New Delhi: Since the impeachment proceedings against US President Donald Trump were launched on 24 September, new revelations have been surfacing on an almost daily basis.
Trump was originally accused of misusing his presidential power and asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate a political rival, the Democratic party leader Joe Biden.
Since then, it has been found that it isn’t an isolated case. Trump has allegedly asked the leaders of Australia, Italy, United Kingdom, and China to investigate his political rivals.
Moreover, the impeachment inquiry now extends beyond Trump and includes his senior officials, ministers and diplomats. ThePrint tries to break down the entire set of allegations Trump and his team face.
The Ukraine affair — at the heart of impeachment inquiry
The key allegation against Trump is that he misused US foreign policy to achieve a personal political motive. Trump had a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on 25 July 2019.
During this phone call, Trump allegedly asked Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, who was previously involved with an Ukrainian firm, Burisma. Additionally, Trump is accused of quid pro quo, as he held back military aid to Ukraine as a leverage to make the government investigate the Bidens.
The charges surfaced after a non-verbatim phone call transcript was released by the White House and the official whistleblower complaint was released by the US Congress (Parliament).
The Volker-Ukraine text messages
On 4 October, a series of text messages between various US officials and diplomats, was released by Kurt Volker, former US Special Representative for Ukraine to the US House Judiciary Committee — the committee heading the impeachment inquiry.
“Encrypted text messages released by House Democrats late Thursday night reveal that a plan to get Ukraine’s newly elected president to investigate President Donald Trump’s political rivals was hatched with the active involvement of U.S. diplomats, who worked for months to try to carry out the president’s demands,” writes Natasha Bertrand, a journalist from Politico.
These messages reveal that Trump had two demands from the Ukrainians. First, an investigation into the Bidens. Second, to assist the US Attorney General William Barr with the review of the Muller-led Russia-investigation — in an effort to discredit it.
The most contentious text message is the one sent by Volker on 25 July.
Just hours before Zelensky and Trump spoke on the phone, Volker says, “Heard from White House—Assuming President Z convinces Trump he will investigate/get to the bottom of what happened in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington.”
In this text message, Volker clearly tells Zelensky’s aide that a meeting between Trump and Zelensky would be conditional on Ukraine investigating the origins of the Russia investigation.
“This is a key exchange that Democrats are likely to present as further evidence of a direct quid pro quo between Trump and Zelensky,” writes Bertrand.
Another contentious bit took place on 1 September, when Bill Taylor, former US Ambassador to Ukraine, raised his discomfort with US holding back military aid to the country.
“Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?” Taylor texted the U.S. Ambassador to the E.U, Gordon Sondland.
Taylor again expressed his concern on 9 September, when he told Sondland, “As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”
According to analysts, these text messages are clear evidence of Trump and his team using the Trump-Zelensky summit and military aid as leverage to force the Ukrainian government to investigate the US president’s political rivals.
Also read: In 2016, Trump looked to Russia. For 2020, it’s Ukraine
Australia, Italy, and UK
While the Ukraine-Trump affair is at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, there are a plethora of other accusations against Trump and his team.
Soon after the impeachment proceeding was launched, reports surfaced suggesting that Trump had made similar demands to the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“President Trump pushed the Australian prime minister during a recent telephone call to help Attorney General William P. Barr gather information for a Justice Department inquiry that Trump hopes will discredit the Mueller investigation, according to two American officials with knowledge of the call,” noted a report in The New York Times.
The Mueller investigation is probing alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US elections and alleged suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials.
Similarly, Trump sent Barr to Italy “in search of a little-known, long-missing, Maltese professor who has figured prominently in unsubstantiated theories about how the Russia investigation got started,” mentioned another report in The New York Times.
While in Rome, Barr and his deputy, John H. Durham, who is heading the review of the Mueller-investigation, allegedly got complete access to the “upper echelon of Italy’s intelligence agencies”, according to Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Additionally, according to one report, Trump called UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking for help with the Mueller investigation review. The US House Judiciary committee and the other committees investigating Trump have taken cognisance of these reports and have included them in the probe.
China
After impeachment proceedings against Trump were already launched and he was being accused of asking foreign powers to investigate a political rival, Trump publicly asked Chinese government to investigate the Bidens.
“China should start an investigation into the Bidens, because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.
Though China refused to investigate the Bidens, Trump’s public demand has raised eyebrows. “When (Richard) Nixon talked about his crimes, he talked about them in private. He conspired in private. Trump is out front and centre about his crimes, his corruption,” Carl Bernstein, a veteran journalist told the New Yorker. Bernstein broke the Watergate scandal with Bob Woodward, which led to the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
Also read: Did Joe Biden intervene in Ukraine to protect his son Hunter? Here are some facts
President Trump is reported to be arguing that the setting up a formal impeachment inquiry would require to be approved in a full House of Representatives. Further , he seems to be arguing that it is a part of his duty to get an alleged corruption investigated , irrespective of whether person alleged may be a prospective election rival. In other words , his duty requires him to make no distinction when the question of investigating a corruption is before him. The White House is reported to have refused cooperation by President Trump with the inquiry , terming the inquiry as unprecedented , partisan and unconstitutional. The developing story surrounding impeachment inquiry looks to be corresponding to this Vedic astrology writer’s predictive article “ Mid 2019 to November 2020 for President Donald Trump – a Vedic astrology view” published on 1 June 2019 in monthly Webzine of Wisdom Magazine at wisdom-magazine.com/Article.aspx/5060/. Some worrisome concerns surrounding litigation about income tax returns of some past years were also in news in early October. A Federal Court in New York rejected in early October President Trump’s plea that he is not bound to make such tax returns public while enjoying immunity as President. A higher court is reported to have put the tax returns release on hold. As we are in October 2019 , the following prediction made nearly five months prior on 1 May in the said article looks to be prophetic and precisely relevant :-
“ The month of October in present year 2019 looks to be particularly worrisome , calling for more care , appropriate strategy and much needed patience. Machinations of those opposing him , within the US or from among global community , can gather more steam. Some friends may likely distance with him. Severe storms or earthquake or volcano eruption in vulnerable regions in the US are likely. Some worrisome concerns related to energy resources or food stuff or communal issues can be likely.”
Cut and dried. No scope to allege a political conspiracy to defame and discredit the President. Public acceptance of the need for impeachment, an enquiry to begin with, is increasing swiftly. Republican politicians have begun making their assessments about the costs of supporting him. Not a man India should be seen tangoing with.