Hmmm, so Trump is wanting the help of a foreign power to try to win an American election? Where
have I seen this film before? In 2016, the Trump campaign openly welcomed the help of the Russian government to defeat Hillary Clinton. The Mueller Report found that this arrangement though fell short of a criminal conspiracy because there was no evidence that promises were made by the Trump people in exchange for the assistance.
have I seen this film before? In 2016, the Trump campaign openly welcomed the help of the Russian government to defeat Hillary Clinton. The Mueller Report found that this arrangement though fell short of a criminal conspiracy because there was no evidence that promises were made by the Trump people in exchange for the assistance.
This time, however, Trump appears to be offering the element Mueller did not find, i.e. the offering something of value (taxpayer money) in return for campaign assistance from a foreign country, in this case criminally prosecuting his chief political rival and his son. Bribery and corruption charges have been built on far less.
On cue former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani spoke out for President Trump and managed to make a bad situation worse. During an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo, Giuliani admitted he went to Ukraine to encourage government officials to investigate the Bidens. Giuliani did clarify that although he solicited this help as Trump's attorney and to help the President's re-election campaign, it did not come at Trump's direction. Of course, that is true. We attorneys, on our own, do quasi-illegal stuff to help out our clients all the time. Needless to say, that is sarcasm.
As a side note, I really think there is something physically wrong with Giuliani. I had a brother who had a type of early onset dementia, an affliction that attacks the front of one's brain and causes bad judgment. I wonder if Giuliani has something like that. I am deadly serious. Like him or not (and I was definitely not a fan), when Giuliani was Mayor and, before that when he was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Giuliani was a serious person who gave careful thought to everything he said. The 2019 version of Giuliani is a far cry from the person he used to be.
That Trump would possibly commit a crime in a phone conversation monitored by several people is not that surprising. Donald Trump clearly is not a bright man. Trump has gotten away with so many things in the past, it probably never crossed his feeble mind that he should not be saying what he is alleged to have said on that phone call.
What I continue to find surprising though is the actions of Attorney General Bill Barr. He, without any authority whatsoever, stepped in to override the legal process for handling the whistleblower complaint and blocked it from going to Congress. Once again, Barr has demonstrated that he is willing to break the law (and lie to the American public and under oath if needed) on behalf of President Trump. While Trump's illicit conduct can be somewhat blamed on his profound ignorance and recklessness, Barr seems to be just plain corrupt. There appears to be no limit to what Barr is willing to do to help Trump. Barr certainly could not care less about his obligation to the American people or the oath he took to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States.