Trump ordered aid frozen; more Democrats want impeachment

Associated Press

President Donald Trump personally ordered his staff to freeze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine a few days before a phone call in which he pressured the Eastern European nation’s leader to investigate the family of political rival Joe Biden, a revelation that comes as more Democrats move toward impeachment proceedings.

Trump, in remarks to reporters at the United Nations on Tuesday, said he held up the aid to fight corruption and urge European nations to share in helping out Ukraine.

The president has said that a "readout" of the phone conversation will get released soon, although it is not known if the "readout" means a full transcript or an alternative approach to transparency.

It is concerning, naturally, that a US president may be entangled in asking foreign leaders to interject in our elections, and the timing of asking for it is disturbing. If what the administration is alleging regarding Hunter Biden holds any water, why not investigate it over the last 3 years - there was plenty of time. Why start pressuring foreign governments once the father is the number one political threat?

Now, I don't like Biden and I don't support him, but he is the front runner and is currently the number one threat to the presidency. Why the foreign pressure now and not years ago?

Another concern would of course be why are we withholding aid to an ally we've been supporting since 2014, when Russia illegally annexed them and will an investigation be needed to look into potential promises to the Russian president. Withholding aid from Ukraine helps Vladimir Putin.

The United States began providing military aid to the government of Ukraine shortly after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014. With Ukraine’s new president still grappling with separatist rebels in the east, the aid has long been viewed as a measure of Washington’s determination to push back against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

More Democrats are joining in the calls for impeachment, but having support in the House for an impeachment was never an issue for them. Impeachment would easily pass with only the Democratic votes, and chances are some of the Republicans would join as well. 18 senior Republicans have already announced early retirement and could vote any way they wish, disregarding their re-election chances.

Seven House freshmen, who include a former Navy pilot, soldiers, officers and intelligence analysts, wrote in a joint op-ed that the allegations against Trump “are stunning, both in the national security threat they pose and the potential corruption they represent.”

If true, they represent an impeachable offense, the lawmakers said. “These new allegations are a threat to all we have sworn to protect. We must preserve the checks and balances envisioned by the Founders and restore the trust of the American people in our government.

And that is what we intend to do,” the lawmakers wrote in The Washington Post.

The Senate, however, that's another story and I don't think this will go anywhere without full transparency and an investigation. Will the people find out what our leaders are doing?

But is was ok for Biden to hold 1b$ from the Ukraine if they didn't fire the prosecutor investigating his son?

originally posted by: theatreboy
But is was ok for Biden to hold 1b$ from the Ukraine if they didn't fire the prosecutor investigating his son?

If you think so. I can't find that anywhere in this article.

a reply to: Oraculi

We have heard for 3.5 years about obstruction of justice...What VP Biden did is the definition of obstruction.

Also, what does any of this have to do with any election?

a reply to: theatreboy

He wasn't letting them interfere with a US election though and the reasoning had the backing of the government and the international community at large because that prosecutor was working in Putins interests and not the Ukraines and was not pursuing corruption the way he should have been.

There was never any investigation into Hunter Biden.
And trump withholding this money was extortion plain and simple.

Oh, look the Democrats making another standard they will whine and complain about in the future. Can't wait to start getting transcripts to all the conversations future presidents have with foreign leaders. Who cares about national security, strategic alliances, or respect for our allies.

To top it off, Biden claimed of doing this exact same thing Trump is accused of in a press conference. Yet, the Democrats haven't said a peep about it. As I've been saying, nothing but a bunch of damn hypocrites.

Can't wait until the transcript is released to prove the MSM and Democrats wrong. Just so we can repeatedly use it against Biden in the presidential debates, if he makes it that far.

No crime occurred. Just more lame headlines from the liberal media.

a reply to: PurpleFox

Nope. Wrong.
trump is in big big trouble here. And no BIden did nothing illegal. Sorry not sorry.

a reply to: Oraculi


AP is fake news!

Did they mention that Trump said he wants Europe to pay their fair share of supplying Ukraine with financial aide instead of the US constantly funding it all?
Why should the US pay when it benefits the EU the most?

originally posted by: PurpleFox
a reply to: Oraculi

We have heard for 3.5 years about obstruction of justice...What VP Biden did is the definition of obstruction.

Also, what does any of this have to do with any election?

The Biden thing isn't in the article, so the OP says it doesn't exist.
Nevermind that Joe Biden admitted it all on video some time back, gloating about it.
Nevermind that Joe Biden denies talking to his son about his corrupt business deals... but his son admits he did!

a reply to: Oraculi

More Democrats are joining in the calls for impeachment, but having support in the House for an impeachment was never an issue for them.

That is wrong
they cant even get 150 dem votes in the house
there is no stomach for it in the house as those people face election shortly
without an actual crime attempting impeachment is folly and they know this as most americans are fair minded

a reply to: Sillyolme

Firing a lead prosecutor in a foreign country while being the sitting VPOTUS, so that your son doesn't go to jail for corruption is illegal Silly. This is what Obstruction of Justice is.

"Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is a crime consisting of obstructing prosecutors, investigators, or other government officials."

originally posted by: PurpleFox
a reply to: Oraculi

We have heard for 3.5 years about obstruction of justice...What VP Biden did is the definition of obstruction.

Also, what does any of this have to do with any election?

For the record, Biden's son sits on the board of a Ukrainian gas company (why, nobody seems to know) that was being investigated for a multi-billion dollar fraud, and for laundering money to western countries (including the US). This is what Joe Biden was covering up when he got the Ukrainian prosecutor fired. He's admitted to it, too. It's on tape, and you can look it up if so inclined.

In contrast, Trump was being investigated for *mumble mumble* something to do with Russia.... we'll tell you what when we find evidence... and his "obstruction" was firing the head of the FBI who was, in fact, trying to subvert the president, and was involved in a scheme to fabricate evidence against the president.

Also, the special council said in the clearest possible terms they found no evidence Trump or anyone else was conspiring with Russia.

If it doesn’t connect the two on the transcript of the phone call.

That information means nothing .

Except to people that think they can read minds from sound bites .

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a reply to: Oraculi

Whatever is in that whistler blower report must be pretty damning and incriminating for Trump to be tripping all over himself like he's doing with this ordeal.

“Why is it always the United States that’s paying? I made that loud and clear. I told that the Mick Mulvaney, I told to a lot of people,” the president continued. “I told it to a lot of different people. I told it to Mike, two Mikes. I it told to Steve. I keep asking Wilbur Ross.”


Trump ranted on: “I said, hold it up, let’s get other people to pay, and then everybody called me, ‘Oh please, can we pay?’ — and they said — and there was never any quid pro quo, the letter was beautiful, it was a perfect letter, unlike Biden.”

www.rawstory.com...

originally posted by: Sillyolme
a reply to: theatreboy

He wasn't letting them interfere with a US election though and the reasoning had the backing of the government and the international community at large because that prosecutor was working in Putins interests and not the Ukraines and was not pursuing corruption the way he should have been.

There was never any investigation into Hunter Biden.
And trump withholding this money was extortion plain and simple.

Biden will not win the election even if he was nominated. Justice should not be ignored just because someone decided to run in a presidential primary for the democratic party. By your standard, the democrats are interfering with elections via the impeachment threat, since Trump is in fact running for re-election to the best of our knowledge.

Yet again, we will see this as Trump's 4d chess. If you think that Trump would do anything that would get him in ACTUAL trouble, then you are being misled. He is yet again, 2 or 3 steps ahead of the Dem's ideas of impeachment. This will go nowhere.