Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Politics

Transcript: Trump Asks For “Favor” in Investigating The Bidens But Stops Short Of A Quid Pro Quo

The release of the transcript of the conversation of President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy falls a quid short of a pro quo but still raises troubling questions. As I have discussed on CBS and BBC, the transcript shows that Trump never expressly tied military aid to the “favor.” However, he does push his counterpart to reopen the investigation and even promises to put together a call with his private counsel Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General Bill Barr. However, the Justice Department has released a statement that Barr was not informed of the call by Trump and never spoke with the Ukrainians. While Republicans have called the release of the transcript as a mistake, I believe credit again should be given for the waiver of executive privilege. As with the Mueller report, the White House erred on the side of transparency and that should be noted. There remains a serious question for Congress to investigate but the transcript does not establish the quid pro quo that is practically needed for a compelling case of impeachment.

As I discuss in my column today, the transcript contains some positive elements for Trump. Yet, the subject of the call is deeply troubling and, at a minimum, shows appalling judgment on the part of the president.

The Democrats however will need far more than the whistleblower to make this case. They will need a witness who can tie Trump to a direct linkage between the military aid and the push for an investigation. There is no question that using public office for personal benefit would constitute an abuse of office and an impeachable offense.

There remains considerable skepticism that Pelosi is truly an impeachable convert. The Speaker can still effectively kill impeachment by pushing issues into court and letting the clock run out. The problem is that Democratic voters are clamoring for an actual impeachment and Pelosi may find it increasingly difficult to slow this train down.

I am on my way to Tampa to speak at the Biometrics conference, but will try to update with any developments on this fast moving story.

328 thoughts on “Transcript: Trump Asks For “Favor” in Investigating The Bidens But Stops Short Of A Quid Pro Quo”

  3. Anon1: “An impeachment is not a criminal trial.”

    Anon1: “This may collapse on Trump with the speed of light. Many GOP Senators have a shiv in their boot that they’ll happily run through him if the tide turns.”

    This is the mentality of someone who wants his political enemies destroyed regardless of the truth or the continuance of our Republic. He seems giddy, like all the Dems *for the moment*, at the notion of Trump “collapsing at the speed of light.” But Trump is not the collapsing type, if you haven’t noticed- that’s one of the many reasons we voted for him.

    And therein lies the problem for Anon1 and the loony Dems. Impeachment is the very easy part, it’s what happens in the Senate that really screws things up: an actual trial. No, it’s obviously not a criminal or civil trial- that’s elementary school sophism, Anon1. The Dems have to make their case, before the Senate, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court acting as the “judge”, against the defense team, with witnesses, cross examinations and rules of evidence. Everyone on the planet will be watching. This is the moment Pelosi rightly fears and I crave. It’s what needs to happen.

  4. Pingback: Transcript: Trump Asks For “Favor” in Investigating The Bidens But Stops Short Of A Quid Pro Quo – Legal Service for Business

    2. some Democrats warned throwing Biden under the bus is “the stupidest thing we could do”

      https://politizoom.com/2019/04/02/throwing-joe-biden-under-the-bus-is-the-stupidest-thing-the-democrats-can-do/

      well, the good news is, they just did the stupidest thing they could do

      as i said before, i kind of always liked joe biden. its not surprising he’s been betrayed by the screechers and they soyboys.

      Men are welcome in leadership in the Republican party. The party of Hillary, Pelosi, and “The Squad” are making it crystal clear that the Dem party is and henceforth will be, a henhouse.

      1. No clue what you find the least bit appealing about Biden. I can imagine some liking for Bernie Sanders, Wesley Clark, Howard Dean, Joseph Lieberman, Bill Bradley, Bob Kerrey, Paul Tsongas, Jerry Brown, Paul Simon, the younger Albert Gore, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale, Jimmy Carter, Morris Udall, Henry Jackson, Frank Church, George McGovern, Sargent Shriver, Thomas Eagleton, Hubert Humphrey, Shirley Chisolm, Edmund Muskie, and Eugene McCarthy. I think I can understand why people found Robert Kennedy appealing, though I don’t share that preference myself. You really lost me at Biden.

