Cameron Miranda
In July 2019, Donald Trump had a 30-minute phone call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he appeared to pressure Zelensky to investigate the family of a political rival, Joe Biden. This phone call was the tipping point for Democrats to open an impeachment inquiry, but it is unclear whether Trump broke any specific laws. The call may have constituted an abuse of power, and it bypassed the lawful process for dealing with such situations.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Did Trump break the law? | It is unclear whether Trump broke the law, but the phone call was the tipping point for Democrats to open an impeachment inquiry. |
| What was the phone call about? | Trump appears to have pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate the family of a political rival, Joe Biden. |
| What makes this problematic? | Trump authorised a private individual, Rudy Giuliani, to run a private investigation, bypassing the lawful process. |
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What You'll Learn
Abuse of power
It is unclear whether Trump broke any laws during his phone call with the Ukrainian president. However, the call did prompt an impeachment inquiry, which suggests that the call was an abuse of power. During the call, Trump appeared to pressure the Ukrainian president to investigate the family of a political rival, Joe Biden. This could be seen as soliciting information that would benefit himself, which strengthens the argument of the abuse of power. Furthermore, Trump authorised a private individual, Rudy Giuliani, to run a personal investigation, which is outside of any due process. This could be interpreted as going 'rogue' and using private citizens to bypass the lawful process.
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Bypassing due process
It is unclear whether Trump broke any laws during his phone call with the Ukrainian president, but it did prompt an impeachment inquiry. The phone call was between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and during the call, Trump appeared to pressure Zelensky to investigate the family of a political rival, Joe Biden. This could be considered an abuse of power, and it bypasses the lawful process to deal with such situations.
Trump authorised a private individual, Rudy Giuliani, to run a private investigation outside any government accountability. This is outside any due process.
The American government had voted to give money to Ukraine, but Trump withheld it to solicit information that would benefit himself. This strengthens the argument of the abuse of power and adds another layer of misconduct.
Whether or not Trump broke the law will depend on how lawmakers interpret "value". Those who support impeachment say Trump was clearly seeking something of value from Ukraine, namely, opposition research on Biden.
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Soliciting information to benefit himself
It is unclear whether Trump broke any laws during his phone call with the Ukrainian president. However, it is clear that he was seeking something of value from Ukraine: opposition research on Joe Biden, a political rival. By withholding money that the American government had voted to give to Ukraine, Trump was soliciting information that would benefit himself, strengthening the argument of the abuse of power and adding another layer of misconduct. This action, however, would not break campaign finance laws.
Trump authorised a private individual, Rudy Giuliani, to run a personal investigation outside of any government accountability and due process. This action is outside of any due process and is problematic because it bypasses the lawful process to deal with such situations.
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Using private citizens
It is unclear whether Trump broke any laws during his phone call with the Ukrainian president. However, it is alleged that he authorised a private individual, Rudy Giuliani, to run a personal investigation outside of any government accountability. This is outside of any due process and would be considered an abuse of power.
Trump appears to have withheld money from Ukraine, which had already been approved by the American government, to solicit information that would benefit himself. This strengthens the argument of the abuse of power and adds another layer of misconduct.
Supporters of impeachment say that Trump was seeking something of value from Ukraine, namely opposition research on Biden. They argue that this is enough to constitute an impeachable offence, even if it is not an actual crime.
The phone call with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed an important development in how members of Congress, particularly House Democrats, are beginning to define a key constitutional power afforded to them: deciding what constitutes “high crimes and misdemeanours”.
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Seeking opposition research on Biden
While the phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president in July may not have broken any specific laws, it did prove to be a tipping point for Democrats to open an impeachment inquiry. Trump appears to have pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate the family of a political rival, Joe Biden, in what some have called a "private or personal investigation". This is outside any due process and is considered to be an abuse of power.
Trump was seeking opposition research on Biden, which could be considered something of value from Ukraine. This is problematic because it bypasses the lawful process for dealing with such situations. If the Department of Justice had an official investigation of criminal activity and reached out to a foreign government, that would be acceptable. However, Trump went rogue by using private citizens to conduct his own personal investigation.
The phone call revealed an important development in how members of Congress, particularly House Democrats, are beginning to define a key constitutional power: deciding what constitutes "high crimes and misdemeanors", the grounds for impeachment. By moving forward with an impeachment inquiry, Democrats are operating under the principle that an impeachable offence need not be an actual crime.
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Frequently asked questions
It is unclear whether Trump broke any laws during his phone call with the Ukrainian president. However, the call did prompt an impeachment inquiry.
During the call, Trump appeared to pressure the Ukrainian president to investigate the family of a political rival, Joe Biden.
I cannot find a clear answer to this question. However, one source suggests that Trump was not impeached.
No, but his actions were still problematic as they bypassed the lawful process.
Yes, Trump authorised Rudy Giuliani to run a private investigation outside of any government accountability.
