anyone could believe the people quoted in this article, or the article, itself, is dependent on two factors: Zelenskyy was being extorted for some reason and Trump lies as often as he tweets. And neither of those things is true, right?
1
This is a really good article. Lays out the bind Ukraine was confronted with and the reason Trump's behavior was so terrible (impeachable) in clear, understandable and captivating terms.
5
How many of these actors are still counting on a trump pardon?
1
The sad thing is Trump can hold these rallies of his and call the sky green and say thunder isn't real and nobody corrects him.
Trump is gonna play the rigged 'electoral college' system again by winning 5 or 7 key states and we'll be stuck with him for at least four more years...maybe longer.
2
Anyone who thinks they've heard (or that they know) all about the Ukraine extortion scam should read this article carefully. This is not just one impulsive phone call from Trump where he had an ill-advised senior moment. And let no one say that this whole elaborate saga is common to foreign policy (at least not until 2016). This is racketeering, pure and simple, and there is no denying what happened. Every day we learn more. And it doesn't make this seem common or routine.
9
The House Republicans didn’t vote to investigate the Ukraine matter. It is because they are very afraid of the wrath of Trump. A vote against Trump is the end of a political career. What an awful position to be put in.
1
@Oliver or a great position if you take the high road.
3
"Only Mr. Trump could unlock the aid, he had been told by two United States senators ..." It's a pity this report does not identify who those senators are and I trust they will be hauled up before the inquiry. They effectively hold the smoking gun used in the attempted "quid pro quo" extraction.
7
Read the transcript of the Ukrainian President's phone call with Trump, he flatters Trump to no end.
Zelensky says to Trump "I won by copying what you did in America".
Zelensky may have been flattering Trump simply because he wanted the aid money. but it still shows how easy it was for Trump to control him.
Watch the parade of Trump fan boys ( Lindsey Graham, Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan and now Kennedy) in the senate declaring undying support to Trump.
The United States is in a very dangerous place, the impeachment must go on.
4
Who were the two US Senators who cooperated with the extortion attempt?
8
How could any of this be true? When asked, Zelenskyy clearly said he felt no pressure from Trump during the perfect phone call on July 25th. Trump has reminded us of that several times.
The only way anyone could believe the people quoted in this article
2
This should be mandatory reading for every American.
There's no more disputing the facts. The only question now is whether Trump's actions - carried out at the highest levels by American diplomats - are impeachable.
I would vote "yes". Trump intentionally used his power as President - and money appropriated by Congress for our national security - for his own personal gain. In the process he corrupted relations with an important strategic ally and attempted to corrupt the 2020 election.
If we allow this to pass, there is no knowing what else Trump will do. He does not act in our interests - only his own.
3
Let's all appreciate the value of courageous whistle-blowers, and of our remarkable American free press, now under constant attack by a would-be tyrant but undaunted.
But for both, we would know nothing of this, and Trump would have succeeded in forcing a desperate country battling Putin to participate in a smear campaign in order to gain the funds, already appropriated by Congress, that it needed to defend itself. What naked, loathsome self-dealing.
Trump apparently came within two days of succeeding in this extortion. Instead, fortunately, he will pay a high price for his malfeasance. Career Foreign Service people are defying him to testify, at much risk to themselves, out of loyalty to the Constitution and to their fellow citizens. I am much humbled.
Long live public servants who know their duty, and long live what our Founders knew to be absolutely essential to the Republic- a free press.
7
Is there any doubt that Trump is mentally disturbed after reading this article. He thought that Biden was going to run against him so he wanted to be one step ahead of him by having Zalensky declare that Biden and his son were to be investigated and, just to throw in for good measure, that Russia had not tried to influence 2016 presidential race but that it was Ukraine that was guilty.
Trump was trying to influence Ukraine, Russia and us with this crazy scheme. He wasn't even afraid that this scene would be detected. Did he think he could bury it forever or that he could hire someone to threaten a leaker with having his knees broken.
To even think of this multi-country plan would require a lot of concentration. Maybe those who say he watched a lot of TV were wrong. He was hatching this plot. Come on, people. What he needs is a good old Rule 25. It's there in the Constitution for a reason.
3
Corruption all over. What have we come down to, all because of a few votes in three states.
3
Please stop using the language "quid pro quo". It will make the eyes glaze over for the public as they begin to follow this inquiry. Call it what it is in layman's terms: Trump was blackmailing Ukraine by threatening to withhold funds appropriated by Congress (funds collected through taxes on the American people) for his personal political purposes. As a legal term, quid pro quo is accurate. It means that I (Trump) will do something (release the funds) if you (Ukraine) do something (investigate the family of one of my political rivals). This is illegal.
6
I imagine Mr. Zelensky would rather go back to writing and performing comedy routines after the Trump meat grinder. With allies like Trump who needs enemies, Russia on one side, Trump on the other and the public attacking him daily, not much fun or laughs in any of this.
1
I am so struck by the ways that this political era seems to boil down to the repeated insistence by (white) men that they do not have to answer for anything to anybody. His plot, our money, how dare we question his perfect call with our sham hearings. Women, on the other hand, had better bring receipts. "How will Elizabeth Warren Pay for Her Plans?" on today's front page.
3
Either name the senators or explain why. A shocking omission in an otherwise excellent piece of reporting.
4
If we were
Living under anything other than modern Republican rule, this would be game, set, match. But we don’t.
2
Forcing Ukraine to bear false witness and say that they - not Russia - meddled in the 2016 election in support of Hillary Clinton, clearly demonstrates Trump's conspiratorial knowledge and cover-up of Russian interference.
"O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!"
4
Would now be a good time to mention that before May of this year Volodymyr Zelensky was a Ukrainian actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer, and director? He was the perfect foil for another bad actor.
Sondland specifically stated in his testimony that Trump instructed him that there was no quid quo for Ukraine doing the right thing and investigating a corrupt company and corrupt US politicians (Biden). I wonder why this fact was omitted from this article.
1
'Trump Is Fighting So Many Legal Battles,
It’s Hard to Keep Track'
Meanwhile, the cost to US taxpayers of Trump's failed follies will cost many tens of millions, maybe hundreds of $M. At the expense of good works not getting funded.
..unless we put a stop to it surgically and soon. The elusive smoking gun, incontrovertible incriminating evidence that inspires Trump to resign.
A smack in the face of reality can be a good thing, spare the US and his Trump family the costs and continued legal jeopardy, negative and frightening drama.
One thing could put an end to this is the release of
Trump's family tax returns and business books of Trump Org.
His family's resignations will appear magically and no one else needs to be drawn into his...illicit, unconstitutional, extralegal, illegitimate, taboo, misbegotten, and irregular, episodes.
2
The Ukrainians were far more intelligent in their analysis of this than our government wanted them to be!! Thank goodness, the trade never happened.
4
There was testimony given from three experts who testified at Schiff's hearings that Ukraine is much better off now thanks to the aid received from Trump than during the entire 8 years of Obama's presidency (this info wasn't leaked). Now that we know who the whistle blower is and that his lawyer tweeted his coup plans in 2017, this current plot to kick Trump out of office is rapidly falling apart. If the impeachment hearings are aired on TV, anger and embarrassment will rule the day for the Dems, a la Muller's testimony and Blasey Ford. Stay tuned...
Trump and Pompeo are spreading their corruption around the world. Where else has Pompeo been going? What other countries are they attempting to hold hostage to US aid? These are not people to be trusted.
3
Among other things, who can seriously doubt that Trump is a Russian asset?
4
it's not taking sides in our politics.It would be making up false information to influence our politics. Therefore in my mind Ukraine and Russia are alike.
Trump's scheme was:
No defense dollars to the Ukraine would be released unless it publicly committed to undertaking investigations aimed at digging up dirt on Biden, his son and Burisma.
1
It's almost a shame the Trump administration released the assistance and Mr. Zelensky’s office canceled the scheduled interview.
"The Zelensky team was ready to make this quid quo pro,” said Mr. Burkovskiy.
Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s [former] foreign minister said there was no telling what Mr. Zelensky would have ended up saying in the interview...
It's too bad the Quid Pro Quo was never allowed to come to full "Public" fruition, with a Zelensky proclamation against the Bidens.
That would have at least removed his "no pressure" assertion from the table.
1
One suggestion and one by-the-way.
Suggestion: Could we please get rid of the phrase "quid pro quo," which, being Latin and all, is too vague and abstract to catch the national attention. Because it is so abstract, it has allowed the Republican "defense" to evolve from "no quid pro quo" to "ok, it was quid pro quo, but that's not impeachable." Instead, let's call it what it was: bribery. Why? Because there's little room for argument about what constitutes bribery and because the Constitution uses that very word in stating what constitutes impeachable conduct: "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." One can argue forever about what constitutes a “quid pro quo” or "high crimes and misdemeanors" but “bribery" is a word everyone can understand, that cuts to the heart of the matter, and is right there in the impeachment clause. So let's make it impeachment for bribery and not for some debatable quid pro quo.
That's the suggestion. Now the by-the-way. Andrew Johnson was impeached for, among other things (as we can read in Wikipedia) "rude speech" that reflected badly on the office, including "harangues" criticizing a Congress and questioning its authority, refusing to follow laws, and diverting funds allocated in an army appropriations act, each of which brought the presidency "into contempt, ridicule, and disgrace."
Hmmmmm . . . .
5
So. Ukraine has lost 13,000 people and more would die if they didn’t capitulate to trump’s extortion demands. That’s quite a bit worse than shooting one person on Fifth Ave with no consequences. What an agonizing position for Zelensky. Trump is fine if people die for his personal gain; human beings mean nothing to him. Thank you, NYTimes, for telling the truth. Have we ever seen an American in power quite this deliberately depraved? So much winning. Enjoy, Putin. You did a great job.
4
Republican politicians are the face of social and moral rot in this country right now. No question about it.
5
To all of the commenters slandering the NYtimes with phrases like fake, made up stories, fiction, to imply that certain reporting is all part of a grand scheme to destroy Trump I suggest this: read back over the last few years to see how much of what a few ignoramuses call “fake news” in the NYTimes and other respectable mainstream media was true. I think you will find that most has held up as solid, factual reporting that has happened to build a story of rampant corruption, greed and likely criminality. Trump is doing a good job of destroying himself and the press is just reporting on that. Open your eyes and face the facts.
22
Very tacky but thin gruel for removal of a President.
2
@john mark evans. Extortion is thin gruel. Got it. Is that a common Russian staple?
6
@John Mark Evans
Tacky?
The president tried to use the force of the US Government to hold up aid that had already been promised in order to blackmail Ukraine into trying to find dirt on Trump's political opponent.
Looks like pretty thick stew to me.
6
No. This is as thick as a piping hot New England clam chowder. This is the smoking gun.
5
Testimony by the folks being shaken down, the Ukrainian government should be included in the impeachment process, will be utterly damning, and still won't matter to Trump's true believers.
6
Not “ unproven accusations”  they are false accusations
2
Whoa; what two U.S. Senators? You didn’t bury the lead—you left it only partially reported. This means the quid pro quo was known about inside the Senate long ago—doesn’t it?
19
Probably McConnell and Rand. But who knows who else? Maybe Graham? Depends on who’s on the Senate’s intelligence committee.
