I’ve said for a long time --- and today I’m in very good company --- that if you want to know what Democrats are doing, look at what they’re accusing Republicans of doing. It just keeps happening, over and over, and it happened again yesterday, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s oddly timed statement that because of her deep commitment to the Constitution and the law (sure, Nancy), she was initiating a congressional impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
Never mind that her announcement means essentially nothing, as the House Judiciary Committee was already doing an “inquiry” and the full House hasn’t even voted on conducting one, as they are supposed to do. The idea here is mostly to take attention OFF what THEY are doing or have done. In this case, what the Democrats, specifically the Hillary campaign/DNC and the Biden family, have done relative to Ukraine and other foreign entities is so serious that, in their minds, they really have no choice but to try some misdirection: go after Trump on the mere hint that he might have done something similar. So now, after all the other accusations and investigations have fizzled, they’re off and running again.
Their need for this is so urgent that Pelosi couldn’t even wait for the full, unredacted transcript of Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president to be released. In fact, by the time my commentary appears, it likely will have been released, just as Trump has said it will be, and Trump is actually meeting face-to-face with Ukrainian President Zelensky on Wednesday; Zelensky has said he was not pressured by Trump. There’s also the upcoming Inspector General report on FISA abuse coming out very soon now, reportedly next week, which will add to the Democrats’ woes.
By admission, most Democrat activists don’t care WHAT Trump said to the Ukrainian president. As the theory goes, Trump could benefit from more scrutiny of the Bidens’ dealings in Ukraine –- assuming Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee, which was looking increasingly unlikely –- and he also was balking at sending aid to a country mired in corruption, so these two things must have a cause-and-effect relationship. The Democrats don’t need evidence that they are linked when the preferred narrative is that they are.
Aside: There are a few commendable exceptions. Even staunch Democrat Leslie Marshall said Tuesday that the Democrats are acting inadvisedly, getting ahead of themselves. Yes, all the stars aligned this week and Leslie Marshall and I are in full agreement, at least on this! Presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has also come out against it.
One has to wonder about Pelosi’s personal view on thisl; I had thought she believed more as Marshall does. During her statement, her talk of Ben Franklin and the Constitution seemed heartfelt and she even got even a little “ferklempt,” but when she came to the Big Moment to announce her impeachment inquiry, I thought her expression changed to reveal something else: a flicker of fear.
“There is no requirement there be a quid pro quo in the conversation,” she has said. “If the President brings up [that] he wants them to investigate something [concerning] his political opponent, that is self-evident that it is not right. We don’t ask foreign governments to help us in our election...”
Sorry, Nancy, but that’s not the way it works. If it did, then anyone running against Donald Trump would be vaccinated against having his or her actions looked into, no matter how suspect or outright criminal they were. Oh, wait, I forgot –- in Hillary’s case, when SHE was running against Donald Trump, the FBI did treat her that way. So I guess in Nancy World, Joe Biden or anyone else running against Trump is vaccinated, too.
It boils down to this huge irony: The Democrats are accusing Trump of using the threat of withdrawing aid to Ukraine to pressure that government into investigating Joe and Hunter Biden. Republicans are accusing Joe Biden of using the threat of withdrawing aid to Ukraine to pressure that government into NOT investigating Burisma Holdings, where his son Hunter sits on the board. (How his son got on the board of this natural gas company with no qualifications whatsoever is another question.)
So, who actually is guilty of inappropriately pressuring Ukraine? We KNOW Joe Biden is, because he bragged about it in front of cameras and an audience full of people (who laughed in approval). But if I were a wagering man, I’d bet we find out today and later this week that there is no evidence Trump abused power in this way. As we’ve noted, the so-called “whistleblower” has no firsthand knowledge of Trump’s mid-July phone call with the president of Ukraine. The transcript is set to be released in full, with no redactions, on Wednesday. And the administration is fine with this person coming forward and testifying publicly. At this writing, they’re reportedly also having discussions over the release to Congress of the complaint in full.
As for this person, senior administration officials are saying that he or she, though still not publicly identified by name, has been found by the Intel Committee IG to be politically biased “in favor of a rival candidate of President Trump in 2020.” This person’s attorney, Andrew P. Bakaj, worked for Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton in 2001 and later spent years at the CIA and Defense Department.
As Rudy Giuliani told Laura Ingraham Tuesday night, “I think the Democrats have stepped into something way beyond what they realize. It reminds me of a fighter who is swinging wildly against a really skilled fighter who has a great right hand and puts him right down. They have walked into something that I was hoping they’d walk into for six months, and what they’ve exposed is probably, what it’s going to turn out to be, one of the major scandals of the early part of the 21st century, which is Joe Biden."
“...I think they [Democrats] are covering up for what will turn out to be massive corruption in the Obama administration.”
You know they are, Rudy. And that’s no doubt why I saw that little flicker of fear on Nancy Pelosi’s face.
Rudy’s rant at “Giuliani: Democrats are covering up mass corruption during Obama administration”...
John Solomon would agree with Rudy. Here’s his latest report, which Giuliani references in the above rant, on the Democrats’ election history with Ukraine. Dems have been pressuring Ukraine to do their bidding since before Trump was in office. This is very serious and involves the Obama White House. (Link below.) Solomon also reports that Connecticut Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy is STILL using veiled threats of withdrawing U.S. aid to pressure Ukraine to ignore requests for an investigation into allegations of past corruption involving Americans, including the Bidens. He’s doing the same sort of thing Trump’s being accused of, and boasts of it proudly!
Let's get real: Democrats were first to enlist Ukraine in US elections
Finally, here’s a great column that echoes much of what I’ve been saying, albeit a little more bluntly.
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