In yet a third crucial correction of his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, President Trump’s hand-picked Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland just undid Trump’s best defense in the impeachment investigation.
Sondland confirmed that Trump specifically wanted Ukraine to announce an investigation into Burisma Holdings in exchange for the release of military aid to that country. His intent, then, was to abuse the powers of the presidency to influence his reelection.
John Kelly warned Trump that if he surrounded himself with sycophants who refused to push back on his worst instincts, then he would be impeached. Now that Trump has fired or chased every adult out of the room, he will be.
White House counsel Don McGahn saved Trump from committing obstruction of justice by refusing to fire special counsel Robert Mueller. This is how Trump rewarded him:
I was NOT going to fire Bob Mueller, and did not fire Bob Mueller. In fact, he was allowed to finish his Report with unprecedented help from the Trump Administration. Actually, lawyer Don McGahn had a much better chance of being fired than Mueller. Never a big fan!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2019
Jeff Sessions refused to unrecuse himself from the Mueller investigation, saving him from yet another count of obstruction of justice. This is how Trump rewarded him:
….a persecution of the President.” Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal. Thank you, people are starting to see and understand what this Witch Hunt is all about. Jeff Sessions should be ashamed of himself for allowing this total HOAX to get started in the first place!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018
Gen. James Mattis, arguably the architect of the Trump administration’s exemplary first two years of foreign policy, quietly resigned as a last-ditch attempt to prevent Trump from announcing a Syria pullout and thus salvage his foreign policy legacy. This is how Trump rewarded him:
NEW–> Trump called Mattis the “world’s most overrated general” during the meeting with congressional leaders on Syria, three sources tell me + @mikedebonis. Prompted when Schumer pointed to Mattis comments that ISIS would resurge after the troop withdrawals
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) October 16, 2019
And now it seems that John Bolton and the National Security Council not only tried to advance the congressionally approved aid to Ukraine to prevent Trump from abusing his power, but they also did everything in their power — including refusing to announce when the aid finally went forward — to keep the controversy under wraps. This is how Trump rewarded him:
In fact, my views on Venezuela, and especially Cuba, were far stronger than those of John Bolton. He was holding me back! https://t.co/FUGc02xiac
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 12, 2019
The very traitors Trump has railed against are those who tried to save Trump from his worst instincts at every point. Trump spent his entire presidency undoing President Barack Obama’s shameful legacy in Ukraine. But by failing to heed warnings from Bolton and multiple NSC staffers complaining internally, he guaranteed that instead, he will be remembered for manipulating a key democratic alliance in our struggle against Russia for his own personal political gain.
Trump pushed out every institutional check on his impulses to advance his agenda. Now he’s surrounded by crooks and cronies on the eve of his impeachment. He didn’t listen to Kelly, and now he’ll be impeached.