3
In the battle between Russia and the Ukraine did Zelensky think Trump would not betray him ultimately? Zelensky was between Scylla and Charybdis. Either he corrupts himself and his government or he does not get this vital aid. No question this was a shakedown by Trump for personal needs. And it was never going to be hidden as it plainly was. This is the stupidity of the keystone cops in the Trump White House. Some damage to Biden has been done but as usual, Trump shoots himself, this time on Fifth Avenue and it wounded. Finally. We might MAGA .
7
This wreaks of Putin and a le Carre novel, with the Hungarians as go-between, the Americans as the duped neophytes, and the Ukrainians as the fall guys who lose no matter what. If the Ukrainians go along with Trump, they are corrupt and they lose any semblance of credibility as reformers; If they don’t go along, they don’t get their weapons and Putin destroys them. If it leaks that they were debating it, they likewise lose whether or not they get the aid. Could it be that Trump and his republican cronies are so naive that they don’t even realize their actions are destabilizing and counter to any reasonable US foreign policy? Stupidity in this case constitutes a dangerous high crime and warrants removal from office; and if they did realize it, well that would simply be treasonous. You have to wonder if Putin worked backwards from this outcome to hatch his little scheme. The only winners here are the Russians. Everybody else loses, and Trump is the biggest loser of all.
3
Who were the senators???
14
As others have said, it seems to me that Russia would have been the real winner had this sordid shakedown been successful. I also think it most likely that Putin was behind the push to prove it was Ukraine, not Russia that interfered in the 2016 US election, so Russia could rejoin the Group of Seven. Another reason why it is so vital for New York prosecutors to gain the release of Mr. Trump’s tax returns over the past number of years. His son already admitted that Russia was the primary source of funding for Trump business investments (American banks having decided “No more”); Putin could easily have threatened to call in the existing Trump debts/turn off the tap for any future money unless POTUS put serious pressure on Ukraine.
8
"Only Mr. Trump could unlock the aid, he had been told by two United States senators, and time was running out."
Which senators? Why not include this information in the article?
29
The Democrats should seek testimony from one or more of the Ukrainian officials involved in Trump’s extortion plot. But not until the Senate trial, where the testimony could blow any blabbering defense out of the water. A bonus would be the naming of the two complicit senators. Must-see TV.
8
Volodymyr Zelensky, by profession a career comedian, became the newly elected President of Ukraine, when he was voted into office to clean up that government's previous corruption. Ukraine is fighting a war with Russia, after Putin invaded the Donbass and Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine.
After his election, Zelensky attempted to gain $400M in military assistance from the USA, to combat Russia's invasion of its territory. Ukraine would also like to join NATO.
To gain US military assistance, Zelensky quickly learned that he would need to abet the corruption of Donald Trump, Mick Mulvaney, Mike Pompeo and Rudy Giuliani. Trump insisted that Zelensky continue to keep Ukraine corrupt, by insisting that he manufacture dirt on Joe Biden, to aid Trump's political fortune in the USA.
The Ukrainian comedian did not bow to the scurrilous demands of the current US comedian. Under Trump, it turns out that the US government is now far more corrupt than Ukraine's.
14
So Trump had concerns about ‘corruption’ in Ukraine while at the same time trying to import corruption into Ukraine.
Trump the mastermind at work.
20
@pfgf. Trump is a measure at projection. Every thing he whines about others doing, you can be sure he is doing himself. His only game.
3
Just wondering which two US Senators told Zelensky that only Trump could unlock the aid. That sounds ominous, right?
20
@Andrea B My thoughts exactly! Pity they are nameless in this report.
2
@Andrea B: the senators will be identified. Hiding this is past the point of no return. This makes Watergate look like a slapstick comedy routine. We used to laugh at the daily news reports about that as it was happening. This is not remotely funny.
3
In July of 2016, congressional leader knew that Russia was interfering in our election. They took no action because everyone anticipated a Trump loss...
Trump tried the same tactics in 2019. He tried to smear his political opponent Biden as he did Hillary. Same pattern.
It has failed because of one patriot. One person willing to uncover this charleton.
11
@kf
Actually, Obama approached McConnell to make a public statement about Russian interference, but McConnell refused to address it and bring it to the public. In fact, he told Obama that he would consider such a public disclosure as partisan. So, McConnell is the rat, and unfortunately Obama was too honorable to play hardball and disclose the information anyway.
2
Mr. Zelensky,
I hate to put you in the hot seat again, but...
Would you allow the Impeachment committee to get some information regarding how you felt you had to act?
I know this isn't an easy thing, but considering how the Ukraine is trying to maintain its' democracy, I think it would be a good thing if you came forward to let the world know that the bullying of one man should never be allowed to sway those in need of assistance to compromise their morals.
The faster we say 'No' to such men, the faster freedom will continue to exist.
6
Wow, just wow. The fact that Zelensky was actually going to be Trump's puppet just makes this whole thing just surreal. Trump needs to go to prison along with many of his staff including Pence, Barr, et. al..
11
Just about every single day lately this gets uglier and uglier. What is most disgusting is roughly 40% of the country, and almost every Republican today on capital hill is okay with this nonsense. You don't withhold aid threatening a country to dig up dirt on a political opponent, especially when the country is fighting against Russia in a proxy war. Russia is doing their best to influence Eastern Europe and in a way create a new cold war.
Yet Republican voters are like, "Nope, nothing wrong here to own the libs." Meanwhile they would lose it if Obama did anything similar against Romney back in 2012. On top of that, a good portion of the nation is not paying attention since Big Brother or Dancing with the Stars is on. I just want this nonsense to end, and we have an adult in charge again.
12
Ukraine is a young independent country struggling to remove corruption.
So the US President and his cronies, who are involved in that very corruption, bully Zelensky, who is trying to maintain that independence from a bullying Putin and his oligarch predators, into almost siding with him against Biden's son Hunter, who has a long-term legitimate job.
The corruption is demonstrably all on the side of Trump, Giuliani, and the gangster (Fraud Guarantee forsooth!) predators who are acting on behalf of Putin to take over Ukraine's assets. Putin is efficient in corruption, but doesn't do well with the massive resources he's been exploiting and draining, so he needs to take over Ukraine.
Trump sees benefits from the bullying, and his master Putin as well (who recently acquired a major asset in Trump's other blunder against our allies the Kurds in northern Syria, thus benefiting another crony, Erdogan).
It should be obvious to every sentient being in the US that the corruption is all on the other side.
Exporting that corruption to struggling Ukraine on behalf of these thugs is criminal. Full stop.
Trying to hurt Ukraine's efforts to root out the real corruption, while pretending the corruption is elsewhere, is evil as well.
11
Why is Trump still in office? Why is anyone connected to him in his administration still in office. To have such corrupt, amoral, transactional, zero-sum game players in power over the rest of us & our lives is not only galling it, it is frightening. Color me disgusted.
8
I strongly suggest to Home Box Office that they produce a sequel to ‘Soprano’ series’ which is now being openly played and call it Ukrano. They won’t lose any money
2
If the Bidens and the Democrats think there was nothing illegal, nothing immoral going on, why not have the Ukrainians investigate it to put down all doubts?
3
So you were good with the Mueller investigation and are good with the impeachment inquiry, right? And you’d be fine if it were you getting smeared in your local press, correct? Think on that a bit.
4
@Ronald Weinstein It ws investigated and morning was found to be illegal regarding the Bidens. Maybe a little unethical on the part of Hunter Biden, but he is an adult and not running for President.
It is certainly not any more unethical than anything the Trumps and Kushners are doing, roaming g the world under the radar. getting loans to bail them out of bankruptcy, picking up copyrights, making real estate deals. When accusing others of nepotism and corruption the Trumps and the cult have zero credibility.
6
It is sickening that the government of a fledgling democracy that has fighting off Russian aggression and reforming its own corruption, was extorted into behaving corruptly to try to ensure its own survival by the country formerly known as the United States of America.
11
The names of the 2 US Senators please. They need to recuse themselves in the up coming impeachment trial! Obviously as Trump conspirators they would vote to acquit.
12
The big point here, was Trump trying to get Zelensky to admit to the true, or to lie . It kind of looks like it was to get Zelensky to come clean and to admit to true.
Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, was newly elected to his job in 2019. He ran on a platform to address corruption. The governments before him were all corrupt. Why was Biden’s son there, anyway? He was acutely aware of the corruption in Ukraine - and the aid they were getting from his dad. Did Biden’s son use the aid for personal profit? Whether he did or not, he sure put his father’s integrity and bid for presidency at risk by doing business with crooks that were receiving US military aid.
Military aid is used as leverage by all leaders, you just don’t hear about it. As for this sudden defense of whistleblowers? Give me a break. Has there been a sudden bout of amnesia regarding Hillary’s reaction to whistleblowers during Obama’s administration? She demonstrated an appalling abuse of power. The hypocrisy is too much, and it will cost the DEMS the election if they don’t get their heads out of the sand.
This whole impeachment exercise is pure pettiness. Like a spitting war between two year olds. Why aren’t we focused on governing? Or scrutinizing the effectiveness of Trump’s policies on the economy? Why aren’t we fixing homelessness and poverty? Rehabilitating communities or addressing a broken public school system? There are so many critical issues that prevent the quality of life for Americans and this really isn’t one of them.
Background article on Zelensky
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/what-volodymyr-zelensky-ukrainian-presidency-would-look-53152
The purpose for which leverage is exerted matters when determining the propriety of using it.
1
Between shaking down Ukraine, traveling to and holding rallies, and weekend trips to Florida and NJ for golf, what exactly is Trump doing in his presidency?
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@ KAB
Undermining the integrity of our election process and threatening our national security.
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But nothing today here from or about George Kent? Readers: wonder who he is, where he works and what he had testified about? Do some research, then ask yourselves the three questions above.
Mr. Zelensky won in a landslide this year because he wanted to end corruption, politically motivated investigations and exploitation by foreign countries — and was suddenly forced to admit to exactly that, in public, by an (supposed) ally.
Imagine: Your country one of the poorest in Europe, your soldiers killed by Russians at the border and an American president withholding your military support, which was approved by Congress, for his own personal interest.
What would you do? Probably talk to CNN, like Zelensky agreed to.
Mr. Zelensky may have bowed, but Trumps shadow cabinet of business buddies started bending the rules of diplomacy, democracy and decency a long time ago. Impeachable or not, this has to end.
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@Martin How is it not impeachable?
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@Martin -- Impeachable, no question. This has to end... and it is clearly, manifestly, and completely impeachable. It is abuse of office by Trump, knowing violation of Trump's constitutional duty to enforce and obey the laws of the United States, and now ongoing and continuous obstruction of the legal right of the Congress to oversee the performance and fitness for office of the president. All of it - impeachable. No question.
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It's now an established fact that Trump is a corrupt politician who has, and is, abusing his office for personal interests. Democrats believe this is unacceptable, Republicans don't care. If Trump gets away with it, he will be emboldened. America has a decision to make.
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It’s a shame Democrats and the left have been clamoring for impeachment even before Trump took office. Incredibly there were dozens of House members who were demanding Trump be impeached in 2017 based solely on his comments condemning NFL players for kneeling before the national anthem. Ridiculous. So my advice to Democrats now is to familiarize themselves with the fable “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” In a nutshell, the boy tending sheep on a hillside outside of the village was lonely, so he would shout “Wolf! Wolf!” knowing all the villagers would drop everything and come running to help him, (and keep him company), only to find no wolf. The boy sounded this same alarm on multiple occasions, with the same results—the villagers rushing out to him, only to find there was never any wolf Finally one day there was a wolf approaching, and the boy again shouts “Wolf! Wolf!” But this time the villagers, now immune to his alarmist cries, ignore him. Such is the case now after three years of Democrats screaming “Impeachment! Impeachment!” Too many people are now immune to it after such false hysteria, and as a result there’s a much greater chance Trump gets re-elected in 2020.
