In a day full of solid evidence presented by Democrats in the Senate impeachment trial, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York provided the most powerful, concise, two-minute summary of the whole controversy of the past four months.
His summation occurs beginning at the 2:04 mark in this video. Please click the link and watch it. It makes the whole thing clear.
“We are here, sir, because President Trump pressured a foreign government to target an American citizen for political and personal gain. We are here, sir, because President Trump solicited foreign interference in the 2020 election and corrupted our democracy. We are here, sir, because President Trump withheld $391 million in military aid from a vulnerable Ukraine without justification in a manner that has been deemed unlawful….”
And so on.
Trump violated the Impoundment Control Act by withholding the funds without telling Congress. In doing so, he harmed America’s diplomatic interests while serving Vladimir Putin’s interests. He harmed American sovereignty by enlisting a foreign government to target American citizens without any alleged violation of U.S. law by those citizens. He probably violated campaign finance law by soliciting a thing of value, for the benefit of his campaign, from a foreign entity. And Trump tied all of these transgressions together in a way corrupt and, broadly speaking, extortionary.
Trump is guilty as sin. The Senate should see the evidence and hear the witnesses who will fill the gaps in the public record, and then, they should convict and remove him from office.
