Trump's Ukraine Shakedown Scheme Was a Textbook Case of Abuse of Power, Report Says

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump abused the power of the presidency for his personal benefit when he and his cronies shook down the government of Ukraine by withholding a White House meeting and $391 million in foreign aid unless Ukraine said they’d investigate Trump’s rivals. After this quid pro quo scheme was revealed, the president engaged in a “sweeping effort to stonewall” the House’s investigation into his actions.

Those are the central findings of a 300-page report released Tuesday by the House Intelligence Committee, produced by the committee’s Democratic majority with help from the Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees. The report details a “months-long” campaign, “driven” by Trump and abetted by officials at the highest levels of his administration —”including the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Acting Chief of Staff, the Secretary of Energy, and others” — to “extract from a foreign nation the personal political benefits sought by the President.”

“The evidence of the president’s misconduct is overwhelming, and so too is the evidence of his obstruction of Congress,” the report says.

The report doesn’t go so far as to accuse the president of committing specific crimes such as bribery, extortion, or violating the Impoundment Control Act, the law requiring the president to spend money that was appropriated by Congress. Instead, the report reads like a road map for the House of Representatives as it considers whether to draft articles of impeachment against Trump. The Intel Committee will vote to approve the report as early as Tuesday evening and then send its findings to the Judiciary Committee, which oversees the impeachment process.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/democrats-trump-impeachment-report-ukraine-abuse-of-power-921447/