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@David R It could become a classic case of 'the boy who cried Wolf'
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@David R -- Yes David - and sometimes, when the boy cries "wolf, wolf" there *really is* a wolf.
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Where is the evidence for all of this?
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Haven’t been paying much attention, eh @Mark?
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Right in front of your eyes.
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@Mark
All around you. Facts matter.
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A report would be useful detailing how Biden withheld a billion dollars in aid to Ukraine until a prosecutor was fired who had been investigating political wrongdoing and interference by the US. Biden bragged about his success.
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@John Bowman
If there was enough evidence to support the Biden claim I would be all for it. The lack of an official investigation over the last 3 years kind of speaks for itself. Ultimately, the lack of an official investigation is not the highest concern here, rather that Trump and Co. was pressuring, and Trump personally asked, the head of a foreign government to investigate his main political rival. This is clear to me (and anyone capable of putting aside personal bias to critically view information) based on the transcripts that Trump and Co. released. Done, Impeached. The quid pro quo with 391 million is just icing on the cake in Nancy's eyes. This article is super interesting but I wish there was more evidence offered to support the story.
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Biden lead the campaign to oust the prosecutor who various allies, including 28 countries of the EU, Canada, the International Monetary Foundation and US Foreign Policy had determined was corrupt in failing to prosecute companies that paid him off. If Bidens motives were themselves corrupt, why would he be insisting on a clean prosecutor? A dirty prosecutor, unwilling to look into gas companies in Ukraine was pushed out in favour of a clean prosecutor willing to investigate domestic corruption - as in keeping with official US policy, the 28 member countries of the EU, Canada and the IMF. What possible motive could these sectors have to oust a corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor? The suggestion Biden was acting with corrupt intent on this matter fails rational and critical thinking.
Do keep up. You are simply parroting the rationale of a man who is incapable of thinking beyond behaviour Trump himself is guilty of. I’ve yet to hear Trump accuse the motives of another persons behaviour that Trump himself isn’t later revealed to be guilty of. The narcissist cannot help but project his own worse instincts and behaviours onto another eg: “Not a puppet, you’re a puppet”, “Nancy had a meltdown and isn’t mentally stable”, “Comey is a showboat”, “Democrats are subverting our democracy and trying to rig the election by colluding with Russia”, Obama isn’t very bright” etc etc. The narcissist speaks only of himself and you are ignoring rationality in your defence of him.
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@John Bowman
My understanding was that the EU as well as the Senate Dems and Republicans all supported the removal of that particular prosecutor who was known for sitting on his hands instead of aggressively investigating corruption.
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Another work of total fiction by the New York Times whose only source are unnamed “officials” in the Ukrainian government. This isn’t journalism- it’s wishful thinking.
3
Oh please. This is just sad. PresidentTrumps behavior is so tawdry and the lies big and little have gone on so long. Surely we’ve seen enough... are we going to be dragged through all of his flimsy excuses and listen to all his sycophants for months now. Please defend this latest bad behavior. Give it up. He’s guilty.
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@Greg
I was looking forward to your response to this article Greg, and once again it did not disappoint.
“I said that resumption of the U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anticorruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks,”
Source - Gordon Sondland; US Ambassador
“correct the mistakes” in relations with the United States and “in particular their own.”
Source - Alexander Danyliuk; the director of the national security council
"Ukrainian officials were at the least keenly aware of the stakes — a trade of United States assistance for political favors"
Source - Pavlo Klimkin; Ukraine’s foreign minister
These are not unnamed "officials". They are named, and they are not all Ukrainian.
Your red herrings aren't going to work this time. But it is fun to see you try!
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Can you provide a refutation, then? Or are you just upset that it doesn't make Donald "many people are saying" Trump look good?
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You lose me when you question the wisdom of supporting peace talks. What’s wrong with peace talks? Why does this paper consistently advocate bellicosity? And why wouldn’t the Ukrainian President support peace talks? After all, it’s what he ran on! And it’s what the far right in Ukraine (with our backing?) is insisting he not touch.
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@Figgsie
What?? Ukraine from this research felt at the mercy of Trump to accommodate his needs to disparage Biden in order to survive. What are you not getting from this?
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@Figgsie: ?? The phrase "peace talks" appears once, not in a context questioning their wisdom.
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You might not be paying attention, but the prospects that “peace talks” could legitimize the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea is extremely dangerous to world peace and threatens to return us to the pre-WWII era of war and instability.
I hope that humanity is not so shallow and foolish that we need another war to kill 50,000,000 people or more before we remember why we set up the international order to prevent such things and make possible the prosperity that we now take for granted.
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"Avoiding partisan politics in the United States had always been the first rule of Ukrainian foreign policy, but the military aid was vital to the war against Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, a conflict that has cost 13,000 lives since it began in 2014". The above statement in the article is not true at all. Ukraine did involve in American politics during Obama's time by leaking secret information to help Hilary hoping to please both Obama and Hilary. That is the reason why Manafort was ousted as Trump's campaign chief. Still, Obama did not provide military aid to Ukraine, though it was vital, because he did not want to antagonize Putin anymore. Obama even promised "flexibility" after election and Putin just annexed Crimea without much resistance continued to meddle in Ukraine. It looks Democrats are trying to impeach the wrong President, Trump instead of Obama.
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@Alex E Hope this doesn't surprise you but -- um, Obama is not our current President.
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@Alex E That was fast!
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Hey, now there's an idea! Let's impeach someone who isn't the president! You know, it's tiresome reading these same types of comments over and over. There is no logic in them. First of all, it doesn't matter which party the President represents. If the president is corrupt, it needs to be remedied, up to and including impeachment. Congress has the responsibility to investigate, and investigate they sure did. Don't you remember all those investigations of Obama? Maybe they slipped your mind because they didn't turn up anything. Stop justifying corruption by blaming someone else for corruption.
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So let me see if I have this right: at this point, the case against Trump has been confirmed by (among others) Trump's envoy to Ukraine, Trump's acting chief of staff, his top diplomat to Ukraine, the National Security Council's top Ukraine expert, members of the Ukrainian government, and of course the White House's own summary of the infamous phone call.
In response to all of this evidence, Trump's only defense is to put forth the notion that he "did nothing wrong" in using $400 million in desperately needed military aid to bribe a foreign government into smearing his political opponent. Essentially, he's saying that whatever he does as president is legal precisely because he is president, and Congress has no authority to investigate him.
Seriously, what are we waiting for? If this kind of lawbreaking and reckless disregard for the Constitution isn't grounds for impeachment, I don't know what would be.
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@Joe M.
We are waiting for the Republicans in Congress to have a coming-to-Jesus moment and realize that they along with Trump are destroying our democracy. This will never happen with the present Republican members of Congress. They seem pretty annoyed by the USA democracy and the issues arising from their abuse. How did we come to this moment in time? Sadly, it all started during the Reagan Administration and has grown since.
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@Joe M.
Four words:
The GOP-controlled Senate.
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@Joe M.
Amen!
One week of open testimony so the whole world can hear firsthand the dirty details of Trump's relentless extortion efforts and then let the House take the impeachment vote.
With dirty trickster Roger Stone reminding us of his close relationship with Trump
So timely that this week.... not only Trump's close advisor, dirty trickster, Roger Stone starts his trial, but the NY courts finally hand down a $2 million fine against Donald Trump and his kids for repeatedly and blantantly misusing charitable donations and defrauding the Trump foundation.
And they all, Donald, Ivanka, Don Jr and Eric are forbidden from ever serving on a non-profit board again.
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US to Ukraine:
Ukraine you need to get your corruption under control because it undermines our national security to be involved with a corrupt state so I’d like you to start by manufacturing an investigation into a political enemy of mine. I don’t care if you actually investigate. What’s most important to me is that you personally go on camera and say you are investigating. You know, wink wink and if anybody asks I didn’t ask you nothing.
Boggles the mind
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@Aaron -- Pause which is the corrupt state? The state (1) with something that the other state (2) desperately needs for survival and withholds this support until state 2 agrees to perform a illegal partisan act to personally benefit the leader of state 1.
It seems here that Ukraine was being coerced, extorted, to perform an act for Trump personally in exchange for the material means to defend itself from Russian aggression. That out of desperation they were going to give in is not so surprising. My other question is who were those Senators. There would appear to be huge ethics violations requiring expulsion from the senate.
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@Aaron
I think that Trump hates Ukraine like he hates Mexico. I further think that he does not care if Ukraine is carved up between Russian and Hungary. I'm sure his response would be that they're no angels
All roads lead to Putin
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DRTmunich: I think you missed the sarcasm.
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Ah, get over it, etc. We do it all the time, blah blah. Everybody does it and so forth. Not a crime except in the fake Constitution, that rag.
I'd like the transcript of the call Putie made to trump ordering him to sit on funding to Ukraine. Who else would it benefit really? Nah, that's probably too complicated.
In the next edition of "Extortion for Dummies" would-be extortionists will be warned not to do shady deals over the phone. Especially when there are numerous witnesses and other listeners on both ends of the call.
Anyway, it's all Obama's fault.
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@George Dietz Good job! Thanks for the laugh at the end.
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@George Dietz
and don't forget Hillary's emails.
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@George Dietz
I wonder how Trump is going like defender, Lindsey Graham's, explanation that
Trump's Ukraine foreign policy is too incoherent... in other words, Trump is too stupid... to carry out a quid pro quo.
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Ukraine has at the end of the day proven to be a valuable friend. Unwilling to cave into a scam. These are the people the USA should embrace. They believe in what we believe. They deserve our support without strings attached.
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@Paul Blais
Mr. Zelinsky had beginner's (or fool's) luck is all. Another political virgin. By dint of luck and timing, he was off the hook for making the decision. Even at the UN he looked a hostage with a gun to his head sitting next to Trump, speaking words he did not seem to believe.
Good thing others got wind of the scheme and forced Trump to release the money.
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Ukraine’s new President was a victim of extortion! Mr. Zelensky was being forced to make a decision - Ukrainian lives for support by Trump and his henchmen or the destruction of Ukraine. Making this even worse is the fact that the new President was doing his best to stop corruption!
It’s worse than extortion. Henchmen belong in prison and Trump needs to be impeached and removed. And finally, imprisoned - I’m sure the SDNY will be pleased to accommodate.
Trump’s enablers will go down in history as the most corrupt band of crooks to ever hold office!
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I was on the cusp about whether this Ukranian mess was so bad that it's an impeachable offence. After reading this article I can now say it most certainly is. Volker wrote a speech? Trump wanted Zelensky to read it on CNN? Wow.
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Unlike Watergate, this one will be what did the president, vice president, secretary of state, etc. know and when did they know! - The true answer will mean that we may have our first female president who was not elected holding the seat for the first elected female president!
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Interesting how this all went down (new facts every day) but I am curious how it would have panned out of Zelensky had simply told the diplomats and Trump: No, we can't do that, we'll forego the aid. And that the congressional leaders were informed. Welcome to the Syndicate Administration.