        1. ‘Who’ likes Biden, Tabby..??

          The beautiful thing about this matter is that it takes out both Trump and Biden.

          1. It doesn’t take out Trump at all. You don’t like Biden why? He backed up your man Obama all the way. You guys lave scant loyalty. Nancy threw him under the bus because she had a hot flash and picked sides with the would-be amazons.

            The whole thing is very lame and they’ve made a huge mistake. One which takes it to another level of partisanship and probably undercuts stuff like infrastructure that was a bipartisan thing, still waiting out there to be done as we have noted.

            But, the whole thing will be a necessary catalyst to further transform the Republican party into where it needs to go.

            1. Kurtz, tell me more about this coming transformation. Are Republicans going even ‘further’ to the right?

              1. Republican legislators are superlatively ineffective at all levels. You haven’t a clue what conservative government is.

        2. among the Dems l like Tusli the most. On many points.

          I like Yang talking about AI and robotics impact on jobs. Bernie has his moments too, and he has a record with some positives, that set him apart.

          Biden is a long time organized labor ally. I have a lot of friends in organized labor. That’s personal. Bernie has the edge on him with labor in this cycle, however.

          In my gut, I feel like he is my kind of guy. He drinks whiskey. I don’t drink much now but when I have I liked whiskey.
          He seems like a whiskey drinker. He’s an Irishman. I like Irish Democrats and grew up alongside them. I feel comfortable with them. Those are gut level things.

          Overall, he comes from an older form of the Democrat party that I liked a lot better than the current nutjob squad. He would not act crazy. He would make some bad choices but not disastrous ones. He would show some moderation and restraint. Unfortunately, he can’t rely on the crazy women of the current Dem leadership not to stab him in the back, so he is weaker than I thought he was, and that’s a minus.

          Its’ all academic about Biden now, he’s been stabbed in the back by the pantsuit from California, pandering to “The Squad” and their ilk.

          1. Overall, he comes from an older form of the Democrat party that I liked a lot better than the current nutjob squad. He would not act crazy. He would make some bad choices but not disastrous ones. He would show some moderation and restraint.

            There is nothing to like about political parties. Ever. They are instruments of power over the American people masquerading as the voices of power of the American people. The 2016 election cycle was a test to determine if the electorate had been sufficiently benumbed by the political class that they would elect a ham sandwich that should have been indicted, not put in the White House. The political class gamble was an epic failure for both wings of the progressive establishment. Their miscalculation set in motion something they had worked decades to erase: US civics education.

            At the center of this education process is President Trump. He is the eye of the storm that has been parked over D.C. for nearly 3 years and he’s been relentless in wrecking havoc on the political class. He has forced the Democratic party to expose themselves for the power mad mob they really are. The Republican party won’t come out of this unscathed. The American people now have a front row seat and they will be both students and witnesses to what has been passing as constitutional order. Fortunately for this country, this will be a multi-generational experience that will set progressivism on it’s exposed heels for decades.

            1. political parties are like criminal gangs or religious groups. they are impossible to eradicate. especially in the West.

              even the Chinese have tried to eradicate political parties and churches and have failed on both accounts. there are actually a few illegal chinese left-wing maoist parties that emerge in different forms from time to time and the CPC crushed them. but like ants they come again. they are social groups and social groups will always exist so long as society does. if and when we are overtaken by cybernetic collectives then the collectives will act in factional conflict, too probably.

              the real action in a one party state is always factions. political parties are like legalized factions. but they have within them, factions themselves. you can never get away from groups in the end.

              Pelosi just let the crazy faction take over the Dem party. Big mistake. But, it bodes well for the Republicans. The bad news is as Tulsi predicted “America will be more divided than ever.” Yes.

              1. political parties are like criminal gangs…

                They are far, far worse than that. Criminal gangs in the civilian class are for the most part, within the reach of prosecution. If however one manages to establish themselves on the other side of the ledger, the likelihood of being prosecuted for criminal misconduct diminishes as one climbs the political ladder.

                One of the most egregious example of this would be Hillary Clinton. The most recent example would be Joe Biden. If he were merely a retired member of the Democrat gang, his actions in Ukraine would not be an impeachable offense for President Trump. But because he is the current face of that gang vying for the office of POTUS, he has every individual wearing their gang colors doing what gangs do.

