Impeachment hearings are rolling along, accompanied by significant, dramatic events.
Longtime Trump associate Roger Stone has been convicted on all counts for which he was indicted, including lying to congress.
Another longtime Trump associate, Rudy Giuliani, is under investigation for various financial crimes. Giuliani’s fall from grace, from being lionized as “America’s Mayor” following 9/11 to being investigated in the Southern District of New York, can only be explained by hubris and the inexplicable human tendency for self-destruction.
The testimony of credible witnesses including George Kent, William Taylor, and Marie Yovanovitch should convince any fair-minded observer of their integrity and devotion to this nation. This is in sharp contrast to what passes for Republican rebuttal, capped by President Trump trashing former ambassador Yovanovitch as she was testifying. This was one of the most disgraceful presidential acts since candidate Richard Nixon torpedoed LBJ’s progress toward Vietnamese peace talks in 1968, thereby extending the war and costing countless lives.
Trump’s tweet blaming Yavonovitch for the mayhem in Somalia was so disgraceful, and unpresidential, that even Republican committee members from that point on were moved to commend Yovanovitch for her strength, courage, intelligence and faithful service to the nation. Republicans had no choice lest they appear even more obtuse and ignorant of fact than they already had. They then followed with repetition of their vapid, irrelevant shibboleths that pass for rebuttal.
These impeachment proceedings are based on President Trump withholding congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine in its battle against an American adversary, Russia, in return for Ukrainian President Zelensky announcing and conducting an investigation into Joe Biden and his son.
Republicans insist that Trump was really calling for investigation of “Ukrainian aid to Hillary Clinton in 2016,” for which there is absolutely no evidence. But it is a convenient Republican smokescreen.
Another ridiculous Republican talking point that passes for Trump’s defense is that since Ukraine eventually got the aid, an attempted quid pro quo doesn’t matter.
Sure, Ukraine eventually received the aid, but only after the whistleblower’s legitimate complaint came to light and revealed Trump’s scheme. Just as attempted murder or attempted robbery is a crime, so is attempted bribery, extortion, or whatever you want to call it, wrong.
OMB Director Mulvaney’s assertion that such quid pro quos in foreign policy “happen all the time” is ludicrous. Demanding that a nation live up to prescribed democratic principles is vastly different than using taxpayer funds to demand a foreign nation smear a president’s political opponent.
In short, Trump’s demand of Zelensky was his attempt to use taxpayer funds to browbeat a foreign leader to turn investigation of the Bidens into the 2020 equivalent of Hillary’s emails in 2016, the red herring that, with the aid of complicit media, haunted her until the end. The smokescreen and chaff thrown up by a Ukrainian investigation of the Bidens would have dominated any rational discussion of anything else, clearly helping Trump’s reelection bid.
Trump’s attempt came within a hair’s breadth of succeeding. Only the whistleblower’s complaint shed enough light on this scheme to prevent it.
That an American president would stoop to the level of demanding a foreign president smear a domestic political opponent in return for military aid to combat an American adversary is tragic. While tragic, this saga reveals elements of farce, a comedy based on the situation.
Enter Gordon Sondland.
Sondland is a successful hotelier of considerable financial accomplishment who wanted to play in a bigger game. He gave a million bucks to Trump’s inaugural committee.
Trump awarded Sondland the coveted, prestigious EU ambassadorship for which he has absolutely no professional qualifications. Sondland apparently was not shy about flaunting his position as top American diplomat for the EU in Brussels. Nor was he shy about flaunting his direct line to the Oval Office and ability to dial Trump’s phone number at will.
After ominously warning Ukrainian Ambassador Yovanovitch that “she was going to go through some things,” Trump recalled her. She was advised that “her security was in danger,” and ordered to take the next plane home.
Trump replaced Yovanovitch with Ambassador Taylor. Trump sent Sondland as one of the “Three Amigos,” including Kurt Volker, and another farcical figure, Rick Perry— the hapless toady that Trump once accused of wearing spectacles to look intelligent— to Ukraine. Their mission was to pressure Zelensky to publicly announce investigation of the Bidens.
During his initial testimony, Sondland insisted that there was “no quid pro quo.” He later offered an addendum to his original testimony, asserting that testimony from other witnesses “had refreshed his memory” about his dealings with Ukrainian officials. A White House visit by Zelensky could occur only after he publicly committed to the investigations Trump and Giuliani were demanding. He “presumed” U.S. military assistance was linked to a public Zelensky statement because there was no other credible explanation for the delay.
Ambassador Taylor’s testimony revealed that an embassy staffer was at lunch with Sondland while he called Trump directly on his cell phone. Sondland assured Trump that announcement of the Biden investigation would be forthcoming. Sondland informed the staffer that Trump didn’t give a rip about Ukraine, only about “big stuff,” the Biden investigation.
One is reminded of a comedy spy movie in which the inept protagonist is covertly waiting behind a newspaper in an airport for the enemy spy— so intent that he holds his newspaper upside down. So the villain arrives, grabs the newspaper, and places it upright as he passes.
That’s Sondland, a James Bond wannabe, amateurishly and publicly calling Trump, affirming the deal, in company of staffers who can testify to that event.
When this is published, we will know whether the amateur who is in way over his head would again lie to protect Trump, or again change testimony, attempting to salvage what’s left of his own reputation.
And the complicit Republicans? That’s another matter.
— John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Saturdays.
