Trump's Ukraine Call: Legal Or Impeachable Offense?

In July 2019, then-US President Donald Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. This request was part of a broader attempt to coerce Ukraine into legitimising a conspiracy theory about Biden's dealings in Ukraine, and to damage Biden's campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

The request was made during a phone call, in which Trump also asked Zelenskyy to work with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General William Barr, on the investigation. This call was a central part of a whistleblower complaint that led to a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump.

Trump's request was likely illegal. Federal campaign finance law prohibits anyone from soliciting any thing of value from a foreign national. Many experts believe that dirt on a political rival counts as a thing of value. Trump was impeached on charges of abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress, but was acquitted by the Senate.

Trump's request for Ukraine to investigate Biden was likely a crime

In July 2019, then-US President Donald Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to "look into" former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. This request was part of a broader effort by Trump to coerce Ukraine into investigating his political rival, Joe Biden, and thereby damage Biden's campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

Trump's request was likely a crime. Federal campaign finance law prohibits anyone from soliciting any "thing of value" from a foreign national. Dirt on a political rival counts as a "thing of value".

Trump's request was also part of a quid pro quo arrangement. Trump blocked payment of a congressionally-mandated $400 million military aid package to Ukraine in an attempt to obtain cooperation from Zelenskyy.

The House of Representatives began a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump on September 24, 2019. Trump was impeached on charges of abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress, but was acquitted by the Senate.

Trump's request for dirt on Biden counts as a thing of value

Trump's request for dirt on Biden counts as a "thing of value" because federal campaign finance law prohibits anyone from soliciting any "thing of value" from a foreign national. While the Justice Department disagreed, many experts believe that dirt on a political rival counts as a thing of value.

Elliot Mincberg, a former chief counsel for oversight and investigations of the House Judiciary Committee, said:

> That is clearly asking a foreign national to provide something of value to his campaign and that's illegal under federal law.

Ellen Weintraub, chair of the Federal Election Commission, also weighed in on the matter, tweeting:

> It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election.

However, the Department of Justice did not move ahead with the complaint, concluding that there was no basis for a criminal investigation into Trump's behaviour.

Trump's actions were an impeachable offence

Trump's actions were an abuse of power and an obstruction of Congress, and he was impeached on these charges. The crux of the issue was a phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which Trump asked Zelenskyy to "look into" former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. This was an attempt to coerce Ukraine into investigating his political rival and damage Biden's campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

Trump's request was likely a crime. Federal campaign finance law prohibits anyone from soliciting any "thing of value" from a foreign national. Many experts believe that dirt on a political rival counts as a "thing of value". The request was also an impeachable offence because it involved working with a foreign power to influence the election, which is against the law.

Trump's actions were also an obstruction of Congress. Records of the Trump-Zelenskyy call were moved from the system where presidential call transcripts are typically stored to a system reserved for the government's most sensitive secrets. This was done for political, rather than national security, reasons.

Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was also implicated in the scandal. He was subpoenaed for documents relating to Ukraine and has been central in pushing the allegations against the Bidens.

Trump's actions were not an impeachable offence

The impeachment of former US President Donald Trump was a highly controversial issue, with many people believing that his actions did not constitute an impeachable offence.

Firstly, it is important to note that Trump was ultimately acquitted of the charges against him by the Senate. This outcome suggests that his actions were not deemed to be serious enough to warrant removal from office.

One of the main arguments against impeachment was that Trump's conduct did not meet the constitutional threshold for an impeachable offence. The Constitution states that a president can be impeached for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours". Some legal scholars argued that Trump's actions did not fall into any of these categories. They claimed that his conduct amounted to little more than a policy disagreement with Congress, which is not an impeachable offence.

Additionally, some argued that Trump's request to Ukraine to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, did not constitute a criminal act and therefore could not be considered an impeachable offence. They pointed out that the Department of Justice's Criminal Division had reviewed the call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and determined that it did not violate campaign finance law.

Furthermore, some critics of the impeachment process argued that it was being used as a political tool by Democrats to damage Trump's re-election campaign. They claimed that the timing of the impeachment inquiry, which began just a year before the 2020 election, was suspicious and suggested that Democrats were motivated by partisan interests rather than a genuine concern for upholding the law.

Another line of defence for Trump was that his actions towards Ukraine were justified by his belief that Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, had engaged in corrupt activities in Ukraine. Trump and his supporters alleged that Biden had abused his power as vice president to pressure Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company, Burisma Holdings, which employed Hunter Biden. They claimed that Trump was therefore justified in requesting an investigation into the Bidens to expose corruption.

Finally, some argued that Trump's withholding of military aid to Ukraine did not amount to a quid pro quo because there was no explicit demand or condition placed on the aid. They pointed to the fact that the aid was eventually released without Ukraine launching an investigation into the Bidens as evidence that there was no quid pro quo.

In conclusion, while there were strong arguments on both sides of the impeachment debate, those who opposed it believed that Trump's actions did not rise to the level of an impeachable offence and that the process was being misused for political gain.

Trump's actions constituted abuse of power

Trump's actions constituted an abuse of power.

In July 2019, Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. At the time, Joe Biden was a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 election. The request was made during a phone call, the contents of which were revealed by a whistleblower in August 2019. The whistleblower, a CIA officer, alleged that Trump had used "the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country" in the 2020 election.

The call came shortly after Trump blocked the release of military aid to Ukraine, totalling $400 million. A senior official later testified that the release of this aid was conditional on Biden being investigated. Trump has denied this, and the Justice Department did not investigate the issue. However, the Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan watchdog, concluded in January 2020 that the White House broke federal law by withholding the military aid.

Trump's actions constituted an abuse of power because he used his position as US President to pressure a foreign leader to investigate a political rival. This is illegal under federal law, as dirt on a political opponent counts as a "thing of value". Furthermore, Trump's actions opened him up to claims that he was working with a foreign power to influence the election, which is also against the law.

Trump was impeached on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress but was acquitted by the Senate.

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