Her no-harm, no-foul approach stems from not acknowledging the whole sordid story, no matter if the story’s title is quid pro quo, bribery, extortion or abuse of power. She ignored the holdup in military assistance in violation of U.S. law as a condition for “ a favor ,” preferring instead to focus almost entirely on the flawed family dynamics of the Bidens in talking through the Burisma natural gas company’s offer of employment. But for a whistleblower and congressional pressure to release military aid in early September, however, Mr. Trump may well have gotten Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s announcement of an investigation. The incompetence of Mr. Trump and his cohorts in carrying out their scheme in no way absolves them of an attempt to use the Oval Office for a political end at the expense of an ally at war. Nor does it relieve Congress from its duty.

Source: Washington Post December 13, 2019 22:07 UTC