Trump's decision to withhold aid from Ukraine was dumb and unjustified, but I don't see how it can be construed as illegal, since presidents have wide latitude when it comes to foreign aid. I thoroughly disagree with Trump's decision to withhold the aid. I think it was bad policy and unjustified. But show me how it was illegal.
After all, Trump withheld the aid to try to get the Ukrainian government to look into what appears to have been a clear case of corruption: Hunter Biden's receiving a salary of $50K per month from the Ukrainian company Burisma, followed by the firing of the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma because Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in aid. That affair should have been investigated years ago, and it is shameful that the Democrats seem to have no interest in Biden's actions in the affair.
Trump's request to Zelensky to investigate the firing of the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma has considerable merit in and of itself, if you put aside politics, since the company's employment of Hunter and the firing of the prosecutor smell to high heaven of corruption. But, it looks very bad for a president to ask a foreign leader to get his government to investigate the son of the guy who might be your opponent in the next election.
I think Trump made some very bad decisions in how he handled approaching Ukraine about the Biden-Burisma-fired-prosecutor scandal, and he was wrong to withhold aid from Ukraine over the matter. But, I haven't seen any convincing arguments that Trump's conduct toward Ukraine was illegal. I find Judge Napolitano's arguments along this line unconvincing and strained.
After all, Trump withheld the aid to try to get the Ukrainian government to look into what appears to have been a clear case of corruption: Hunter Biden's receiving a salary of $50K per month from the Ukrainian company Burisma, followed by the firing of the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma because Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in aid. That affair should have been investigated years ago, and it is shameful that the Democrats seem to have no interest in Biden's actions in the affair.
Trump's request to Zelensky to investigate the firing of the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma has considerable merit in and of itself, if you put aside politics, since the company's employment of Hunter and the firing of the prosecutor smell to high heaven of corruption. But, it looks very bad for a president to ask a foreign leader to get his government to investigate the son of the guy who might be your opponent in the next election.
I think Trump made some very bad decisions in how he handled approaching Ukraine about the Biden-Burisma-fired-prosecutor scandal, and he was wrong to withhold aid from Ukraine over the matter. But, I haven't seen any convincing arguments that Trump's conduct toward Ukraine was illegal. I find Judge Napolitano's arguments along this line unconvincing and strained.
