Trump pointed to a legal cooperation treaty between the United States and Ukraine that was signed in 1998 and went into effect in 2001. “We even have a treaty — 2001, 1999 — it’s a treaty, signed treaty, that we will work together to root out corruption in Ukraine,” Trump said. There is no mention of “corruption” in it, and in fact, if Trump was acting according to the treaty, he wasn’t abiding by it. “Each Contracting State shall have a Central Authority to make and receive requests pursuant to this Treaty,” it says. “The Central Authority of the Requested State may deny assistance if … the request relates to a political offense,” the treaty says.

Source: Washington Post February 06, 2020 18:33 UTC