    3. How will Anon explain just this one item.

      ““So people say there’s no connection between the event, why was Biden’s legal team rushing to talk to the new guy immediately? When they got that chance to talk to him, here’s what they told that prosecutor, they told that prosecutor the story about [the fired prosecutor] being corrupt, not doing reforms, was not true,” Solomon continued. “It was a made-up story by US officials, they called it false information, that means Hunter Biden’s legal team, Burisma’s American legal team, was telling the prosecutors the basis upon which Joe Biden said he just fired [the prosecutor] was not true.”

      Solomon continued by claiming that the media has been pushing a false claim that the case was already closed when Biden had the prosecutor fired. Solomon says that the documents that he is releasing tomorrow show that there was an open case and that Hunter Biden’s legal team was asking prosecutors what it could do to end the case.”

  6. WHISTLE-BLOWER REPORT RELEASED

    GIULIANI’S ROLE GETS BIGGER ALONG WITH BARR’S

    On Thursday morning, a redacted version of the whistle-blower report at the heart of Democrats’ efforts to impeach President Trump was released to the public. The complaint details Trump’s alleged efforts to solicit the help of Ukraine’s president to investigate Democratic 2020 candidate Joe Biden, and the White House’s effort to cover up Trump’s request. Here are the highlights:

    The Trump administration allegedly tried to bury the transcript of the call

    The whistle-blower writes that in the days after the phone call, White House officials said they were instructed to “remove the electronic transcript from the computer system in which such transcripts are typically stored for coordination, finalization, and distribution to Cabinet-level officials.” The transcript was instead loaded into a different system typically used to store classified information, which one White House official, according to the complaint, described as an abuse of the system, since the call did not contain any sensitive national security information.

    Rudy Giuliani’s role drew internal criticism

    The complaint also lays out in detail Giuliani’s long-running efforts to try to get Ukraine’s government to aggressively investigate Biden — efforts Giuliani has not been shy about divulging.

    But the whistle-blower writes that “starting in mid-May, I heard from multiple U.S. officials that they were deeply concerned by what they viewed as Mr. Giuliani’s circumvention of national security decisionmaking processes to engage with Ukrainian officials and relay messages back and forth.”

    The complaint points the finger at Attorney General William Barr

    On the first page of the complaint, the whistle-blower writes that Giuliani is “a central figure” in the effort to tarnish Biden ahead of the 2020 election, but “Attorney General Barr appears to be involved as well.” Barr has denied any involvement in the matter, and the complaint does not lay out any new information about his role in it. But his decision not to recuse himself from the Ukraine probe altogether, which has already drawn fierce Democratic criticism, is likely to draw even more scrutiny now.

    More than six officials informed the whistle-blower of the misconduct

    “Over the past four months, more than half a dozen U.S. officials have informed of various facts related to this effort,” the letter states.

    “I was not a direct witness to most of the events described,” it goes on. “However, I found my colleagues’ accounts of these events to be credible because, in almost all cases, multiple officials recounted fact patterns that were consistent with one another.” These witnesses, the whistle-blower says, were “deeply disturbed” by the Ukraine phone call because they had “witnessed the President abuse his office for personal gain.”

    Edited from: “The Biggest Revelations In The Ukrainian Whistle-Blower Report”

    Today’s New York Magazine

    1. this is deeply boring. go ahead and impeach already. let’s get it over with. the senate will acquit and our side wins the election on a groundswell of anger from the common folks like me leading to a massive Republican turnout. let’s have at it!

  7. This would be important to include in the climate change modeling narrative, don’t you think? Awesome article!

    The take-home message is (that) all climate simulation models, even those with the best parametric representation scheme for convective motions and clouds, suffer from a very large degree of arbitrariness in the representation of processes that determine the atmospheric water vapor and cloud fields. Since the climate models are tuned arbitrarily …there is no reason to trust their predictions/forecasts.

