President Donald Trump listens during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) Associated Press

In a Friday interview on „Fox & Friends,“ President Donald Trump admitted to holding up military aid to Ukraine to pressure the government to investigate a baseless conspiracy theory about Ukrainian election interference and Democratic collusion.

In other words, Trump acknowledged doing the very thing he has repeatedly denied and could be impeached for.

The president started by referring to the broad outlines of the conspiracy, suggesting Ukraine is hiding a Democratic National Committee „server“ that contains evidence of Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 US election.

After bringing up his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he said, crucially: „I mean, I asked it very point-blank, because we’re looking for corruption. There’s tremendous corruption. Why should we be giving hundreds of millions of dollars to countries when there’s this kind of corruption?“

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In a Friday interview on „Fox & Friends,“ President Donald Trump admitted to holding up military aid to pressure Ukraine’s government to investigate a baseless conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 US election.

In other words, he acknowledged doing the very thing he could be impeached for and has repeatedly denied.

Trump referred to the conspiracy theory that Ukraine is hiding a mysterious Democratic National Committee „server“ that contains incriminating evidence of Ukrainian interference and Democratic collusion. There is no evidence supporting this conspiracy theory — the former National Security Council official Fiona Hill testified this week that it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

„They have the server, right, from the DNC, Democratic National Committee,“ Trump said. „The FBI went in and they told them, get out of here, we’re not giving it to you. They gave the server to CrowdStrike or whatever it’s called, which is a country — which is a company owned by a very wealthy Ukrainian. And I still want to see that server. You know, the FBI’s never gotten that server. That’s a big part of this whole thing. Why did they give it to a Ukrainian company?“

The cohost Steve Doocy, appearing to anticipate the path Trump was going down, asked incredulously: „Are you sure they did that? Are you sure they gave it to Ukraine?“

„Well, that’s what the word is. That’s what I asked, actually, in my phone call,“ he said, referring to his July 25 conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that’s the focus of the whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry.

Then, critically, the president added: „I mean, I asked it very point-blank, because we’re looking for corruption. There’s tremendous corruption. Why should we be giving hundreds of millions of dollars to countries when there’s this kind of corruption?“

In less than a minute, Trump appeared to, for the first time, link the 2016 conspiracy theory to the vague „corruption“ concern his allies have cited as rationale for his withholding the critical military aid to Ukraine.

President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the InterContinental Barclay New York hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019, in New York. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

What Trump is being investigated for

This acknowledgment gets to the crux of the impeachment inquiry, which is focused on whether Trump abused his power by using his public office for private gain.

At the center of the inquiry is the July 25 phone call in which Trump repeatedly pressured Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter over Hunter’s involvement with the Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma Holdings. Trump also asked Zelensky to look into the conspiracy theory alleging Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.

Since details of the call emerged in a whistleblower complaint, over a dozen witnesses have testified in the impeachment inquiry, saying the call was just one data point in a months-long campaign by Trump and his allies to strongarm Ukraine into publicly committing to launching the investigations Trump wanted in exchange for vital military aid and a White House meeting.

The campaign was spearheaded by Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has made statements about his efforts for months.

Several career national-security and foreign-service officers have testified that this „irregular“ channel of Ukraine policy also consisted of others, including:

Gordon Sondland, the US’s ambassador to the European Union.

Kurt Volker, the US’s former special representative to Ukraine.

Rick Perry, the outgoing energy secretary.

Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff.

Sondland, who testified in an open hearing on Wednesday, said „everyone,“ including Pompeo, the former national security adviser John Bolton, and the president himself, was „in on it.“ Sondland added that he worked with Giuliani on the matter „at the express direction“ of Trump.

gordon sondland REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

A cascade of witnesses destroyed Trump’s defenses one by one

Trump’s allies have trotted out a slew of defenses in the snowballing inquiry, but they’ve grown weaker in the face of overwhelming testimony from nonpartisan officials, many of whom spoke in defiance of the White House’s direct orders.

The president has relied primarily on two defenses to shield himself: