Federal law defines bribery as the solicitation of “anything of value personally” by a public official “in return for” an official act. As long as Ukraine cast a pall of baseless suspicion over Trump’s political enemies, he did not need anybody to actually unearth new facts. Even if Trump would have released Ukraine’s aid regardless of whether Ukraine announced investigations — and the evidence suggests otherwise — Trump would still be guilty of soliciting an illegal gratuity, one form of bribery. First, they argue that Trump can’t be guilty of bribery because Ukraine never conducted the investigations he demanded and because the country still received military aid. ADThat no witness heard Trump utter the words “please solicit a bribe from Ukraine” should not be shocking.

Source: Washington Post December 03, 2019 19:52 UTC