Details of a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky show that Trump put undue pressure on Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden. But it hardly rises to an impeachable offense.
That’s my takeaway from the transcript released by the White House on Wednesday, detailing a July 25 phone conversation between Trump and Zelensky. The call cuts to the heart of Democratic Party suggestions that Trump exerted pressure on Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian business dealings as part of a quid pro quo, in return for the unblocking of nearly $400 million in U.S. aid.
On that specific count, the transcript vindicates Trump. Nowhere does Trump threaten to withhold aid unless Zelensky investigates Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and in fact elements of the call are favorable to Trump’s version of events. Noting generous U.S. support, he justifiably complains about French and German unwillingness to provide greater aid to Ukraine. This fits with Trump’s broader approach to western European freeloading on issues of international security. It thus carries credibility. Trump next moves on to request “a favor.”
Except this first favor seems legitimate. Trump asks Zelensky to investigate the role of any Ukrainians in the 2016 election hacking. While it’s not clear whether Trump is referencing the idea that Democrats worked to collude with Ukraine in 2016, or something else, any president should wish to gain new evidence pertaining to an attack on the nation such as that which occurred in 2016.
Trump then goes off the deep end, referring to former Ukrainian chief prosecutor Viktor Shokin as having been “very good” at his job and illegitimately shut down by then-Vice President Joe Biden to protect Hunter. Trump later adds that Shokin was “very fair.”
Look here: Nothing could be further from the truth. Shokin was a true Ukrainian swamp creature, corrupt as all get-out. If he was right in investigating Hunter Biden, then it was only by accident.
Trump then spends the remainder of the call pressing Zelensky to speak with Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General Barr towards re-investigating the young Biden. This is unseemly, and from Zelensky’s perspective, Trump’s words would almost certainly have seemed a forceful demand. Ukraine knows it needs U.S. support to deal with Russia. Moreover, considering the defense of Ukrainian democracy against Russian expansionism, and the broader ramifications for the credibility of the U.S.-led international order, Trump’s focus on Biden is wildly unmatched to what should be his presidential priorities.
Yet there is again no explicit quid pro quo, and absent that, Trump is legitimately able to say that he was exercising presidential authority vested in himself. He has, at least until now, done much more for Ukraine than President Obama ever did. And Democrats do not have the smoking gun they would need for any prospect of successfully impeaching the president. Bottom line: Without new evidence, Trump’s presidency is secure, at least until the next election.