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Orange will deploy the ever famed, "I'm made of rubber, you're made of glue," defense on this one.
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this story contradicts the Ukrainian president. So was he involved with a quid pro quo conspiracy with Trump. Probably not. Where are the sources of this story?
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If President Zelensky said he would agree to reopen the investigation of Burisma and would agree to have his justice officials work with the U.S. Attorney General, the New York Times believes he would have suffered a mortal blow to his nation.
This is nonsense. Ukraine was involved in 2016 election shenanigans the need to be investigated.
Politico covered this well in the article, "Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfire, Kiev officials are scrambling to make amends with the president-elect after quietly working to boost Clinton," by KENNETH P. VOGEL and DAVID STERN, published 11 Jan 2017.
So, spare me the faux outrage, Mr. Kramer. Ukraine was willing to work with the Trump administration.
The Obama administration, the Clinton campaign, Democratic Congressional members, and the media want to derail that cooperation and try their level best to obscure the upcoming revelations from the Department of Justice.
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Once again, our Stable Genius loaded the gun, took aim and shot himself right in the bone spurs.
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So what was the stroke of luck? Everything transpired rationally.
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Who were the 2 Senators who warned Zelensky that only Trump could unlock the aid money?
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Anyone ready to pour into the streets and demand the president be removed, yet? That looks like that’s what it will take.
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NYT's reporting on this needs to be beyond reproach--and I'm not sure I love the sourcing-- attributions and narrative approach.
The article drops a bombshell that two jurors--I mean senators--were involved in this--without any other information? This all needs to be tightened up a bit before publishing. Old reporter here.
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@Andrew I agree with you. Fascinating information presented here but the structure of the story leaves it vulnerable to attack from those on the right who don't want to believe the content. This article is the first I'm hearing about a lot of these bits. We need them laid out in an organized fashion. Save the narrative for a few weeks from now.
What is thoroughly despicable, and not addressed in many media report is that Trump tried to thrust. Zelensky in a corrupt scheme, when Zelensky was just elected on an anti-corruption platform. How unfair to treat Ukraine and it’s citizenry in that manner. Trump and all of America owes Ukraine a huge apology!!!
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Trump corrupts everything he touches. This wasn’t just trading favors - this was blackmail for Trump’s personal benefit.
The continued GOP support for Trump shows they are as corrupt as he is.
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@Larry Roth
Everyone does know Zelinsky is a political neophyte?
@cl And that matters why?
Such cases scream out for turning the tables or walking a mile in the other’s shoes. Suppose another country approached the United States, saying their cooperation with us, assistance, aid, whatever it might be, was contingent on our digging up dirt on their political opponents, or helping them rig their own, internal elections. What would our reaction be to being subjected to such an unseemly shakedown, to being extorted, held up, as it were, in such tawdry gangland fashion? Well, we already know where Trump stands on this moral dilemma, as everything he has done, from attempting to build a Trump Tower in Moscow and laundering Russian money, to ignoring Kremlin meddling and doing Putin’s bidding has been one long sustained “Da!” His Ukrainian gambit is just one more of his variations in response to his puppet master’s voice.
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@Steve Griffith
Think of the terrible example to the people of Ukraine and by the President of the United States extorting their newly elected president!
This is what the ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said at the impeachment hearing which I am reading word for word.
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This article now finally clarifies the sequence of events in a way that explains the known facts and clearly associates them with the underlying motivations on both sides. Let’s stop calling this ‘quid pro quo’ and name it for what it appears to have been: an attempt at state-sponsored extortion.
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@Bruce Williams
It's both, but your point about no quid pro quo being necessary is well taken. It's perfectly okay for a US president to put a foreign president on the hot seat so long as that furthers what is reasonably perceived as our national interest. When a president equates his personal interest as the national interest and puts pressure on a newly elected president whose life support includes the $391M, it is extortion as you say, but not state-sponsored: it is Trump-sponsored.
I suppose it's also bribery. It may also be RICO activity with the Rudy G enterprise, the Pompeo corruption of the State Department and the illegal withholding of funds which Trump agreed should be paid.
Joe Biden, for whom I still have some hope, should turn his focus on how Donald Trump is beholden to Putin.
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"Word of the freeze in military aid had leaked out, and Congress was in an uproar."
And then it became apparent that the freeze was solely for the purpose of influencing the 2020 elections. Yet Republicans in the House and Senate who could not believe that the freeze occurred, do not appear to have an issue with why it occurred. While I can't prove this yet for the Senate except with statements from individual Senators, I can for the House where no Republican was willing to vote to investigate the matter with a formal inquiry. Ignoring evil doesn't get rid of it, quite the contrary.
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If the aid was approved by Congress, then Trump should have never been able to block it in the first place. The blocking of aid should in itself be illegal. New laws need to be implemented to weaken Presidential powers. It is unfortunate, but the abuse of power fomented by Republicans require us to weaken the office of the Presidency.
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If two Republican senators were a party to this extortion, then those two senators MUST be barred from voting in the impeachment trial of Trump. To allow them to vote would be like allowing conspirators in the crime to be on the jury in the trial of other members of the conspiracy.
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@shira exactly
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@shira
If the Republicans want the name of the whistleblower, then I want the name of the two senators. Quid pro quo, you know?
@shira
Why isn't this a Times Pick?
1
Once again, corruption isn't a strong enough word for this administration. The fact that Ukraine was willing to flip over is infuriating. It's unfortunate we have no choice but to keep supporting them to hold off Putin, but we do. This won't be forgotten though.
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@Fiver
Are you kidding? The Ukraine is fighting for survival. And Trump was ready to leave them weaponless. They were doing the only thing they could, attempt to meet the demands of the arms dealer, Donald Trump.
1
This is excellent reporting and an important article.
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It’s often better to be lucky than just about anything else.
There was no small risk that once Trump had Zelensky ‘in a box’ on investigations, Trump would have withheld military aid until he also conceded to Putin’s demands in conflict settlement talks. (It was alluded to in Trump’s ‘perfect’ phone call.)
Or Trump could still have just let the aid offer expire at the end of September, leaving a very vulnerable Ukraine to the tender mercies of Russian aggression. He abandoned the Syrian Kurds with no warning to Congress.
Ukraine is very much like a shopkeeper in a mobbed up neighborhood. Do what you’re told, pay the bad guys for ‘protection,’ and never tell the truth to authorities. You live there, and the bad guys will always know where to find you. I just never thought an American administration would be affiliated with the mob.
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@Michael Tyndall
Trump as a NY real estate guy would certainly be a mob guy. He got all his schtick from them.
Real estate and the mob, real estate and politics, that's how NY rolls. Sad!
1
@Michael Tyndall learn who Rudy Guiiani's brother is and wake up.
"...a conflict that has cost 13,000 lives since it began in 2014." This alone is jaw-dropping news. Think about that: more than 2,000 deaths per year in this war. The fact that Trump would not only dishonor those who have perished, but put more lives at risk is criminal.
10
It is interesting to watch the trump supporters resort to denial of sworn testimony by REPUBLICAN members of the trump administration as their last best hope of getting their con man president off. Kind of sad really. Next time pick a decent person for your candidate.
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On full display is how Donald Trump put thousands of Ukrainian lives on the line over his political ambitions.
The Founders were keenly aware of the threat of foreign countries meddling in our American government, but perhaps not that it would be the American government who would be tugging the strings.
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Let's get the semantics straight here. This isn't "quid pro quo." It's flat-out extortion. If that's not a "high crime or misdemeanor," I don't know what is.
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@Charna. After our old timers football game, I tried to explain the 25th to the mates. They asked what is taking so long, given that when he speaks at the heliconferences, it's obvious that he's mad and not stable as he repeats his own echo chamber in his incoherent responses.
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@CHARLES 1A
I don't him want to be able to use the insanity defense even though it is sadly obvious.
For the sake of truth, the politicians and the media need to drop using the overly elegant phrase “quid pro quo” for the more accurate expressions ”coercion”, “extortion” and “blackmail”.
Similarly, had the media used the appropriate term “conspiracy” instead of the weakfish “collusion”, Trump would be less effective at subsequently distorting the Mueller’s findings.
Also, Trump’s ‘base’ followers tend to be uneducated and “collusion” and “quid pro quo” rarely appear in their vocabulary but would have no problem relate to terms like conspiracy, coercion, extortion and blackmail.
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Only Mr. Trump could unlock the aid, he had been told by two United States senators, and time was running out. Who were the two senators??
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Andres Kramer says Ambassador Sondland “explained in blunt terms to Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Yermak, there was little chance the aid would be forthcoming until they made the public statement on the investigations.” He neglects to mention that in the addendum to his original testimony, Sondland said he only presumed that aid would likely not be resumed if Zelensky refused to make a public statement.
Sondland made a bad prediction based on wrong a wrong assumption.
Sondland did not say the president, the White House or the State Department set conditions on military aid. He did not amend the key part of his original testimony in which he said: “I do not recall any discussions with the White House on withholding U.S. security assistance from Ukraine in return for assistance with the President’s 2020 re-election campaign.” He said when he heard speculation that security assistance would be denied unless Ukraine agreed to investigate Burisma, “I called President Trump directly. I asked the President: ‘What do you want from Ukraine.’ President responded, ‘Nothing. There is no quid pro quo.’ The President repeated: ‘no quid pro quo multiple times.’”
1
It is shocking how many people who seem to truly care about facts are willing to turn them into a pretzel to defend Trump. Perhaps one day, even if it's not this day, they will accept that the facts are a straight line between Trump and extortion. That day would be a welcome relief and cause for celebration because it would mean that for thoughtful men party is not all that matters.
4
I find it hard to believe that Republicans are still maintaining their absurd position and are still supporting the President.
Surely they have their limits?
3
The Ukrainian people made a good choice when they selected a
comedian to be their President.
All of our former allies in the world would do well to emulate them.
Anyone in the unfortunate position of having to deal with Trump on matters vital to their security need to be able to appreciate a joke.
5
It sounds like Zelensky
(a) has good advisors, and
(b) listens to them.
3
"Only Mr. Trump could unlock the aid, he had been told by two United States senators"...
This is a bombshell lightly tossed off in the article. Who are these senators? Please find out and reveal their names.
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Yes that’s what I also want to know!
2
@Greg Reeder YES!
2
So Zelensky never thought of getting a message to members of the US congress on this blackmail plot? I now have doubts about his strength of character?
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@Patricia Durkin he has no character! Believe me, I was brought up there. The whole government in that country is a sham! 2 months ago when he was in the US giving an interview with Trump he said that Ukraine is a sovereign country and it is not ordered around by anyone. And now this. Noone can trust that man, he is a clown that was elected by oligarchs to advance their agenda.
@Patricia Durkin
He was in a tough spot. Give him some slack.
Patricia, I’m sure Zelensky was fully aware that our Congress has to date been able to do very little to protect Americans from our own President. Why would he think Congress would be in any position to help him. That would have been a very risky move on Zelensky’s part if word got out.
“We are not idiots, or at least not all of us,” Mr. Klimkin said.
So the former Ukrainian foreign minister.
Glad to hear it.
Except for our excellent professional foreign service officers and other support staff, it is becoming clear that the same cannot be said for the Trump Administration.
