Who's making best arguments for impeachment? Trump

By Eugene Robinson / The Washington Post

Impeachment of a president is a deeply serious affair. Efforts by President Trump and his defenders to explain away his clear-as-day abuse of power are providing a bit of comic relief.

The problem for the president and his amen chorus is that the White House released a document proving Trump guilty of an impeachable act. In the official memorandum of a July 25 conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — at a time when Trump was unilaterally withholding $391 million in military aid for Ukraine, which Congress had approved —- Zelensky expresses a desire to purchase U.S. anti-tank missiles. Trump replies: “I would like you to do us a favor though.”

Book him.

The “favor” includes firing up an investigation of Joe Biden, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Trump ignores U.S. national security interests and uses taxpayer funds as leverage to coerce a foreign leader into interfering in the 2020 election. For such conduct, he not only can be impeached but must be impeached.

Those trying to somehow explain this away are reduced to playing dumb.

Some Republicans claim not to have found the time to read the rough transcript of the phone call, which is a mere five pages long. Others claim to have misread it: When Scott Pelley of “60 Minutes” read the above quote to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy initially disputed that the president said the word “though,” which delivers a clear message: Zelensky will get his missiles if Trump gets his investigation.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/robinson-whos-making-best-arguments-for-impeachment-trump/