Impeachment is Bad for the Image?
So, the White House released a memo of a conversation Trump had with the Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. I’m not sure what the purpose of doing this was because it clearly makes Trump look like he’s doing the mob shakedown thing. Representative Adam Schiff thought so too:
The transcript of the call reads like a classic mob shakedown:
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 25, 2019
– We do a lot for Ukraine
– There’s not much reciprocity
– I have a favor to ask
– Investigate my opponent
– My people will be in touch
Nice country you got there.
It would be a shame if something happened to her.
Seriously, does anyone think otherwise that isn’t a toady of the president?
Kevin Drum has perfect abridged version of the memo and I’ll reprint it here:
TRUMP: Congratulations.
ZELENSKY: Thank you. You were a great example to us. We’re going to drain the swamp.
TRUMP: That’s very nice. You know, we do a lot for Ukraine.Way more than those yakky Europeans.
ZELENSKY: Yes indeed. I especially want to thank you for your support in the area of defense. We are ready to buy more weapons from you.
TRUMP: I would like you to do us a favor though. Please look into the DNC server hack. Our attorney general will be calling you about that.
ZELENSKY: Sure, sure, anything for you. I’m appointing a new ambassador so we can continue our strategic partnership.
TRUMP: That’s great. I’d also like you to investigate Joe Biden’s son. Rudy Giuliani and our attorney general will be calling you about that.
ZELENSKY: Sure, sure. The next prosecutor general will be 100 percent my candidate. He or she will look into this. And don’t worry about the old ambassador. She was an Obama fan and she’s being recalled.
TRUMP: Great. I’ll have Giuliani and Barr call you. Your economy is going to get better and better, I predict.
ZELENSKY: The last time I was in New York I stayed at the Trump Tower. We’ll be very serious about that investigation of Biden’s son.
TRUMP: Good. Giuliani and Barr will call you.
So basically instead of exonerating the president it basically has blown up in his dumb orange face. Now, apparently he’s shocked this didn’t work. According to Kaitlan Collins and Jim Acosta, writing for CNN, Trump doesn’t understand why the memo did not deescalate the problem and really doesn’t want to be impeached.
But people close to him said he is not welcoming this impeachment fight. The President who keeps a careful watch on his approval numbers was unhappy.
A source close to the White House who routinely speaks with Trump confirmed he does not want to be impeached.
This is only about optics. He’s going go down in the history books as the third President ever to be impeached. Unless he resigns. Which he should.
I’ll make a short case for it. Trump never wanted to be president. Trump only looks out for himself and his immediate family. Trump is going to be impeached and while he likely will not be removed from office by the Senate, the corruption, self-dealing, and incompetence will be presented for the world to see. That is bad optics. Trump should resign before formal articles of impeachment are presented and to guarantee a full Ford-like pardon of Nixon by Pence. The only downside to this plan is that he will immediately be arrested as a co-conspirator in regards to the Stormy Daniels payout. Michael Cohen says hi. Maybe he can flee to North Korea or Russia.
It’s all about the optics. And money.