Two requests for help from two foreign governments in two different elections finally lead to impeachment inquiries from the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Turns out, that's the bar for impeachment inquiries when the president is Donald Trump.
The move from Pelosi and House Democrats comes after Donald Trump solicited help from the Ukrainian government for his own political benefit. Specifically, from the whistleblower's complaint, investigative journalism, and Trump's clown Rudy; that Trump tried to get the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe Biden and his son.
To make matters even worse, Trump said “we don’t want a country that we’re giving massive aid to be corrupting our system." Somewhat implying that he may have made conditions to the aid we provide to Ukraine on the basis that they investigate Biden.
In the transcript of the call, released by the White House, Trump clearly and deliberately asked Ukraine for a "favor" and to work with the US ATTORNEY GENERAL on the matter. To ask so blatantly, for a foreign leader to investigate a politic opponent is wildly idiotic and dangerous.
“I would like you to do us a favor"On the surface, this isn't shocking at all. If you read any part of the Mueller report, it was grossly obvious that Trump skirted the lines of power on a regular basis. However, that investigation looked backward, and in an age where half the country believes everything they hear on a news station, it can be tough to convince someone to read sections of a long PDF.
Donald Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
This seemingly obvious abuse of presidential power for political gain should be different. Pelosi already started a formal impeachment inquiry in the house, and unless the formal whistleblower's complaint is weak sauce, impeachment will likely pass the house. Hopefully, the formal whistleblower complaint comes out in full view.
Ideally, this all brings the focus to Trump attempting to undermine another election. He asked Russia to hack Hillary Clinton on live TV and a few days later her emails were surfaced, the Mueller report outlined repeated, subtle, and incompetent attempts to sway the election. This current attempt is more blatant and is happening before the Democratic primary has even taken place.
Donald Trump isn't going to be formally impeached by a Republican senate. Despite the growing likelihood that he asked a foreign power to influence the 2020 election by investigating an opponent, they won't care. This is about publicly decrying an attempt to sway what is a vital election.
Foreign powers already try to influence our elections. Governments, specifically Ukraine most recently, still run pro-Trump Facebook groups that have 1.1 million followers. They still try to hack our election systems. Voting is still difficult for many people given the constraints our government put around it. We don't need a president asking another country to investigate his opponent for political gain. Our president did just that, and the consequences should be swift.