Trump's Ukraine Call: Illegal And Unethical

In July 2019, US President Donald Trump called Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the call, Trump urged Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden, a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 election, as well as Biden's son. Trump also blocked the release of military aid to Ukraine, which critics argued was used as a bargaining chip.

Trump was accused of breaking the law by pressuring a foreign power to interfere in the 2020 election. While the president doesn't need to break the law to be impeached, in this case, his actions might have. If Trump abused his position to gain a competitive advantage over his adversary in the election, that would amount to soliciting a valuable contribution to his campaign from a foreign entity, which is forbidden by campaign finance laws.

Trump was impeached on charges of abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress, but was acquitted by the Senate.

Trump pressured Ukraine's leader to investigate a political rival

In July 2019, former US President Donald Trump pressured Ukraine's leader, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to investigate one of the frontrunners to take him on in the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. This was problematic because it is illegal to ask foreign entities for help in winning a US election.

Trump's actions constituted an impeachable abuse of office, according to Democrats. They believed that Trump used his office to persuade a foreign government to help him attack a political rival, which is an impeachable offence.

Trump's actions may also have broken campaign finance laws. If the investigation found that Trump abused his position to gain a competitive advantage over his adversary in the election, this would amount to soliciting a valuable contribution to his campaign from a foreign entity, which is forbidden by campaign finance laws. In order to be a criminal violation, a contribution needs to be more than $2,000. However, for it to be a civil violation, any amount—monetary or otherwise—will do.

Trump's defenders, mostly Republicans, argued that his actions were not offensive enough to warrant impeachment or removal from office.

Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine

The timing of the withholding of funds led critics to argue that Trump was using the money as a bargaining chip to pressure Zelenskyy into investigating his political rival, Joe Biden, and Biden's son, Hunter. Trump had urged Zelenskyy to investigate the discredited theory that Biden had abused his power to pressure Ukraine to back away from a criminal investigation that could implicate his son, Hunter, who worked for a Ukrainian energy company.

A senior official later testified that Trump had made clear the release of military aid was conditional on Biden being investigated. Trump and his supporters alleged that Biden had abused his power to pressure Ukraine, but these allegations were widely discredited. There is no evidence that Biden took any action to intentionally benefit his son, nor is there any evidence of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden.

Trump's withholding of military aid to Ukraine was deemed unlawful by the Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan watchdog, which concluded in January 2020 that the White House broke federal law by withholding Congress-approved military aid.

Trump's actions were an abuse of power

Trump's actions were an impeachable abuse of office. The Constitution allows impeachment for treason, bribery, and high crimes and misdemeanours. Most impeachment cases fall into the latter category, and so does this one.

Trump enlisted the help of another country in his campaign for a second term. There is plenty of evidence for this. Investigators have records of the phone call, Trump's own admission, and the admission of his private attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

Trump abused his position to gain a competitive advantage over his adversary in the election. This amounts to soliciting a valuable contribution to his campaign from a foreign entity, which is forbidden by campaign finance laws. Trump used military aid in his negotiation, leveraging taxpayer money as a bargaining chip to pressure Ukraine's president.

Trump's actions were also problematic because he pursued justice through private citizens outside his administration. He authorised a private individual, Rudy Giuliani, to run a private or personal investigation outside any due process.

Trump's actions were an obstruction of Congress

Trump's actions in the Ukraine scandal fall into the third category. The former president pressured Ukraine's leader to dig up damaging information on a political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. This was an attempt to gain a competitive advantage over his adversary in the election and amounted to soliciting a valuable contribution to his campaign from a foreign entity, which is forbidden by campaign finance laws.

Investigators also found that Trump blocked the release of military aid to Ukraine, which was conditional on Biden being investigated. This was leveraging taxpayer money as a bargaining chip to pressure Ukraine's president, adding another layer of misconduct.

Trump's actions were an abuse of power and an obstruction of Congress, and while he was impeached, he was ultimately cleared of the charges.

Trump's actions were an impeachable offence

The actions of former US President Donald Trump during his phone call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky were deemed an impeachable offence by the Democrat-held House of Representatives. Trump was accused of breaking the law by pressuring a foreign leader to investigate a political rival—Joe Biden—and his son, Hunter Biden.

Trump's actions were deemed an impeachable offence because they met the criteria for impeachment: "treason, bribery, and high crimes and misdemeanours". Most impeachment cases fall into the third category, and so did this one. It's important to note that impeachment does not require an offence to be against the law. Instead, it only needs the political will, or in other words, enough votes in the House to impeach and then in the Senate to remove the president from office.

In the case of the Ukraine call, there was clarity in both the evidence and the offence. Investigators had access to records of the phone call, and Trump and his private attorney, Rudy Giuliani, admitted to the call taking place. The alleged offence was that Trump enlisted the help of another country in his campaign for re-election. This was evidenced by the phone call records, in which Trump urged Zelensky to investigate discredited corruption allegations against Joe Biden, a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 election, as well as Biden's son.

Trump's actions were also problematic because he withheld military aid to Ukraine, leveraging taxpayer money as a bargaining chip to pressure Zelensky. This added another layer of misconduct to the abuse of power. Furthermore, Trump authorised a private individual, Rudy Giuliani, to run a private investigation outside of any government accountability, which is outside of due process.

While Trump's actions may not have broken a statutory law, they were deemed an abuse of power and an attempt to gain a competitive advantage over his election adversary by soliciting a valuable contribution from a foreign entity, which is forbidden by campaign finance laws.

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