    With values of parameters that are supposed to represent many complex processes being held constant, many nonlinear processes in the real climate system are absent or grossly distorted in the models. It is a delusion to believe that simulation models that lack important nonlinear processes in the real climate system can predict (even) the sense or direction of the climate change correctly.
    https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/09/a-climate-modeller-spills-the-beans/

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/09/toplevel_climate_modeler_goes_rogue_criticizes_nonsense_of_global_warming_crisis.html?fbclid=IwAR0EzeKnHTW6EvoRqSEPjNC395CnHBhPFb05fOD6ftV2HugYVNAGbrAIB3k#.XYuCrStFvz4.facebook

  8. Here’s how this ends. This is a simple equation.

    Republicans stand firm, and if articles of impeachment issue, they vote to acquit in the Senate.

    If any Republican elected officials flake out and defect, they face utter wrath for the rest of their miserable lives and end up looking over their shoulders at the certain retribution that will follow. Whether Trump is impeached or not.

    The rank and file backing Trump are a hardened group of people unlike those who have backed Republicans in the past. If we’re betrayed, there will be vengeance against the petty Republican lordships. I anticipate zero defections. There have already been some but now the die is cast. It is too late to chicken out and switch sides.

    At the secondary layers of obscure bureaucracy, if people who are faced with a choice, they will need to be picking sides very carefully. In this conflict there will be more than careers at stake.

    Once we have victory in the Senate, there will be a massive voter mobilization among Republicans that will stun the commentators with the turnout ratio in Trump’s coming electoral victory. All the usual Democrat tricks and traps are going to fail. they have failed so far and they’re headed for the big fail on impeachment.

    I hear the Dems in on NPR, hopefully praying for defections. They are praying for Republicans to crumble like they did against Nixon. That is their only hope to prevail.

    Well this trifle is no Watergate. If anything the Watergate here was the initial spying on Trump campaign by phony FISA warrants backed up by lies. No Trump will not be abandoned or the rank and file will mercilessly punish the Republicans who defect against him. It will be the END of the Republican party as such if they fail to stand firm like a phalanx in this struggle.

    Much as one side hates another, understand: everybody hates the snitch and the turncoat the most.

    Oh and for the radicals who forced this on Pelosi, against all the Democratic strategists that tried to deter: you will get your comeuppance when this one blunders. “The Squad” and the other nutters are going to get blamed for this once it’s done.

    Like Tulsi said, this one’s going to divide America like never before. OK! What comes after will be better, but it’s time for the base alloy to enter the crucible.

      1. That lady is a real leader. Wow. What courage she has!

        She’s suing Google for shutting her down. Awesome! Calls for regulation to stop these utilities from acting like editors. Yes!

        She’s for avoiding war, deconflicting with Russia, and for not letting Saudis call our shots! Awesome

        She’s for a federal law to rationalize legal marijuana. Great!

        She’s for legalizing sex work between consenting adults. Good idea!

        She’s not antagonizing men! She’s actually part pacific islander, but doesnt pull the race card! kudos!

        I could go on and on, but well, I have, for many months, and in the meantime the Dems have now elevated the screeching harridan Liz Warren, by throwing Biden under the bus. Very lame!

  9. The Democrats have been calling for impeachment since before the inauguration. I say please go for it already. Make your best case before the Senate, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the eyes of every American. Let’s end this charade.

    Sadly, I don’t think that’s their plan. They want to scream. They don’t want to make a rational case before the eyes of the world.

      1. That’s also Natacha after the impeachment trial in the Senate fails miserably and Trump gets reelected.

  10. they had a wimpy voice guy on NPR today breathlessly talking about this thing. He sounded like he was going to wet himself with glee. We see what a lot of despicable power lusters there are in the media. The facade of journalism is dropping fast. The mass media is the enemy alright.

    here’s a list of advertisers. the list is stale but I figure it’s a start. commence boycotting, boycott at will

    Top 10 Brands on CNN (Feb. 2018)
    Otezla $1.07M
    T-Mobile $938K
    GEICO $917K
    Progressive $712K
    Humira $690K
    Nutrisystem $567K
    BMW $511K
    NordVPN $497K
    AT+T $455K
    GoodRx $444K

