First, there never was an investigation into Joe Biden or his son in Ukraine. It simply never happened. It’s a figment of Trump’s imagination, a fever dream that he hopes will distract from the reality of his all-too-real scandal — a scandal that threatens to destroy his presidency.

Second, when then-vice president Biden got involved in Ukrainian politics during the Obama years, he did pressure the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor named Viktor Shokin, not to protect Biden’s son, but because Shokin was notoriously corrupt. As part of official U.S. government policy — and in lockstep with America’s European allies, the International Monetary Fund and democratic reformers — Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to replace a crooked and ineffective general prosecutor with someone who would actually crack down on shady business dealings. In short, Biden did exactly the opposite of what Trump claims; he worked to clean up Ukraine and create more aggressive prosecution of any impropriety, not get his hands dirty for his son.

The real scandal — the one that is backed up by actual facts and evidence — is extraordinarily damning and doesn’t involve Biden at all. Trump allegedly used nearly $400 million of military aid to Ukraine — aid that was deemed a core national security priority of the United States — as leverage to extort the Ukrainian government into concocting phony political dirt on Biden. Trump used U.S. national security as a bargaining chip for personal political gain. By comparison, the Watergate burglars seem like teenage shoplifters.

“I think it’s very clear that the president is very afraid of Joe,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). “And so he’s going after Joe and his family for political purposes and I’ll stand with Joe against any president who acts that way.”

“I think it’s very clear that the president is very afraid of Joe,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). “And so he’s going after Joe and his family for political purposes and I’ll stand with Joe against any president who acts that way.”