| October 9, 2019 | Jill Bold | managing editor |
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It’s a fair time for President Donald Trump to explain himself, and impeachment is a great way to go forward with that.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officially opened an impeachment inquiry on Trump after his questionable dealings with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky were revealed.
Trump was accused of using presidential power to get dirt on former vice president and 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
The timeline of events since the inquiry began proves that the Trump administration owes an explanation to Americans, and the apparent corruption of it from the ground up makes it unlikely that Americans will get those answers barring the impeachment going forward.
Incriminating evidence comes through the news cycle every day now, and with every step Trump takes down the corruption rabbit hole, he leaves behind something that makes him and his party look guilty.
It was also revealed that during a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in June that Trump offered to ignore the Hong Kong riots if China continued trade talks.
Considering the trade issues that the Unites States and China are tied up in is largely Trump’s fault, this seems like a case of trading something for nothing.
After the transcript of Trump and Zelensky was released, the main issue other than its content was the gaps in the recording that seemed to have been removed, according to Maine Sen. Angus King.
While there is a possibility that the sections removed were from a translator and are irrelevant to the call, the idea that anything needed to be removed before its release makes the releaser seem less than innocent.
That’s where it gets interesting. The call was released by the White House. Since then, more has come out making Trump and his party look as if they are frantically trying to cover up the mistakes they have made.
The House is doing all they can to uncover the facts, recently acquiring texts message records that were sent between U.S. Diplomats and Ukraine that say the most important thing is for Zelensky to help with the investigation.
Americans deserve to know the truth. This scandal has transcended American politics and has stuck its corrupted fingers in the business of Ukraine, Australia, Italy and China.
An inquiry of this magnitude that directly involves the president of the United States deserves to be fully fleshed out.
And if Trump is found guilty of the crimes he is being accused of, then his removal, along with anyone else involved, should be America’s No. 1 priority. The fact that a sitting president appeared corrupt in the way Trump currently does bodes poorly for democracy.
In a recent White House news conference alongside Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Trump’s defensiveness was on full display. While Niinisto spoke about climate change and arms control, he found time to explain his experience visiting various American museums and said he was inspired by what Americans have gained in the past few decades.
Trump, on the opposite end of the spectrum, grilled Democrats for their impeachment inquiry and became visibly angry at a journalist who asked Niinisto what favors Trump asked of Finland.
This is not the demeanor of an innocent person, and the Republican Party’s overall response to this entire situation is not the action of a guilt-free party.
Niinisto put it best, though perhaps a bit sarcastically, when he said to Trump, “You have a great democracy. Keep it going on.”