    Top 10 Brands on MSNBC (Q1 through Feb. 24)
    Smile Direct Club $640K
    Jeep $540K
    Proactiv $379K
    Otezla $318K
    Office Depot $288K
    Cadillac $287K
    Trivago $269K
    Sleep Number $263K
    Humira $261K
    Omaha Steaks $244K

    Top 10 Brands on Rachel Maddow / MSNBC

    Smile Direct Club 30
    BRILINTA 22
    Wayfair 14
    Vistaprint 13
    Otezla 12
    Sleep Number 10
    Zenni Optimcal 8
    Olay 8
    AT&T 8
    GrubHub 8

    Top 10 Brands on Anderson Cooper 360 / CNN

    T-Mobile 28
    Otezla 24
    Wayfair 22
    GEICO 18
    BMW 18
    Ancestry 13
    Atlantis Paradise Island 12
    Verizon 12
    ClearChoice 11
    AT+T 11

    interesting that VPN knows where its customers are,

    most Republicans prolly never heard of a vpn clearly the democrats know how to use them

    1. Otezla is the psoriasis medication that Cyndi Lauper’s been hawking. I recall seeing her on the cover of the New York Times Magazine ca. 1990, but doubt I could have identified any of her songs in the era wherein I listened to radio daily, much less today.

      I guess partisan Democrats have bad skin.

  11. Turley’s proudest accomplishment: Kellyanne Conway.

    that should speak for itself.

    Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan…you’re not helping; you’re making the world worse. stop now please.

    George too, by the way..

    1. your mother reports, according to reliable sources, that she regrets defending you all those times your daddy said they should have left you at the abortion center. Something about body parts bring in money

  12. On this phone call evidence, you couldn’t convict Trump of bad grammar much less extortion. What a joke these Dems are. Trump impeached for investigating a corrupt Joe Biden crime family – allegedly. If Trump knew the Germans had photos of Biden taking payoffs from the Chinese to be a Manchurian candidate, by this standard he couldn’t ask for them.

    Great Countries don’t fall by war; they fall by stupidity.

    1. Mespo

      1. An impeachment is not a criminal trial.
      2. If you think Trump cared about “corruption” instead of his own political interests you are unbelievably naive and perhaps that explains your fealty to him.
      3. The call unequivocally demonstrates extortion, misuse of federal funds, and asking a foreign government for help on a US political campaign.

      Lock him up.

      1. anon1 avatar keeps changing colors.
        How many Starbucks do you have in your area that allow you evade Darren blocking your IP?

        1. Thanks for your concern.

          I have nothing to do with changing colors and have no idea how or why it happens, nor do I care.

          1. Anonymous must know because his color has changed many times. I wonder why anonymous doesn’t call himself Starbucks.

            Anonymous wrote: “anon1 avatar keeps changing colors.How many Starbucks do you have in your area that allow you evade Darren blocking your IP?”

          2. “have no idea or why it happens”

            She works hard for her money. whatever it takes to spin, pivot and troll for George Soros

      2. Anon1:

        “1. An impeachment is not a criminal trial.
        2. If you think Trump cared about “corruption” instead of his own political interests you are unbelievably naive and perhaps that explains your fealty to him.
        3. The call unequivocally demonstrates extortion, misuse of federal funds, and asking a foreign government for help on a US political campaign.”
        ********************

        1. I guess all that lingo about “conviction for” and “bribery, treason and high crimes and misdemeanors.” along with “try by the Senate” and “presided over by the CJSCOTUS” are medical terms. It may not be strictly criminal but close enough in process for government work.
        2. If you can divine intent beyond the words of the document you need a swami hat and a place on the couch near the corpse of Ed McMahon.
        3. Send me your address, I send you a dictionary to define “unequivocal” for you. HINT: It doesn’t mean “if I squint really hard and wish even harder, I can make words mean what I want them to.”

        1. Mespo, not really worth a response. You just keep buying the elixir. We understand you’re addicted now and no longer have a choice.

          1. actually Mespo just rehearsed a conversation they have in every single constitutional law class in every single law school across america. we spent about a week on impeachment if I recall correctly.

