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about Ukraine
2019-Oct-07, Monday 01:24 amPBS News provided the very best summary I have seen of the Ukraine saga as it relates to current USA politics.
But you barely have to dig deeper into the story to find why this event is exactly the opposite of what Republicans claim. In fact, it takes only 7.5 minutes to watch this segment of PBS News, starting at the 17:00 mark to learn what really happened.
A prosecutor from the pro-Russia days (prior to their revolution in 2014) refused to investigate either existing business corruption or past murders of pro-democracy demonstrators. Ukranians themselves were already calling for this prosecutor's resignation, so reform could continue in their government. The USA then added its diplomatic weight to the argument, calling for the firing of anyone who blocked corruption investigations... like the one into the company where Hunter Biden worked as a Director. And in that environment is where Vice President Joe Biden demanded that the blocking prosecutor must be removed immediately or aid would be withheld.
Wait, what? Joe Biden demanded that Ukraine get a prosecutor who would actually investigate corruption rather than block such efforts? Isn't that exactly the opposite of what Republicans are claiming now?
Yes. Yes, it is.
Republicans know it, because they also signed a 2016 letter joining Joe Biden in calling for that prosecutor's removal. This PBS story was produced before NBC revealed that the CIA's top lawyer made a criminal referral to our Department Of Justice about the Ukraine complaint (the one from the whistleblower), but our DOJ failed to investigate. Isn't this hypocritical obstruction starting to sound like the corruption that the Ukrainians themselves were trying to remove?
Yes. Yes, it does.
- Did Joe Biden tell Ukraine to fire an investigator (supposedly to benefit himself, but more on that later)? Yes, he did.
- Did Joe Biden threaten to withhold aid until they complied with his demand? Yes, he did.
- So far, doesn't it sound really similar to Trump's phone call with Ukraine? Yes, it does.
But you barely have to dig deeper into the story to find why this event is exactly the opposite of what Republicans claim. In fact, it takes only 7.5 minutes to watch this segment of PBS News, starting at the 17:00 mark to learn what really happened.
A prosecutor from the pro-Russia days (prior to their revolution in 2014) refused to investigate either existing business corruption or past murders of pro-democracy demonstrators. Ukranians themselves were already calling for this prosecutor's resignation, so reform could continue in their government. The USA then added its diplomatic weight to the argument, calling for the firing of anyone who blocked corruption investigations... like the one into the company where Hunter Biden worked as a Director. And in that environment is where Vice President Joe Biden demanded that the blocking prosecutor must be removed immediately or aid would be withheld.
Wait, what? Joe Biden demanded that Ukraine get a prosecutor who would actually investigate corruption rather than block such efforts? Isn't that exactly the opposite of what Republicans are claiming now?
Yes. Yes, it is.
Republicans know it, because they also signed a 2016 letter joining Joe Biden in calling for that prosecutor's removal. This PBS story was produced before NBC revealed that the CIA's top lawyer made a criminal referral to our Department Of Justice about the Ukraine complaint (the one from the whistleblower), but our DOJ failed to investigate. Isn't this hypocritical obstruction starting to sound like the corruption that the Ukrainians themselves were trying to remove?
Yes. Yes, it does.