20
Mr Kramer claims that the accusation that Ukraine meddled in 2016 was unproven, yet, in an article he wrote in December 2018 the Ukrainian court had ruled information released by National Anti Corruption Bureau regarding payments and Paul Manafort had violated Ukrainian law and was meddling in the United States 2016 election. Paul Manafort was never charged with a crime in Ukraine. In January, 2017,former politico reporter and NYT own Kenneth Vogel wrote an article titled :"Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfires." "A Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee met with top officials in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in an effort to expose ties between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia.."
Why shouldn't this be investigated?
There is a ton of evidence out there that the law firm hired by Burisma used Hunter Biden's name at the state department in an effort to get american officials to drop the Ukrainian investigation into burisma. Why shouldn't this be investigated? Why shouldn't the President of the United States, the chief law enforcement officer in the country whose duty it is to faithfully execute the laws, not call for an investigation into the biden corruption?
3
@E Robichaux
First of all, there is no evidence and no allegation from anyone other than American conspiracy nuts, that the Bidens did anything illegal. Secondly, Joe Biden pushed for the firing of the government official who should have been investigating corruption at Burisma, but was failing to do so! The investigation began after the corrupt official was fired at Biden's urging!
2
Your comment drops Hunter Biden’s name without pointing to specific evidence of your claim. What is your source?
2
@E Robichaux Why shouldn't the POTUS, the chief law enforcement officer, not call for an investigation into White House corruption? MAGA?
What the criminal antics of Mr.Trump show in both his collaboration with Russia and his extortion of Ukraine is that his millions of followers are following a terrible coward. Trump was so afraid of losing both elections that he was willing to commit serious crimes to avoid just the possibility of losing.
22
Shame on Trump and his thoroughly corrupt and un-American administration. Apologies are due to both Ukraine and the Kurds. Every American from sea to shining sea needs to understand what's going on with our gang of thugs in charge of the USA.
25
Not one honest atom of moral fiber among the current White House...not one! And yet we have perople sporting T-shirts that they'd rather have Russia than the Democrats.
How have we collectively taken leave of our backbone?
21
Is it too soon for a rousing chant of LOCK THEM UP?!?
13
A comparatively brave honorable patriotic American whistleblower is not ' luck'.
Luck was having an ignorant, immature, immoral, incompetent, inexperienced, intemperate and insecure diva narcissist bent on enhancing Trump Organization profit arising from Donald Trump occupying the Oval Office of the White House.
Luck was having a corrupt coterie cabal of cowardly moral degenerates occupying the office of Vice President, Secretary of State. Secerary of Defense, Secretary of Energy. Chief of Staff, Attorney General and National Security Council chief.
None of these people took the risks nor paid the price of Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning.
5
Okay, Leningrad Lindsey, defend this one.
And remember — you already used the “But Trump is too stupid to ask for a quid pro quo” defense yesterday
Tick tock.
28
Forget impeachable offense and call it what it is: treason.
27
I’m just shocked at how many commenters find any of this shocking. Forget the true believers who are straight up traitors.
22
@Therese Sorry, but this isn't business as usual, and it is indeed shocking.
1
Wow. This makes the case pretty darn obvious. This isn’t just dirty politics , it’s un-American and criminal. It’s just the worst behavior of an American President.
Why are the Republicans standing by and watching and supporting this with silence.
139
Because they fear upsetting Trump's cultist supporters and Trump himself that will lead to being primaried. It's all about power and personal gain. It always has been. The stuff about abortion, guns, and morality is just the slop they feed their voters to stay in office .
5
@Steve: Probably because they all got hooked by Trump with some moronic venality the same way Zelensky very nearly got hooked.
The answer, Steve, is actually quite simple: for the Republicans, it is *always* party over country.
2
Just one question: What are the names of the two US Senators who aided Trump’s shakedown of the new Ukrainian president?
178
For sure Senator Johnson (R) Wisconsin, who met Ex Ukraine diplomat Telizhenko in early July, the guy that started the fantasy of Ukraine aiding Hillary in 2016. The same 26 yr old now political lobbyist, met Giuliani several times in May. Johnson, who went to the Ukraine Presidential inauguration in May, was told by Trump not to mention the hold up of the military aid.
3
@Byrwec Ellison Yes! Let's find out the names of the two US Senator's that participated in the Trump shakedown.
1
@Byrwec Ellison Indeed. Who were the two U.S. Senators? Did you ever get an answer Mr. Ellison?
1
Every once in a while, the NYT reminds me why I subscribed. #bigup
70
Come on now.....more than “every once in a while.” Geez.
1
In reading the impossible posItion trump put Ukraine in- Zelensky must announce on American TV an investigation into the Bidens or lose 391 million dollars in military aid to defend his country against Russian aggression and invasion, it reminded me of Sophie’s Choice: the nazi guard at the entrance to the death camp compelled her to choose which of her two children would live and which one would die.
Zelensky’s Choice: lose your country’s ability to defend against your enemy and see your soldiers die or capitulate to trump’s demand and risk alienating America as an ally by becoming a partisan against the Democrats.
34
@Regards, LC
Earth is calling! Reality is calling!
The 'military aid' was strictly of defensive nature - including a few Javelins, which are - wait for it - also defensive.
As for 'defending' anything against the Russians - get real. If they wanted to, they could have overrun Ukraine in about 3 days, before anybody in Washington would get a hint.
They didn't.
Start there, Chuckie.
@waldo
Are you saying that the extorsion was fine because the aid was defensive in nature?
What an odd thing to believe.
how can any of this be a surprize?
9
@-ABC...XYZ+
No, this is different: it tells it from the Ukrainian point of view. How few of us have really taken a look at what an untenable position this president's malfeasance has put the Ukrainians in.
2
"...support for peace talks outweighed the risks of appearing to take sides in American politics...."
Zelenskiy is trying to bring peace to his country (unlike his predecessor). For him, that is more important than getting sucked into a faraway country's internal squabbles and of course involves making peace with Russia as well.
4
Thank goodness for however the leak came out. It makes my blood positively boil that Trump and his cohorts in subverting the national security of the United States and thereby each and every one of us living here was going to make a duly elected President of another country humiliate himself by agreeing to Trump's scumbag requests and sitting down to "make peace" with his nation's INVADER! No no no! Trump engaged in a classic mob shake-down - just like Adam Schiff described it in terms so clear and simple that even Trump followers could understand it. No wonder so many Republicans were outraged - imagine anyone but a Republican calling a spade a spade! He needs to be removed from office - the Democrats need to carry on with all necessary speed and go on the record in history forever on the side of right and justice. And I hope Mr. Zelenskiy and other leaders of smaller countries take this lesson to heart - DO NOT CAVE TO BLACKMAIL, DO NOT CAVE TO EVIL. Never give in, never give up to somebody like Donald J. Trump.
58
@Jan N: One suspects that many third party glorifications of Trump have been extorted like this.
1
Who were the two US Senators who seemed to conspire in the withholding of military aid by saying "only Trump could unlock it"? And did they know why Trump was withholding the aid? It stands to reason they did.
30
Virtually all US presidents have used aid as leverage to influence policy in recipient countries. Biden Jr is a US citizen and there is a legitimate need to understand if his "employment" by foreign powers was or not linked to Biden Sr's official function.
2
I don’t think the issue is that pressure was applied via aid, it is that pressure was applied in order to further Trump’s personal politician interest. Fulfilling the oath of office requires the president to act in the national security interest, but in this case Trump acted against national interest for his personal interest. Very different.
176
@Ronald Weinstein The key words in your post are "to influence policy in recipient countries". Precisely.
However, here the question is whether our president used aid as leverage *to encourage another country to influence our politics*. Your last sentence, if true, would confirm that our president did encourage another country to influence our politics.
30
@Ronald Weinstein The Ukraine prosecutor stated in April 2019, that Ukraine had investigated and cleared Biden and son of any wrongdoing. And presidents do not use leverage for their own personal, devious motives, especially not to seek foreign aid in a USA election. Willful ignorance on your part??
14
Only Mr. Trump could unlock the aid, he had been told by two United States senators, and time was running out.
Who were the two senators?
117
My thoughts exactly. And I suspect Mr. Schiff knows who those senators are.
38
@Tom Hauck Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham
6
Yes, indeed. Why aren’t the names of the two senators in this report?
2
OK
Now we are getting somewhere.
Let’s hear the latest Republican explanation.
The whole Trump reign would be funny if it weren’t so very sad for our country and the world.
62
@AC
He does not reign he is serving a term. Soon to be followed by serving another kind of term.
3
Soliciting a foreign government to meddle in a US election and threatening to withhold vital military aid in order to insure compliance, to the detriment of US and NATO security interests. That seems to me to warrant impeachment, removal from office and imprisonment but perhaps I'm misreading it. Lindsay?
76
@KC Miz Lindsey can’t answer your question at this time as he is suffering a fit of the vapors brought on by this newest revelation.
6
@KC
You are not misreading at all. You are exactly correct. Trump’s patent criminality has long been understated. It’s high time we remedy that.
3
Wait a minute, they received word on this from two US senators? That's a big deal, it means there were senators in on this too. Who were they?
213
@M. My guess is POTUS’ golfing buddies, Senator Graham and Senator Paul.
10
@M. and also, since they have firsthand knowledge, why haven't they come forward to offer to testify? That seems like a serious breach of the public trust, if not potential obstruction of justice; are they participating in a cover-up?
8
@M. Whether Dem or Rep, the two senators need to speak up. We need to know what their role was. Maybe they need to recuse themselves from the trial. Maybe not. It depends.
1
Zelensky needs to fire his aides. They advised him poorly. If Ukraine had agreed to become involved it would have been disastrous for long term relations.
17
@Jay Casey Pity them. Trump had a figurative gun pointed at their head, while Putin was pointing a gun to the other side. Getting that aid was an existential crisis for Ukraine. They had two megalomaniacs putting them between a rock and a hard place.
1
Words matter. And Quid pro quo is the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
Quid pro quo: "something for something," or "this for that," did indeed happen specifically for the purpose of helping trump's 2020 campaign. But it goes higher....
Bribery: illegal payment in exchange for personal favor/decision by a gov't official. The military money was the bribe. So bribery is a more accurate term than quid pro quo as the request to investigate the Bidens was not made in the interests of either governments. But it goes higher than bribery...
Extortion: essentially bribery with the threat of damage if the victim does not comply. Ukraine lives were at stake. Without the military money, Ukrainians would die. So the bribery is now Extortion.
So lets call the quid pro quo for what it actually is: Extortion.
And yes....please "Read the Transcript" - in it, trump commits Solicitation - a felony of federal campaign finance law - when he Asks Zelensky to investigate the Bidens.
102
@Jon Doyle Ukrainians DID die as Trump extorted them.
9
@Jon Doyle
And it must be noted that the 'transcript' isn't an official one, but the reconstructed version based on Trump's 'recollections'. (and that's damning enough) The official one is still locked on the Situation Room's airgapped server.
12
@Jon Doyle
Well said!
1
Zelensky was only doing what was right for the people of his country.
The big laugh here is that members of the GOP have said that they would like to here from him, well with Trump still in office what do you think he would say.
The GOP needs to grow up and act like adults instead of kids following the school bully around the school yard.
42
@BTO - that seems to be the Republicans' favoured tack at the moment: Zelensky says he wasn't pressured, the end.
Obviously if Zelensky was being pressured, he would feel pressured to say he wasn't pressured. People being shaken down by the mob also tend to deny it.