            Of articles of impeachment are issued, then the Senate can try it and vote however it wants. There are a series of resolutions which emerged from Nixon which were applied in Clinton. There is a roadmap. While common law notions of due process are not strictly binding the Senate as a whole is most certainly bound by our notions of due process because if they are not than neither are we.,

            And they are few and we are many.

            1. I would add that any impeachment trial is presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It’s a trial…just not a criminal or civil court.

    2. yeah mespo i tried to make that point yesterday about cross border investigations which are a daily occurrence but the post was too long so some persons refused to read it.

      Impeachment is not to be used lightly. They were bent on impeachment from day one.

      I guess the Democrats are willing to burn down the Republic for this Hail Mary pass.

      This is where scenarios about constitutional crisis start rehearsing action plans. The magazines were loaded up a while ago.

      1. “I guess the Democrats are willing to burn down the Republic for this Hail Mary pass.”

        Kurtz certainly you are more certain than a mere guess.😀

  15. This may collapse on Trump with the speed of light. Many GOP Senators have a shiv in their boot that they’ll happily run through him if the tide turns. You don’t think they want to dump this guy? The f… they don’t. Most of them can’t stand him and think he stole their party. They only thing they’re wrong about is they didn’t have the balls to fight for it.

    If this starts to go, it’ll be over fast.

    3. The hopes and predictions about things starting “to go” have been around for nearly 3 years now.
      The impeachment talk started before Trump was even inaugurated.
      Whether the hopes of “things starting to go” involved emoluments, the OSC investigation, money laundering and other alleged financial crimes, Manafort or Cohen sinking him, Russia conspiracy, obstruction of investigation that found no conspiracy, etc., we’ve seen a very long string of attempts and predictions about Trump’s political destruction.
      (Anon1 did say IF things start to go, so that may be more of a hope than a prediction).
      Those salivating at the prospect of running Trump out of office before completing the full 4 year term will probably be disappointed again.
      I don’t see this latest White House “crisis” moving the needle one way or the other as far as scoring political points.
      It’s a very hard pill to swallow for some, but the TDS crowd will just have to wait for an election about a year from now for a chance to get rid of Trump.
      If he is reelected, and there seems to be about a 50/50 chance of that, those who went bonkers after Nov. 2016 will really put on a show.

      1. You guess – start with Cruz and Rubio and end with the “moderates”. By some informal counts I have heard 20-30.

        1. I did not make the claim about ‘Many GOP Senators” with “a shiv in their boot.
          You did, anon1. What “you hear by some informal accounts” does not mean a heck of a lot.
          It’s not up to me to “guess” which GOP Senators are supposedly eager to turn against Trump.
          It is more than a guess that your claim about “what you hear by informal accounts” is a load of crap.

        2. I see aspirant Republican politicians aren’t the only people Mike Murphy can con.

    5. and we have metaphorical shivs for turncoats

      see Republican leadership was pretty well hated by the rank and file, before Donald.

      He’s the first guy some of us like in a long time.

      They abandon him, they will have hell to pay.

  16. His Highness, King Joseph Biden, did crimes in his high office and high crimes are impeachable offenses if done by a high official in high office which His Highness, King Joseph Biden, was.

    His Highness, the Emperor, has no clothes!
    ________________________________________

    “In 2013, then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden flew aboard Air Force Two to China. Less than two weeks later, Hunter Biden’s firm inked a $1 billion private equity deal with a subsidiary of the Chinese government’s Bank of China. The deal was later expanded to $1.5 billion. In short, the Chinese government funded a business that it co-owned along with the son of a sitting vice president.”

    – New York Post

  18. A President has the duty to ask a foreign leader what is going on when an American is getting a huge amount of money from some oligarch and is the son of a Vice President. What the heck was going on Biden? Hunter and Uncle Joe need to be interrogated.

  19. The only Quid Pro Quo in this entire fiasco is courtesy of ole Uncle Gropey Joe -the Liar- Biden. Notice that Turley has yet to even address the real QPQ. So how about it Turley – what ought happen to the real QPQer – Uncle Joe??

  20. This headline is completely misleading – the “Do us a favor” in the transcript has nothing to do with Biden – it has to do with Crowdstrike. Again Turley, stop with the NON SEQUITURs and stick to what is known. SHAME on you Turley.

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