The Trump campaign flipped the script on allegations of a “quid pro quo” between President Trump and Ukraine, instead labeling former Vice President Joe Biden as “Quid Pro Joe” and alleging the whistleblower is politically motivated.
“The Democrats are trying to DESTROY the Republican Party and all that it stands for,” the Sunday email to supporters read. “In 2016, millions of hard-working Americans, like you, were called ‘deplorable.’ Now, the Left is calling you “DESPICABLE.” What’s really despicable is the gross double standard the corrupt Democrats are giving QUID PRO JOE.”
Prior to the release of the transcript, Trump was accused of arranging a quid pro quo between himself and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president allegedly promised to provide them with the $391 million in military aid that had already been approved by Congress but was being held up in exchange for the Ukrainian president’s promise to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. The transcript revealed no explicit quid pro quo agreement upon its release.
The topic of Hunter Biden’s work with Burisma, a gas company based in Ukraine, had previously been investigated and no evidence of wrongdoing on his part was discovered.
While vice president, however, Biden threatened to withhold U.S. aid to Ukraine if that country did not fire a prosecutor who was investigating Burisma.
“The ‘whistleblower’ had NO direct knowledge of the call AND he is in favor of one of the corrupt 2020 Democrats. Total political bias!” the fundraising pitch later stated.
The CIA officer who filed the whistleblower complaint in August based the entirety of it recounting second- and third-hand accounts of situations and conversations, there has been no indication that the whistleblower was politically motivated.
Trump and the Republican National Committee have raked in millions in fundraising since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry against the president last week.
