If Hunter and Joe Biden were actually guilty of corrupt doings in the Ukraine would that make Donald Trump's withholding military aid, until the Ukraine Government investigated them, legal?
Alex Denethorn, British, but heavily interested in US Politics
No, not in the slightest.
Here’s the thing: the United States does not request that foreign countries initiate investigations into their own citizens. That simply doesn’t happen. They might request assistance with ongoing investigations run by the FBI or DOJ, but that’s the far extent of it.
What Trump did with regards to the Bidens was request that President Zelensky publicly declare that the Ukraine would open investigations into their conduct. That’s utterly unacceptable, particularly since it a) would put the onus on the Ukrainians to do all the work, b) would ultimately require a determination by the Ukrainian judiciary, and c) wouldn’t be the slightest bit binding to US citizens anyway. If the Ukraine found something, that would have to be prosecuted in a Ukrainian court.
If Trump wanted an investigation into the Bidens, there are actual procedures to follow:
Report suspicions (preferably with some level of evidence) to the DOJ or FBI.If this is considered credible, and investigation will be initiated by American law enforcement.Those institutions may thereafter request that the President speak with foreign counterparts and ask for co-operation with a US-led investigation.This was not done - and, worse, Trump pushed the Ukrainians for an investigation against US policy and by withholding Congressionally-allocated security aid until the announcement was made. The money was only released once Congress found that it hadn’t already been given to the Ukrainians.
Quite frankly, however, even if the Bidens had been found acting corruptly, that would be a matter for US law enforcement only - there’d still have been no effective nor reasonable justification for withholding the money, since it had absolutely nothing to do with the Bidens.
Trump abused his office and authority with these, as well as violated Federal law in the process. He had absolutely no cause to withhold those funds, and no cause by which to make that request of Zelensky in the first place. |
