In America, tensions are high due to a political scandal involving President Donald Trump and President Zelenskyy of the Ukraine.
On the morning of July 25th, 2019, the two Presidents conversed through what at first seemed like a relatively insignificant phone call. After an initial exchange of pleasantries, President Trump brought up the substantial amount of aid and support that the United States is proving to the Ukraine.
This part of the conversation is significant because a week prior to the call, on July 18th, an official from the Office of Management and Budget informed Departments and Agencies that earlier that month Trump issued instructions to suspend all security assistance to the Ukraine. Thus, the implied message of Trump discussing the aid America gives the Ukraine is as follows: if you would like to continue to receive this aid you will do me the following favor.
Trump then went on to ask Zelenskyy to look into events that went on in Ukraine – potentially referring to the reports of alleged interference in the 2016 United States Presidential Election – and to investigate members of the Biden family.
In late March of this year, a series of articles were published in The Hill where several Ukrainian officials made a series of allegations. One such allegation was that in 2016, former Vice President Joe Biden pressured the now former President of the Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor who was looking into a Ukrainian energy company that Hunter Biden, Joe’s son, sat on the board for.
Joe Biden is one of Trump’s main domestic rivals in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election, so by asking the Ukrainian President to look into Biden’s potentially illegal activity, Trump is being accused of attempting to interfere with the upcoming election.
Following the conclusion of the phone call, many White House officials worried that they had witnessed the President abusing his power for personal gain. They then took the initiative to intervene and “lock down” all records of the call. The records were placed into a separate electronic system that is used to store classified information of an especially sensitive nature. Many saw this as an abuse of the records system because the call did not contain any information even remotely sensitive from a national security perspective.
When the Inspector General received the Whistle-Blower Complaint letter which detailed the aforementioned phone call and the activity surrounding it, he launched a preliminary investigation. The results of the investigation deemed the Complaint letter both urgent and credible.
What will be the result of this political scandal?
Many democrats are using this as the basis for their efforts to impeach Donald Trump. The majority of Republicans are standing by the President, with the notable exception of Utah Senator, Mitt Romney. As the story continues to unfold, it will be interesting to see what the consequences will be.
Note: All information used in the creation of this article was found in section “A” of the September 27th, 2019 edition of The New York Times, and from the transcript of the phone call between Trump and Zelenskyy.