7
@BTO
But they - and we - did hear from him! A couple of weeks ago, he did state he never felt pressured by Trump with a quid pro quo. Perhaps he doesn't know what it means?
It's Latin, after all.
The resources of the federal government are entrusted to the president, on the understanding that they will be used for the benefit of the people of the country.
If instead they are deployed as a bribe for personal advantage, that is surely corrupt and presumptively treasonous.
38
The 25th amendment should have been used to rid us of this cancer when Trump fired Comey.
Now we are deep into the most serious threat by our own president.
This was blackmail by our unhinged and corrupt president.
This was a quid pro quo because Zelensky was ready to publicly announce the investigations into the Bidens and the Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 election so that the monies appropriated from congress would be unlocked. Zelensky was desperate but he got lucky.
However, we are running out of luck because of our president. President Trump must be impeached and removed from office.
The GOP knows the truth but they will stand by and let democracy die.
This will go down in history as one of the most corrupt episodes in our republic.
32
Enough already! More evidence that Trump and all his myriad enablers were spreading their version of “swamp” to one of our previously “swampy” allies desperately trying to break free from years of Soviet/ Russian “swampiness.”
It doesn’t get any crazier than this! And the apologists just keep making excuses, no matter how much evidence of serious corruption piles up!
Remember the whole Mueller thing? Remember the central issue, which was foreign interference in our democratic processes? Remember when Mueller was asked if such might happen again, and he said it WAS happening right then? Well, he was right, and Trump’s cronies (and no doubt Trump himself) were COLLUDING). Right then! Right as they all claimed exoneration! Even more, they were INITIATING the corruption.
If “we the people” don’t send ALL these corrupt leaders packing — and I mean Trump, Barr, Graham, Pompeo, etc. — then we don’t deserve our democracy, and we ought to just accept our place as the biggest banana among banana republics.
Again, enough already.
60
My god can you imagine if this had been dropped on CNN? It would have been splitting Democrats all over again and wedging progressives further against Joe Biden than we already are. And pushing ambivalent Dem crossovers who voted against Hillary back to Trump.
This was utter low cunning, and Republicans should expect what’s coming to them for cheating and risking international security. Corrupt through and through.
37
@ann
To be honest, the Rs have been doing this for nearly 60 years. Try to remember their attempt to denigrate JFK as the "Catholic Candidate" prompting him to say on national television "I am not the Catholic candidate. I'm the Democratic candidate who just happens to be Catholic."
I fully agree that they should be held accountable for their behavior, but they never have been up to now, and it's worked for them all these decades.
Truthfully, we don't need any Trump voters to vote Dem. We just need to get the majority who lean left to vote for Dems. Either the Dems'll win, or the Rs are going to have to explain how it is that a candidate can get over 10 million more votes and still lose.
55
@JustJeff
JFK was opposed by Democrats over many things, including his Catholic faith and his stance on civil rights. It was not merely the Republicans who tried to denigrate JFK over his Catholic faith. The vitriol in Democratic primaries throughout JFK's career was obvious. It was the southern Democrats, in particular, who despised JFK on a national scale. That was the reason he chose LBJ as his running mate in 1960, and it was the reason he was in Dallas on November 22, 1963. He needed to ensure that the southern Democrats would be on his side in the 1964 election. They didn't like his religion and they didn't like his perceived liberal tendencies.
The Republicans certainly have issues; they can be mean spirited and reprehensible with the best of them, but both parties typically oppose the other with equal ferocity. It's obvious that at the moment there are no clear "angels' in politics across this nation. We seem to be on a rudderless ship.
In all fairness, I think it best not to vilify one party while extolling the infinite virtues of another.
And I'm not a Republican.
Trump needs to be held accountable for his crimes. He has been caught red-handed and he needs to face the consequences. Impeach and remove him.
37
@Mary A
And lock him up!
1
I wonder, what are the odds this was all engineered by Russia? After all, we still don't know what Putin and Trump whisper about when they meet. What seeds does Putin plant?
Also, I wonder, to what extent was Ukraine prepared to carry out such an investigation? What would they have done beyond announcing it to the world? Are they so foolish or needy as to think simply announcing the investigation would suffice?
10
I’d say they are very high. All this seems to work out perfectly to favor Putin. That can’t be an accident.
5
@Mford, announcing the investigation was more important than any results. Just look at Benghazi and the email saga. How many people were swayed by the results of those investigations?
@Mford
THEY may not have been so foolish . . but Trump certainly was - planting the seed of a doubt. . .
Who were the two US Senators who told Zelenski only Trump could release the aid?
29
Anything and anyone who gets in contact with Trump turns toxic or ends up damaged.
All, except Putin.
One has to wonder why.
21
Who were the 2 Senators?
24
Zelensky’s decision to move forward would have definitely affected future US assistance and support of his western government. Therefore, his government would appear weak, resulting in a pro Putin government to eventually return to power and a Putin victory and a US and Western defeat after all that hard work over the past several years.
So yes, the Ukraine matter is a US national security priority in that region. The US president, 45, did, based on the information we have so far, undermined US national security.
Still not clear?
Maybe next week we would have a clearer picture.
30
Thank you for the clearest article I've seen to date on this issue. Indeed, for Trump, the most important front is the media, or should I say propaganda. The statement was what was at stake. Whether it had any merits or whether there would have been any follow through was immaterial. The statement alone would have been sufficient for Trump and for all Trump-spinners.
71
This removes any remaining doubt about a quid pro quo. Instead of fighting corruption in Ukraine, the Trump administration was using extortion to promote it.
Zelensky was told by two senators that only Trump could release the money. Who were these two senators? They should not be recused from the impeachment trial in the Senate at a minimum.
264
I’ve been wondering about these two senators too.
18
@Dave
You mean they SHOULD be recused, right.
Actually, they should be impeached themselves.
30
"Not" be recused? why? They should be recused, because of their vested interests
10
How Republicans can think that this is OK from a sitting U.S. President who already has already used questionable tactics for political gain in the past to engage in this behavior is completely astonishing and depressing at the same time. If Obama committed a similar action they would most certainly have already condemned him thoroughly for his actions.
92
@Jared
They'd (rightly) vote to impeach and convict with a similar set of facts. My hope is that Democrats would too were the facts the same but the party labels reversed.
3
Good save! The alternative would have definitely undermined Zelensky's legitimacy and therefore benefited Russian control in the region. Trump policies always seem to favour Russia. That's weird.
67
He must owe them a lot of money. Let’s see those taxes!
21
@SA . Yes it seems to be a riddle wrapped in an enigma. Except it's not.
1
@SA, "weird?" It's not weird at all - Putin OWNS Trump? I mean, sure, you live in Canada, but you get news up there about Trump/Putin too. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, said it right out loud with her finger pointed at Trump - the truth: ALL ROADS WITH YOU LEAD TO PUTIN. This isn't news, its undeniable. But only SHE had the guts to say it loudly and clearly to the Russian-elected *president, Donald J. Trump.
4
It is disappointing that they were ready to give in. That said what choice did Zelensky have? Without the aid Ukraine would cease to exist anyway. At least this way he has a chance of saving it.
Zelensky had an honorable motive. No one on the Trump side of this matter can say the same.
It isn't as if they were going to actually investigate. Trump only wanted the statement so he could use it. Trump would have told them what they found or concluded so they could announce it at some point down the road.
24
@magicisnotreal
Trump made him an offer he could not refuse.
The people living in eastern Ukraine stood in for the horse in this case.
5
Now for the first time we are told that the aid was in fact released without the requested public statement from Ukraine. On its face, this fact undermines (but doesn’t necessarily disprove) the quid pro quo theory. Why release the aid if it was conditioned on a public statement that never happened?
This piece argues that the reason the aid was released was a congressional “uproar” over the aid being withheld. So apparently Trump changed his mind over the quid pro quo because of a congressional uproar?
Here’s where things get a bit vague. The aid was released on September 11th but the whistle blower complaint was not disclosed to Congress until September 26th. So when exactly was this congressional uproar that allegedly caused Trump to change his mind and release the aid?
2
@Steven Roth
A number of articles have referenced the fact that members of Congress were beginning to ask questions about where this money was by August. The White House was already receiving questions about it well before the whistleblower complaint was disclosed.
46
@ Steven Roth
I am sure a lot was going on behind doors and people knew the money was being held up. The 2 senators involved knew, I am sure word got out. Probably when the Democrat Senators found out , the money was sent. This is not the first time Trump has done illegal things.
Trump is corrupt, period.
15
@Steven Roth The Whistleblower complaint was made 2 days before the aid was released and the Whitehouse knew about it... So they knew that the "Gig" was up...
16
I believe Mr. Giuliani track-covering maneuvers have become the cause of much confusion. Consequently, his original plan has become obscured.
In retro-respect, his plan was not too complicated. Based on what has been revealed so far, I can speculate that it had five key steps:
1. Use powers of POTUS office and State Department to force Ukrainian authorities “investigate” several “corruption” and “national security” charges, including the role of Hunter Biden on the board of Burisma and “the Russian Server”;
2. Force Ukraine president to publicly announce the investigations; thus, giving the charges credibility as well as raising public expectation that they can be quickly resolved;
3. Set up a cyber security company in the US to partner with Ukrainian investigators. The company role may have been one of feeding Ukrainians "information" while maintaining control over their investigation;
4. Set the stage such that, a few weeks before 2020 election, Ukrainians announce that their investigators, with the help of Giuliani’s cyber security company, have fully established the veracity of Trump’s claims about “the Server” and Hunter Biden corruption; and,
5. Soon after, either find someone to buy the cyber security company or put it on the New York stock exchange.
Obviously, Mr. Giuliani did not expect his plan to run into any problem. He may have hoped that things will work out smoothly; that is, President Trump will get re-elected and he ends up with lots of money!
19
Sounds like grand theft auto (except replace “auto” with “country”)
3
@Eddie B. - you're forgetting two things. There is no evidence for any illegal acts on the part of Hunter Biden or Joe Biden. They can SAY anything, but where would the evidence be, where would the proof be? Further, saying they had found the SERVER and the Democrats had been in cahoots with bad guys in Ukraine - without being able to produce THE SERVER, which they claim was actually STOLEN and is in Ukraine, what good would their silly announcement have been? They would have heard derisive laughter from the entire world, and most loudly, from citizens right here in the USA.
51
@Jan N
Your statements are largely consistent with what has become public so far. I could not elaborate on much here for the text limit imposed on comments.
If Trump survives impeachment, which could only be because his buddies in Congress lie along with him and to themselves, everything Trump or any other Republican says about Biden and his candidacy is going to viewed with suspicion even if true. Plus, Trump has given the Democrats an incredible opportunity for negative advertising where they can play up extortion in everyday terms every working man and woman can relate to and understand. "Sleep with me or I'll fire you".
22
Zelensky needs to come clean.
At some point, he needs to address such a shakedown. If he does not, how can anyone trust him going forward.
I don’t believe he is out of the woods yet, especially not addressing the position The Trump administration put him in.
What is the next threat?
What is Putin’s next move?
Will the Javaline missiles be used?
Will Ukraine be the GOP talking point of a new corrupt president?
Where is your integrity Mr. Zelensky.
9
@sMAV Where is the integrity of Trump and his minions. They owe Zelensky and the citizenry of Ukraine a huge apology!!
