Conservatives are right to presume the latest Democratic impeachment ruckus is more partisan than patriotic. I have read the whistleblower’s complaint and Trump-Zelensky transcript: the congratulatory call can be fairly interpreted as routine diplomacy. The Ukraine is central to the DNC’s 2016 election meddling and the US is central to Ukraine sovereignty. Here’s The Conservative Guardian’s take.
The transcript fairly reads as routine diplomacy. It’s easy to put the call in diplomatic context. Both men had just reasons to look into former Ukraine-US political links (the DOJ was already investigating how Trump-Russia traced back through Fusion GPS to Ukraine). Zelensky, who’d ousted a “corrupt” incumbent, confided he was trying “to drain the swamp” in his country, and Trump confirmed the US “has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.”
Zelensky told the press this week he was not “pressured” by Trump to provide opposition research on Biden in exchange for defense funding. Rather, Trump “pushed” Zelensky on European aid: “Germany does almost nothing for you…you should really ask them [because] Merkel talks Ukraine, but she doesn’t do anything.” Linking US aid to Germany paying its fair share is consistent with Trump’s NATO position (EU should pay more to contain Russia).
The whistleblower complaint is suspect. The scope of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act (ICWPA Form 5401) requires “reliable firsthand knowledge” before the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) considers the complaint “urgent and credible.” This whistleblower admits the complaint is just a compilation of hearsay; therefore, it is not enough to deny President Trump of his right to presumed innocence.
Democrats are lowering the standards for impeachment. In the last two weeks, they have spoken openly about impeaching Justice Kavanaugh and President Trump based on hearsay. Ms Pelosi has been teleported by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez back to Yorktown High School (OMG, agree or disagree: Trump is such a crook). Humor aside, that’s the party line, in spite of a Quinnipiac report that 57% of Americans oppose impeachment.
Democrats should know better. After Nellie Ohr testified under oath to Congress that Ukrainian lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko supplied opposition research to Fusion GPS, shouldn’t Democrats suspect Obama-Clinton foul play? Probably not – which explains why Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) claimed Friday that Pelosi was pushed “from the left” to open inquiries that will lead “nowhere.”
Trump’s paranoia invited the questionable hire of Giuliani. Trump’s “unethical” use of his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to prove 2016 Ukraine-Democrat collusion was a mistake, but Senate Republicans will be sympathetic. As Mayor Giuliani told ABC’s This Week: “This is not about getting Joe Biden in trouble, this is about proving that Donald Trump was framed by the Democrats.” Call Trump paranoid, but he has cause to mistrust a DOJ or State Department investigation. Time and again, he has cried no president should go through this.
The Bidens look like political grifters. Joe Biden claims he never spoke to his son about lobbying or foreign business deals. Who partners with Hunter Biden, who was discharged from the Naval Reserve for failing a drug test and left his wife of 24 years to hook up with his brother’s widow, unless Joe Biden is the Vice President? Yet, there’s the son flying in 2013 on Air Force 2 to meet Chinese business partner Jonathon Li.
Democrats and their media allies see no wrong in Hunter’s lucrative ($60,000 monthly) deal with Burisma, the investigation into the Ukraine natural gas giant’s corruption, or the videotape of Joe Biden bragging he got a Ukrainian prosecutor fired. Ahem…many voters resent how the Clintons and Obamas leveraged political power into money, and the Biden’s opportunism – like day-old fish – won’t smell any better with age.
Cooler heads will prevail. Neither the transcript nor complaint proves Zelensky was pressured or Trump had the 2020 election in mind. Hence, Democrats pursue impeachment at their own risk. Noted liberal Bill Maher claimed Friday “the country will be paralyzed…if we do this.” The centrist Cook Political Report predicts the inquiries “will not move malleable voters.” And there you have it.
In closing, the election is one year away and Democrats need a better message for battleground states than “Trump is so bad you should give socialism a try.” If the equivalent of the Nixon tapes is out there, it had better show up soon. Until then, the average voter’s patience will work against Democrats in 2020.