The phone call that could get Trump impeached

It started out as a typical phone call between

two world leaders:

"Congratulations on a great victory.”

Earlier in the year, Volodymyr Zelensky defeated

the incumbent to become President of Ukraine.

And now, his political party had won a majority

in parliament.

“We all watched from the United States and

you did a terrific job."

"I would like to confess to you that I had

an opportunity to learn from you.

We used quite a few of your skills and knowledge…"

But minutes later, this conversation took

a turn with a single line from Trump.

"I would like you to do us a favor, though…"

What Trump said next — according to a rough

the transcript released by the White House — forms

the core of the impeachment proceedings against

him.

It could end his presidency.

Let’s back up a month before the call.

Congress had approved $391 million in military

aid to Ukraine to help defend against Russia.

But Trump told his staff to withhold that

money… he wanted to talk with Zelensky first.

After sharing pleasantries, Trump quickly

changed the subject.

He alluded to the billions of dollars in military

aid the US has given Ukraine in the last few years"... the United States has been very very

good to Ukraine.

I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily

because things are happening that are not

good but, the United States has been very

very good to Ukraine."

I wouldn’t say it’s reciprocal.

In other words, Ukraine owed him something.

"Yes, you are absolutely right."

Zelensky then told Trump… he's ready to

cooperate.

"I would also like to thank you for your great

support in the area of defense.

We are ready to continue to cooperate for

the next steps..."

"I would like you to do us a favor though

...."

Trump ran through a few requests — and then

he got to this one.

"There's a lot of talk about Biden's son,

Let’s pause here.

At the time of this call,

Joe Biden was the leading candidate to run

against Trump in 2020.

Polls from just before the call showed voters

preferred Biden to Trump by a wide margin.

When he picked up the phone to call Zelensky,

Joe Biden was a huge threat to Trump’s re-election.

That’s why what he said next is so important:

whatever you can do with the Attorney General

It would be great ...

if you can look into it ...

it sounds horrible to me.

Trump has this theory about Joe Biden, and

it has to do with his son, Hunter.

Back in 2014, Hunter took a cushy job at a

Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.

As it turns out, the British were investigating

the owner of this same company for money laundering.

And they asked Ukraine's top prosecutor, Victor

Shokin, to pursue this case.

Because investigating corruption... was his

job.

But Shokin ignored them.

And Burisma’s owner was never prosecuted.

It wasn’t the first time Shokin had failed

to investigate corruption.

And people in Ukraine were fed up.

"Activists, MPs, and ordinary citizens have

come together to demand the resignation of

the Prosecutor General, Viktor Shokin."

We don’t even believe that this prosecution

can be reformed because it doesn’t exist!"

They weren’t alone.

Around the same time as the protests, eight

Senators, including three Republicans, signed

a letter calling for “urgent reforms in

the Prosecutor General’s office.”

Basically, a bunch of people was pushing

for Shokin to go.

Including the Obama administration, who sent

Biden to deal with it:

"I went over, I guess, the 12th, 13th time

to Kyiv.

And I was supposed to announce that there

was another billion-dollar loan guarantee.

I looked at them and said: I’m leaving in

six hours.

If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not

getting the money.

Well, son of a bitch.

He got fired."

"Ukraine’s embattled prosecutor general

is no longer in office."

But in the call with the Ukrainian President,

Trump hinted that Shokin was fired for a different reason.

“I heard you had a prosecutor who was very

good and he was shut down and that's really

unfair.”

Then Trump explained why he thought Joe Biden

might’ve been behind Shokin’s dismissal.

“There's a lot of talk about Biden's son,

that Biden stopped the prosecution...Biden

went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution

so if you can look into it...

It sounds horrible to me.”

Alright, so what’s the favor Trump is asking

for here?

It looks like he’s asking Zelensky for some

proof that Joe Biden pushed to get Shokin

fired to protect Hunter.

Which doesn’t even make sense, because of Shokin

was fired in part for not investigating Burisma.

But if Zeleksky could help Trump make it look

like Biden had done something shady, it could

help Trump win re-election.

Zelensky agreed.

He promised his next prosecutor would look

into this situation.

"Thank you, Mr. President.

Bye-bye."

Several staffers listened in on this phone

call and wrote down what was said.

That’s normal.

What’s not normal is what happened next.

Instead of putting the records of the call

in the normal archive, where more people within

the U.S. government would have been able to

see it...

Trump’s staffers hid the transcript in a

computer system reserved for classified material,

even though this call had no reason to be

classified.

Multiple White House officials were worried

the president had crossed a line — and they

told a C.I.A. officer, who wrote to Congress:

“I have received information from multiple

U.S.Government officials that the President of

the United States is using the power of his

office to solicit interference from a foreign

the country in the 2020 U.S. election.”

Meanwhile, a few weeks later, Trump released

the $391 million in aid to Ukraine.

There have been many Trump scandals

What's different about this … is it's so

simple.

President Trump directly asked a foreign leader

to investigate his political opponent.

And influence the 2020 election.

Then his staff tried to cover it up.

It's a simple phone call.

But it could show that Trump is abusing the

office of the president, to hold

onto power.

And it could end his Presidency if enough

members of Congress believe it should.