5
@sMAV
You have got to be kidding.
Zelensky has done absolutely nothing wrong.
Out of the woods for what?
Please tell me. What position has Trump put him in?
3
It took pressure from a bipartisan Congress to scare Trump off his corrupt enterprise of extorting Ukraine. Now this same Congress is thoroughly divided on whether or not this actually was a corrupt enterprise.
I'm glad that Republicans stood up to Trump and supported our Ukrainian allies by getting him to release the aid. Now Republicans need to stop the doublespeak and support our own country over this corrupt president.
44
Who were the 2 senators, when did they know, how did they know and were they part of the pressure campaign?
70
The only thing separating this tragedy from farce is that actual lives were at stake.
23
"Only Mr. Trump could unlock the aid, he had been told by two United States senators,".
Did I miss something? I have not previously seen reports of two U.S. Senators being involved in the story. Has this been reported before? Who are the two Senators, and why are we not told more about them?
69
Who are the two senators? Aren't they clear participants in a corrupt scheme to extort a foreign country to advance a domestic agenda? Shouldn't they be called to testify to the House?
53
They did not know why the president was holding up the aid. This point has been made in previous news stories.
1
One hopes Mr. Danyliuk fares well.
As for U S behavior in all this it is absolutely corrupt.
12
Every offer of assistance that comes from the President's administration to any foreign leader should have an all caps warning on it, BUYER BEWARE.
17
Not a peep about Pompeo yet this was all through the State Department. He must have been fully aware of all of this.
61
Entertainers do not make good politicians, as evidenced by Trump and Zelensky.
9
@NTS Then the Democrats conclude that a great candidate would be Oprah.
That’s funny. You think she’s going to win the primary? That’d be a neat trick since she isn’t running.
@NTS Don’t forget Berlusconi. He was a singer on cruise ships before getting into politics.
The key distinction in all this is Trump didn’t care, probably didn’t really want, an investigation. He just wanted Zelensky to say or announce an investigation. That’s all Trump needed to then endlessly bash the Bidens.
It underscores to me what a cravenly coward Trump truly is. Mind you not as craven or cowardly as Trump’s abandoning the Kurds, but it’s up there.
56
Dear New York Times,
The notion that it was “Ukraine, not Russia, that meddled in the 2016 election” is not an “unproven accusation”. Call it for what it is: A false accusation, a lie, a conspiracy theory. Using the term “unproven accusation” plays into the hands of the people who propagate lies.
122
@Troy
exactly, perfectly stated... i'm glad the NYT published your comment, because i wrote the same thing but my comment didn't appear.
16
Yes, and while we're at it, let's look at the term 'fact checking'. It gives Trump some vague air of credibility. It should be 'lie detection'.
22
@Troy. Exactly. Or “A conspiracy theory with no evidence.”
1
”“We are not idiots, or at least not all of us,” Mr. Klimkin said.“
Anyone who makes a deal with Trump and expects him to honor it is an idiot.
32
@PRJ
Always get your money up front with Trump.
5
Pathetic! Ukraine is fighting for their very survival as a young democracy and they are squeezed with a "shakedown" by "our" so-called President.
"You got a nice country here; it would be a shame if anything happened to it. Again, all paths lead to Putin.
Godspeed Speaker Pelosi.
45
And the Republican response will be:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_wise_monkeys#/media/File:Three_Wise_Monkeys,Tosho-gu_Shrine.JPG
Of course Ukraine would have bowed to President Trump's demands. They're fighting a war against Russia, and need all the help they can get. Moreover, had Mr. Trump not been satisfied with an announcement on CNN, I'm sure Ukraine could have supplied whatever "evidence" Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani wanted. The point of propaganda and disinformation is not whether it's true. It's whether it sows doubt and fear.
24
One of the clearest articles yet on what went down.
Kelly Anne's "no quid pro quo because the funds were released in the end" is wrong.
The funds were released because Congress found out what Trump was doing and Zelensky was thus saved from having to cave to Trumps demand for a public statement.
160
@Kiwi "There was no crime, because I was caught!"
2
I find the terminology used in this article inaccurate and confusing. "appearing to take sides in a US election" - really? That's all the Ukrainians wished to avoid? How about "conspiring to invent trumped-up investigations against the major political rival to the corrupt U.S. President in order to boost his reelection"?
22
@kr As near as I can tell, all Trump wanted was an announcement about an investigation. Thus the pressure to go on CNN. Look at the damage that rumors and innuendo did to HRC. Making an announcement would clearly be seen as "taking a side in a US election." Now, perhaps down the line there would have been demands to go through with an actual investigation, in which case your suggested correction would totally apply.
7
@kr
That is implied, hence the hesitation. Without it the hesitation makes no sense. Everyone is against corruption and investigation of legitimate allegations of corruption is always a good thing. Did you miss the part where Trump/Ghouliani provided the actual allegations to be made in the announcement?
5
@kr Alls fair in love and war. Remember, they are at war and Trump had them bent over in submission.
This is important further confirmation that Trump attempted blackmail/bribery.
Attempted blackmail is when one threatens to take something that rightly belongs to another party (like money appropriated by Congress and a White House meeting) unless that party gives you something of value in return (like an announcement casting aspersions on Joe Biden and letting your Kremlin handlers off the hook for some election meddling). Just because the deal is not consummated doesn't mean it would not be a criminal offense.
On the other hand the same demand could be characterized as attempted bribery: Give us the announcement and we'll hand over the money that is rightfully yours. Again, the attempt in itself is a criminal offense.
Capriciously withholding appropiated funds is another illegal action. Although does not affect the legality of that action, it is interesting to note that there was widespread bipartisan
Congressional support for sending the money to the Ukraine.
Between some of our senior civil servants and Zelensky and some of his senior people the attempted blackmail/bribery was exposed before it was consummated. But not before underarmed Ukrainians had died when the appropriated money should have armed them better. That blood is on the hands of Trump and his abetters.
54
@carol goldstein . The death of children kidnapped and interned at the border in on his hands. The ethnic cleansing of the Kurds is on his hands. The murder of Hispanics in El Paso is on his hands. The only question in the monster's mind is What's in it for me? Expect more terror, more hatred, more synagogue bombings. To the monster it's just another WWF event and he loves it.
6
Rather than vilify Ukraine, an apology seems more right; same for the Kurds.
Let's not forget that both are in existential dilemmas. I'm so ashamed of this administration.
126
Trump "did nothing wrong" in using $400 million in desperately needed military aid to bribe a foreign government into smearing his political opponent. The same accusation against Biden that was made many years ago, investigated thoroughly, and found repeatedly to have no merit.
14
? ? Never heard of that but doesn’t make Trump and less guilty.
I wonder how the Ukrainian people feel knowing that the comedian they elected to tackle corruption engaged in a corrupt deal out of the gate.
I understand how badly they needed the financial aid, but it was still a corrupt deal. In my opinion Zelensky got lucky; the Ukrainian people didn't.
7
@JL22, So he should have just let his soldiers die without the missles they needed. The money that was being held up rightfully belonged to the Ukraine. Zelensky was the one who was arranging to pay a ransom before the kidnapping of the money was thwarted.
13
@JL22 It's worth considering the specifics of the scenario. There's a world of difference between a politician who is corrupt to further their personal interests, and a politician who is coerced into making a "corrupt" decision for the good of their own country. I doubt you want a leader who maintains complete honesty at all costs.
6
@JL22 "Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s foreign minister until a change of government on Aug. 29, said there was no telling what Mr. Zelensky would have ended up saying in the interview, as there were so many versions of a statement under negotiation."
I'm pleasantly surprised at how Zelensky handled this. A lesser, corrupt man would have caved immediately.
7
Can't wait for this story to end, and for the movie to come out. Would love to see Joe Pesci play Zelensky; 'Do I amuse you?!'
In all seriousness, I feel for this guy and the position he was put in. On one hand he needed the money to help his people... on the other hand he was risking a very real and valuable long term relationship with the USA going forward.
Shame on Trump for putting a country and its people in this situation; using them as chips in his dirty casino of a presidency.
56
@Foodie I think Tom Cruise will be playing Zel.
What a horrible position to put someone in. It is absolutely unconscionable that Trump and his cronies would treat anyone like this, much less an entire nation who is fighting against an all-out invasion by Russia. And he is doing it with our money! But then Trump shows once again that he places Russia ahead of everyone and I do mean everyone--even his own party and his own supporters. How many crimes does he have to commit and how many people does he have to senselessly destroy before his supporters will realize that he sees them only as big dollar signs that he can steal?
36
"Finally bending to the White House request, Mr. Zelensky’s staff planned for him to make an announcement in an interview on Sept. 13 with Fareed Zakaria, the host of a weekly news show on CNN"
Lots of weeds to wade thru 'til we finally got some meat here. Some of us have been paying close attention to events. Does every news story have to start from the beginning?
1
@EJH It's a good idea. I get frustrated too because I've been paying attention. But I want others to "get it" too. So, I share articles like this with many. But many of them need some context to understand the meat.
1
"I would like for you to do us a favor though." "Though" translated into Russian means "however" or "nonetheless." I suspect whoever coached Trump before the call was made encouraged him to avoid the usage of "however."
That conveniently allows him to declare he never issued a quid pro quo. But that is exactly what Zelensky heard.
9
So Trump gets caught in the act of bribing Zelensky with taxpayer money and has to give Ukraine the aid.
Corrupt and incompetent - Keep America Grifting, indeed.
Perhaps lost in the weeds here is how disgusting Trump and his personal lawyer Giuliani were: forcing the new leader of Ukraine to choose between his nation’s security and his anti-corruption platform. No wonder the foreign service professionals were upset.
44
Who are the two Senators?
Great reporting btw.
52
@David
Sen. Ron Johnson (R) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D)
7
It makes no sense that Murphy would be a party to shaking down Ukraine. Johnson — yes; probably Graham too.
1
@carole
Do we know that?
Pure extortion...and the criminal GOP defends it.
20
Straight from the movies:
“I’m making you an offer you can’t refuse.”
Followed by:
“Round up the usual suspects.”
But:
“It’s Chinatown, Jake.”
16
Donald John Trump is edging precariously close to treason now.
41
Edging?? I’d say full bore digging a hole and falling in it, but what do I know.
5
Tick tock, Donnie
19
“We are not idiots, or at least not all of us,” Mr. Klimkin said.
***
Yeah, the idiots are clearly on the other side of the Atlantic.
25
"We are not idiots, or at least not all of us". Ah, that Eastern European fatalistic sense of humor. LOL. Would that the US administration be able to make such a joke.
9
Good for Andrew Kramer and the NYT. They are asking what the other side is saying.
And what the other side is saying is as thoroughly damning, if not more so because of the obvious bullying character of it, than what our side is saying.
You know, Mick Mulvaney syle: "Of course we bully other governments and try to corrupt their processes in ways we would consider outrageous if they tried to do it to us. Get over it!"
22
If this isn't a shakedown, then I don't what is (hey, I have seen a lot of gangster flicks, so I know a shakedown when I see a shakedown). Poor Mr. Zelensky, it was either acquiesce or a horse's head . . .
31
This is a very important story. In the whole impeachment imbroglio virtually no attention has been paid to the fact that our president has severely harmed US interests in promoting a West-leaning Ukraine and instead actively undermined US interests — and used $391 million of taxpayer money as if it were his personal money — all to support his petty personal political ends. This is a massive problem requiring a complete reset of our strategy for a nation that holds the key to the future direction of Europe and Russia.
