As the White House continues to be blown away by Bill Taylor’s damning testimony on Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu revealed a second quid pro quo in the president’s dealings with Ukraine.
Not only did Taylor’s testimony reveal that Trump was pressuring a foreign power to investigate a political rival, but as Rep. Lieu noted, part of that shakedown was that Ukraine had to announce publicly any probe into Joe Biden.
“There were two quid pro quos,” the Democratic lawmaker told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Tuesday. “It’s right there in the opening statement of Ambassador Taylor.”
Video:
The exchange:
REP. LIEU: [Taylor’s] opening statement, which is now in the public domain, is devastating to Donald Trump. It shows, in fact, that there were two quid pro quos – that Ukraine had not only to have to go and investigate the Bidens, they also had to go ahead and make it public which essentially so that the Trump campaign could then use that publicly, and they also had to investigate the DNC and that crazy conspiracy theory for the 2016 elections. It was very damning for the president.
MATTHEWS: You make a great point there, which is… President Trump wanted to be able to say, ‘And Biden’s under investigation in Ukraine.’
REP. LIEU: Absolutely. That’s why it was so important that the Ukrainian leader not only do these two investigations but also make it public. And it’s right there in the opening statement of ambassador Taylor.
As Donald Trump and his GOP defenders in Congress struggle to deny the existence of even one quid pro quo, Bill Taylor’s damning testimony on Tuesday confirmed that there were actually two.
Trump didn’t just hold military aid for Ukraine hostage in exchange for an investigation into the Bidens; equally important for the president was that those investigations were made public so he had a 2020 talking point.
What’s worse for Trump is that these revelations are coming from his own people, not some so-called deep state Democratic operatives conspiring against him.
Like a sinking ship filling with water, the Trump presidency is getting buried with damning facts. At some point, it’s going to wipe about this president and his Republican loyalists.
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