Donald Trump will need to gird for more “Presidential harassment” from House Democrats.
On Friday afternoon, the Wall Street Journal reported that during a July phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, the US president “repeatedly” urged his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Hunter Biden with the help of Rudy Giuliani.
On Thursday evening, the Washington Post followed up on their Wednesday reporting around a whistle-blower complaint filed with the inspector general for the intelligence community Michael Atkinson, revealing that Trump’s allegedly unscrupulous behavior was in fact tied to the call with Zelensky. That conversation was already under investigation by House Democrats.
Read more: Trump Whistle-Blower Complaint Tied To Ukraine, ‘Goes Beyond’ One ‘Promise’
House intelligence chair Adam Schiff, along with Eliot Engel and Elijah Cummings, earlier this month demanded records tied to the purported efforts on Giuliani’s part to “coerce the Ukrainian government into pursuing two politically-motivated investigations under the guise of anti-corruption activity”. One such effort was reportedly aimed at assisting Paul Manafort, the other at investigating Biden’s troubled son Hunter, whose dealings with Burisma are the subject of intense scrutiny and serve as a source of endless click fodder for conservative media outlets and fringe bloggers.
According to the Journal, Zelensky was urged “about eight times to work with Giuliani on a probe”. If true, this constitutes an egregious abuse of power by Trump in the service of advancing his reelection agenda.
The younger Biden was on the board of Burisma when his father wielded the threat of withdrawing some $1 billion in US loan guarantees in the course of successfully orchestrating the ouster of a corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor who had targeted the company. That effort was part and parcel of US foreign policy and had the support of many in the international community.
Giuliani has discussed the on-again, off-again Burisma investigation and its connection to the Bidens with Ukrainian officials on numerous occasions.
There is no evidence to suggest the elder Biden’s actions were in any way designed to help his son’s business interests in Ukraine, although the potential for conflicts caused consternation in the Obama administration.
For those interested in Hunter’s astonishingly upfront, first-hand account of his own various trials and tribulations from Ukraine to crack cocaine addiction, you’re encouraged to read The New Yorker’s characteristically trenchant profile “Will Hunter Biden Jeopardize His Father’s Campaign?”
As for Trump, revelations that he pressured Zelensky more than a half-dozen times to work with Giuliani on an investigation of Hunter are bound to infuriate House Democrats who are already fighting the White House on multiple fronts in an increasingly desperate effort to reassert Congress’s right to oversight of the executive branch, which is now above the law for all intents and purposes.
One the “bright” side, one source told WaPo on Thursday that “Trump did not raise the issue of American military and intelligence aid that had been pledged to Ukraine, indicating there was not an explicit quid pro quo in that call”.
Trump will meet with Zelensky in New York at the UN next week for a bi-lateral. One imagines all of the above just might come up.
So what will Moscow Mitch do? Probably nothing but slowwwly snack… Mr. Moscow Mitch tortoise is a vegetarian, and so he only eats salad.
I think Biden should get his son out of Ukraine now. If the Russkies kidnap him on trump ed up charges what happens then and if his Dad turns out to be the next president??