It is likely much worse than mere domestic corruption. We focus on the short term and US domestic side of things too much. In the near term, this looks like an example of corruption by Trump for his own political gain. But look at the big picture. There is only one possible long-term winner out of this mess: Russia.
That’s a fact. And it is more important than all the back-and-forth yammering going on in Congress. Most of the Republicans in the Senate know this and they thank the dear lord that Democrats and the media aren’t focusing on it.
540
@J Flo Republicans in Congress don't give a hoot about anything except keeping their seats warm and remaining silent when American democracy and more is under attack. They are indeed the deplorables.
57
Let us note who was sitting next to Erdogan when Trump pulled out of Syria. Putin.
31
@J Flo I agree with your assessment of the facts, but I disagree with your contention that those facts have been hidden or are not focused on by the Democrats and the media. I read the news regularly, get lots of emails from legislators, and watch various media outlets - and as a result I’m certainly aware of all those facts, and it appears from many of the comments here that thousands of others are equally aware. But if you’re right, then the word needs to get out even further, and people need to vote like their lives depend on it in 2020.
14
Zelensky is no friend of America. Now that we know what he was willing to support and lie for to get military aid, I find it utterly disgusting and quite horrifying. He was elected to fight corruption, but that didn’t seem to last. He was about to be complicit in Trump’s corruption and knew it! Can you spell “hypocrite?” Can you spell “phony?”
As the title of the piece notes, “…Until Luck Spared Him.” But we all know what happened. His legacy, at least in America, will go down as being as rotten as Trump’s.
14
@Gaston Corteau
Gaston you are wrong. Zelensky is truly anti-corruption for Ukraine. Zelensky was extremely pressured by Trump, and Zelensky's aides decided that for Ukraine to survive against Russia, the military money from the US was essential, even if it meant Zelensky reading Trump's absurd press release text. I do not call that voluntarily lying, I call that being extorted by Trump. You cannot describe Zelensky's lying out of context from the survival pressure he was under from Trump. You must be a Trump yes-man because you are being very misleading here. The person who is being extorted is not at fault, the extorter is. Trump is the liar and Zelensky the victim. Obviously.
88
Your perspective is ridiculous. Ukraine and Zelenskyy were the victims of an extortionate demand. Attacking them is like criticizing a shopkeeper for paying protection money to the local mafia, or a family for paying ransom money to a kidnapper.
105
@Gaston Corteau
"His legacy, at least in America, will go down as being as rotten as Trump’s."
Not with this American. Trump isn't just rotten, he is evil. I have little confidence that most any other person would have done anything different than what Zelensky did.
60
Hopefully that last quote: " We are not idiots, at least not all of us" applies to us here in the U.S.
146
@Pete
Perhaps, but I feel as though I see more intelligent life in Europe than I see here. There is too big a swath of mindless Americans, especially those who attend the so-called "Trump rallies." When I see those t-shirts, "Read the transcript," I wonder how many of them actually have read it. And, if they have, have they ever served their country? Or is that someone else's job?
Do they believe in democracy or are they okay with authoritarianism, or even fascism?
I also wonder what kind of world they want to leave to their children and grandchildren . . . one that is so devastated by climate change that it becomes uninhabitable???
Apparently, like the rest of the Republican Party, they are a cult of lemmings, willing to go along with anything Trump says or does, even if it's stupid, harmful or dangerous to America.
I can't even pretend to understand them.
1
Terrifying, Andrew Kramer, your road map to the Impeachment of President Trump in your column from Kiev, Ukraine today: "Zelensky Bowed to Trump's Demands, Until Luck Spared Him". Very bad luck for Donald J. Trump, some good luck for Ukraine President Zelensky.
49
@Nan Socolow Don't be so fast to cast the first stone. What if someone held your family at gunpoint and threatened to kill them if you didn't make a video condemning your boss? Tell me you would hold fast to your "integrity", family be damned.
12
This is what a Dictator does; grab for money and power despite the damage to his country, undermine his oath of office, attack his own citizens, support despots, lie and lie some more and, finally, round up the dissenters with the help of his lackeys and prosecute them.
95
In essence, Trump was exporting (and extorting) the precise type of political corruption to Ukraine that Ukraine was trying to get rid of with their new President.
Ukraine was trying to turn over a new leaf until Trump dragged Ukraine down to Trump's corrupt level.
This is American 'leadership' under Trump.... a descent into a corrupt, craven, criminal swamp.
Make Impeachment Great Again.
"People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook." - Richard Nixon
I think we know....and we want the crook out of office.
743
@Socrates thanks ! I've been missing your wisdom.
26
@Socrates Yes, that’s why some call him “Donald Swamp”.
20
@Socrates
I do not know how this will turn out but Zelensky has been in power for five months.Ukraine was for many centuries part of Russia and was the Pale of Settlement from the time of Catherine the Great and the American Revolution.
Zelensky has been in the public eye for a quarter of a century and his Wikipedia entry tells us he is far more than a tv actor.
Thank you for your comment it is far too early to pass judgement on Zelensky his swamp goes back to the 14th century and caught between Putin and Trump draining swamps is not an easy task.
My ancestors fled Ukraine a century and a half ago when most of the world's Jewry lived in the Pale.
I know Socrates searched for truth but it was Diogenes who was born in Crimea who turned the search for truth from a philosophy into a syndrome.
11
great reporting.......some years i was a journalisms prof visiting ukraine and meeting many people....perfect description of politicians....and they do have a sense of humor.....the Zelensky show on Netflix is perfect...
16
It seems to me that the story about Biden and specially the “DNC server” is a mere fig leaf to cover Trump’s efforts to switch the blame for the 2016 election interference from Russia to Ukrainia. With Trump “all roads lead to Putin.”
130
@Sam Song Yes, so he can get the sanction lifted and make all those billions in oil and gas . . .
12
@Sam Song
Trump was doing Putin's bidding, as he promised in his presidential campaign, in moving to get sanctions removed by absolving Russia of campaign interference. He was also pressuring Ukraine to make a peace with Russia that would fulfill Russia's territorial ambitions in Ukraine. Finally he was using the election of a new and inexperienced Ukrainian leader to smear his most serious political opponent at home.
The biggest question has not been answered satisfactorily: why is Trump beholden to Vladimir Putin?
38
The reporting indicates that US Senators advised Zelinsky that only Trump could unlock the funds. Is there a reason that you don't name the Senators who provided this information? Based on the reporting, it would seem that these Senators did not inform their fellow legislators. If I understand correctly, you are indicating that information leaked out separately.
yours, Daniel
329
@Daniel Leaf If there were Senators involved shouldn't they be investigated for ethics violations or conspiracy?
63
@DRTmunich - Also, these two senators must recuse themselves from the Senate's impeachment trial.
42
@Lib in Utah does anyone remember the Logan Act? if so, can you tell me if it applies to these two senators?
The Logan Act (1 Stat. 613, 18 U.S.C. § 953, enacted January 30, 1799) is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized persons with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States.
The Act was passed following George Logan's unauthorized negotiations with France in 1798, and was signed into law by President John Adams on January 30, 1799. The Act was amended in 1994, changing the penalty for violation from "fined $5,000" to "fined under this title"; this appears to be the only amendment to the Act.[2] Violation of the Logan Act is a felony....
4
Mulvaney's argument that the security assistance could not have been conditioned on the public statement, "because the aid was released without it" is like arguing that after robbing a bank I decided to return the money, therefore no crime was committed . . .yeah right, tell it to the judge.
187
@Ag
He's had personal practice. He took a Fellow South Carolinian for $1.4M in a "failed" real estate deal. It's why Trump loves him so.
15
“Only Mr. Trump could unblock the aid he [Volodymyr Zelensky] had been told by two United States senators.”
We should know the names of these two senators. It becomes clearer that the bribery and what would become an attempted coverup were known in the Senate before the July 25 call was ever made.
Every day, this scandal becomes dirtier and darker.
679
The same Senate which will vote on Trump’s innocence or guilt. These two are potentially involved, and possibly implicated, in the Trump/Ukraine scandal; their vote would therefore be self-vindicating. You are right, the names should at least be known, and their role in the upcoming Senate trial assessed by their colleagues.
90
Those two Senators have a lot of ‘splaining ’ to do. At a minimum they should be recused from participating in the impeachment trial.
21
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
@Carol Gillette
It seems that is a reference to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn).
Per Philip Bump of the Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/07/this-is-how-close-trumps-plan-came-working/
15
I feel so badly for this man. He and his administration were used like disposable subcontractors by Trump Inc.
Ukraine is at the front line against Russian aggression, but Trump either doesn’t get that, or has already been brainwashed by Putin.
190
@Dorothy
I vote for brainwashed by Putin. Trump doesn't think very deeply beyond his financial needs.
25
@Dorothy Or worse Trump was acting on Putin's behalf.
24
@Dorothy
Trump and his corrupt minions in his administration and compromised GOP Senators and Congress are only in politics for personal enrichment and self aggrandizement. It's a means to an end for them. The days of being a public servant or elected official to help the American people are over. It's all about the money and greed of billionaires and rich powerful corporations. The performance of the corrupt GOP Sen Kennedy says it all.
11
Wow! A fiction writer at his best couldn't come up with a more intriguing story! I was captivated by this article from start to finish, shameful as it is. Let's hope this signals the beginning of the end for all those involved. ALL those involved!
53
@dadou The drama and suspense would make for a great TV movie. Some script writers may be working on it already. Are you listening Netflix? HBO?
2
@dadou If Tom Clancy wrote it we’d all say “Wow, he came up with a doozy this time.”
2
As I am reading this I keep waiting to wake up....
Is this real?
Yes.
I am in Europe right now.
Reading about my country with really strong jet-lag.
What is happening to my country?
Distorted reality.
55
@matthew maybe it’s not worth coming back.
6
@matthew Kinda like Twilight Zone?
3
In this noir movie playing out, this would be worth several scenes. The intrigue, the complexity, the dilemma of the prey caught between conscience and the downright corrupt and evil intentions of a predator. We speak of the ruthlessness of Ukraine's nemesis, Russia. But Trump, Guiliani, and their band of slithering brothers are sinking into that viper's pit of infamy along with Mr. Putin himself. Who would think that good timing and downright luck would protect another president, Zelensky, who seems to be worth protecting. Let us bring a little of that back to the States, with a dash of hope. Mr. McConnell, what more proof do you need before you fathom that you, Graham, and your colleagues are rapidly sinking into that hole of betrayal of our democracy?
137
@Kathy Lollock when the Senate votes not to convict Trump the betrayal of democracy will be complete.
27
@Kathy Lollock, Lady of the Wine Country: “Film noir;” but it’s worse. “Moscow Mitch” doesn’t want a trial because it will implicate at least two (Republican) members of the Senate who were privy to the president’s intentions before he picked up that telephone on July 25 and told Volodymyr Zelensky: “don’t forget the cannoli.” I think McConnell and others in the Senate are afraid of the link between Russian organized crime and NRA money finding its way to their bank accounts becoming exposed. There’s a lot more to this than just (alleged) bribery and extortion by a president and all his men (and women).
20
@Kathy Lollock What is the reptile equivalent of “Birds of a Feather”?
3