Ambassador Bill Taylor, acting Ambassador to Ukraine. testified at a closed-door House hearing today. The transcript of his actual testimony has not been released, but the full text of his opening statement is available here:
http://drive.google.com/file/d/1vUI__sxL_fgzy5JYqaxB9cysOHwwQSE4/view
In it, he lays out what is clearly a quid pro quo (a favor for a favor) - the release of military aid previously appropriated by Congress for Ukraine along with a meeting at the WH in exchange for Ukraine formally and publically opening investigations into two conspiracy theories: the (nonexistent) DNC server, and the Bidens. Despite the apparent belief of some in the GOP that it's not a quid pro quo unless you actually speak the Latin words while making the offer, that's exactly what this was - offering something in exchange for something in return.
Quid pro quo can be a negotiating tool, except when offering it is illegal. Just the act of asking a foreign government to investigate a political opponent is a violation of Federal Election Law - a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. The President has no authority to withhold aid that was appropriated by Congress - all he can do is veto the appropriations bill, and he didn't do that; instead, he decided to hold up the money and attach strings to it.
And then Ambassador Taylor goes on to describe what amounted to a shadow foreign affairs effort headed up by Rudy Giuliani, who is not a government employee, doesn't have a security clearance, and answers directly to President Trump - bypassing State completely.
The whole thing screams "abuse of power", which is clearly an impeachable offense. "High crimes and misdemeanors" does not mean actual crimes, although they can be included. In The Federalist Papers #65, Hamilton discussed impeachment and wrote this:
"A well-constituted court for the trial of impeachments is an object not more to be desired than difficult to be obtained in a government wholly elective. The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust."
He should know - he was there when the Constitution was written... |
