But, first, the summary of the July 25 call released by the White House corroborates rather than undercuts the allegation that Trump was pressuring Ukraine’s leader. Second, Zelensky, who still must curry favor with the White House out of geopolitical necessity, has a powerful motive to obfuscate in accordance with Trump’s wishes. Third, Trump is a serial liar even when not facing impeachment. Fourth, the decision to release the funds to Ukraine when faced with a whistle-blower complaint and public revelation hardly suggests that there was never any pressure campaign. Indeed, Trump has no credible alternative account of why the funds were ever delayed.

Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes: The remedy for Mitch McConnell

“On December 10,” the Republicans point out, “a close aide to President Zelensky, Andriy Yermak, denied discussing a quid pro quo with Gordon Sondland … It is difficult to conceive that a months-long pressure campaign existed when the alleged victims are not aware of it and deny being pressured.” The Republicans pit Yermak, a Ukrainian official with every incentive to lie for Trump, against Sondland, who donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee, was appointed European Union ambassador by Trump, and thereafter found himself working on Trump’s Ukraine agenda.

Republicans purport to find the million-dollar Trump donor giving sworn testimony––seemingly against personal interest––less credible than the Ukrainian. Why? And if there were no “months-long pressure campaign,” what was Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, doing talking to Ukrainians and interfacing with U.S. officials on Ukraine policy before publicly stating that he urged the country to probe the Bidens?

“Simply stated, the Majority is advancing an impeachment based on policy differences with the President,” the Republicans allege, “a dangerous and slippery slope that our Founders cautioned against.”



While the impeachment inquiry has at times strayed into policy and procedural critiques, the core case against Trump is not about either. There is no partisan divide about whether Ukraine should pursue anti-corruption, as the Obama administration encouraged, or whether it ought to receive U.S. military aid that Congress had already approved. Crucially, Democrats insist that Trump acted with a corrupt motive to benefit himself. The Republican position is not that it’s fine for presidents to pressure foreign governments to help their chances in U.S. elections, but that Trump didn’t do that.

What’s more, the Republicans question whether a request to investigate the Bidens is tied to the 2020 election. “Asking the president of Ukraine to ‘look into’ potential corruption involving Hunter Biden’s employment at a notoriously corrupt company in Ukraine is not ‘corrupting democratic elections,’” they insist. “Any request, however remote, that might benefit a politician politically is not an invitation to corrupt an election. To portray the President’s request as corrupting the 2020 election is disingenuous, at best.”