This morning Trump is defending himself against enlisting the help of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, saying it has nothing to do with politics:
As President I have an obligation to end CORRUPTION, even if that means requesting the help of a foreign country or countries. It is done all the time. This has NOTHING to do with politics or a political campaign against the Bidens. This does have to do with their corruption!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2019
He said something very similar last night…
This isn’t about a Campaign, this is about Corruption on a massive scale! https://t.co/DOCvfM8eqi
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2019
Trump’s emphasis on ending corruption may be in response to text messages that have now come out regarding a visit by the Ukrainian president, in which diplomats suggested that a visit by Zelensky would happen assuming he agreed to “get to the bottom of what happened” in 2016:
Volker, July 19: “Most important is for Zelensky to say that he will help investigation—and address any specific personnel issues—if there are any.” pic.twitter.com/zOkORyNKLR
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) October 4, 2019
In which Volker informs Zelensky’s aid that a Zelensky visit to Washington is predicated on convincing Trump that he’ll “get to the bottom of what happened” in 2016. pic.twitter.com/mQk62rlOvk
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) October 4, 2019
Ambassador Taylor, Sept 1: “Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?” pic.twitter.com/S6cwwwfBLi
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) October 4, 2019
As Philip Klein pointed out on Twitter, these texts were put out by Democrats hoping to make Trump look as bad as possible. But Volker’s testimony may put these in a different light:
Worth noting, these texts have all been released by Dem committee chairs who obviously want to make Trump look as bad as possible. Further context provided by Volker could make story more nuanced. But these texts clearly bolster the quid pro quo case.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) October 4, 2019
He’s right. For example, we don’t know whether “get to the bottom of what happened” in 2016 meant Barr’s investigation or Biden’s corrupt actions.
And all that we’ve been hearing about Volker’s testimony yesterday was that it blew a big hole in the impeachment plans by Democrats. Plus Zelensky himself has said he didn’t feel any pressure from Trump to investigate Biden. So I would hold out before jumping to conclusions on all of this.