If Biden did in fact do a quid pro quo with the Ukraine by withholding aid until Viktor Shokin was removed from office, do you think it was improper for him to do so? Remember that Trump withheld aid from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador unless they stopped the flow of immigrants to the U.S. A quid pro quo which I had no problem with.
Then you understand why Republicans have no problem with this particular quid pro quo of Trump's
Proper or not proper response if you please. Originally Posted by SpeedRacerXXX
I think it is one of the reasons Democrats dropped the whole quid pro quo argument besides the fact that many Americans have no idea what that means. It means in laymens terms, "I'll give you this if you give me that". So, did Biden say I'll give you a billion dollars if you fire Shokin? Yes he did, it's right there on video. Democrats will counter with ( just like Republicans are countering ) Yeah but everybody and their brother thought Shokin was corrupt! Doesn't alter the fact that Biden offered a quid pro quo. Pretty sure there is nothing in the law that says if you have the "right people" agreeing with you, it's OK.
As Mulvaney correctly said and you just confirmed, quid pro quo is a normal regularly used concept. Happens all the time. What doesn't happen all the time hence the kerfuffle, is asking for an investigation into a person who just so happens to be running against you in the next election but then you have to take into account the legal, written in a treaty, responsibility of a President to with hold foreign aide until it can be shown that the government will investigate and combat corruption no matter who may be involved in that corruption. On the surface, a prima facie case can be made that Biden made an illegal quid pro quo because he asked for an "official act" removal of an official, for money. It could be argued that demanding such an act, removal from office of a foreign official that wasn't charged with and didn't have a trial and wasn't found guilty in a court of law was, what's the word Democrats are now so fond of, oh yeah, "un-ethical" and could be bribery.
At worst what Trump did was violate the federal election law that says no one can solicit a foreign national to give "something of value" in this case information ( not a donation of money ) that could be used against an opponent in an election. This violation usually ends in a fine.
It would be "reasonable" to ask for a censure of the President but I doubt they would get that either.
To give you a direct answer to your question, Yes if what Trump did was against the law, then what Biden did was against the law. Can't have it both ways is my point. Drop the accusation against Trump and the accusation against Biden gets dropped. Don't drop the accusation against Trump and what Biden did will be put on trial and examined for days on end.
Believe me, Democrats are huddling right now asking themselves if it will be worth it to the Democratic party to go to trial in the Senate where Republican will control the show and do everything in their power to take down as many Democrats as they can. No matter who else confirms that "Trump said in the phone call and we have proven" Republicans in the Senate will not convict so what could Democrats possible hope to achieve with a trial? To "dirty up Trump" before the election? OK, but what if doing so, you "dirty up" your party? Would it be worth it? We shall see. I personally don't see how Democrats having gone this far with all their leaders like Nadler who is about to begin his "inquiry" has already said he thinks the President should be impeached, can stop now. That's like a judge saying before the trial to hear evidence, he pronounces the defendant guilty. That is what is happening.
I hope I answered your question.
