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| Kiev, Ukraine |
Although there have been plenty of other reasons for the impeachment of Trump, the phone meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky has been the subject that initiated the formal impeachment inquiry by Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats.
Trump and his zealous Republican loyalists have given their own classification of the impeachment inquiry. According to them it's a "witch hunt," "bull," "a joke," "a lynching" and "a scam."
They believe the Democrats are trying to overthrow the 2016 election. So they are spending money on ad campaigns to smear the impeachment investigation. Trump has so far committed at least $1 million to ad campaigns to lie to the American people about it.
Trump and his supporters present no evidence that would prove Trump innocent of the claims of the whistle-blower and the multiple corroborating witnesses who have been testifying in Congress. There is only the party line that they expect us to believe, even though they have been caught in their lies thousands of times.
It seems the Ukraine venture by the Trump organization is much more complex than we first thought.
It has been reported that before he resigned, John Bolton warned the administration that Rudy Giuliani may be too closely involved in the Ukraine situation. Not being an official government statesman, this would be an illegal activity for Giuliani.
Kurt Volker, Envoy to Ukraine, testified that Trump requested military aid to Ukraine to be held up. Giving testimony on Trump's thinking about Ukraine, he said that Trump believed (or said he believed) that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 election. Volker also had text messages that showed that Trump and Giuliani pushed Zelensky to investigate the Bidens.
Bill Taylor testified that Trump would withhold military aid to Ukraine until they publicly announced an investigation into the Bidens.
Catherine Croft, who reported to Ukraine envoy, Kurt Volker, testified that Trump told Mulvaney to hold off on Ukrainian aid. She also testified that Trump was pressured by Giuliani to remove Ukraine Ambassador Yovanovich. Yovanovich herself testified that there was a concerted effort by the Trump administration and Rudy Giuliani to remove her for questionable motives from her position as Ambassador to Ukraine.
Christopher Anderson, also a report of Kurt Volker, testified that the White House blocked a condemning formal statement by the State Department regarding a 2018 incident where Russia seized a Ukrainian vessel. Anderson also testified that he attended the meeting where John Bolton warned the White House of the interference of Giuliani in Ukrainian affairs.
Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, a Ukrainian expert, testified that Trump and the White House omitted details about the quid, pro quo regarding dirt on the Bidens from their telephone meeting summary. As the Ukraine expert, he attended the meeting held in Ukraine with Energy Secretary Perry. After the meeting he was told by the White House staffer Fiona Hill that he would not be invited to the debriefing of the meeting and was instead replaced by a former Devin Nunes staffer, Kashyup Patel. Patel has no knowledge of Ukraine.
The witnesses corroborating testimony is getting to the facts that even Trump loyalists cannot deny. We are fortunate that there are still some patriots left in government. Trump attempts to pervert the truth with such statements as "the Ukraine meeting was perfect!" and "no quid, pro quo!" But these are falling apart with the barrage of witnesses who are claiming otherwise to Congress.
Let the truth cleanse this administration.
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