Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Friday, September 27, 2019

The Next Inquiry

Currently the House Intelligence Committee will be investigating the Ukrainian scandal, as it purports to show how Trump abused his power by soliciting help from a foreign power against his political enemies.  Some of the Twitter-sterics are apoplectic that the inquiry "will be limited to the Ukrainian scandal."

But that scandal opens up a lot of other doors to investigate.  For instance, during the phone call, Zelensky pointedly says that he stayed at Trump properties.  This could open an investigation into Trump for bribery and other emoluments.  The actual felonies Trump may have committed are kinda murky.  Sure seems like campaign finance laws were broken.  Sure seems like extortion.  Sure seems like obstruction of justice.  But those can be trickier to prove than "abuse of power." 

If Democrats use Zelensky's boast about staying at a Trump property to open a broader investigation into how Trump has funnelled business and foreign actors to his property...that's a target rich environment.  It would also reinforce the accusations that Trump has been personally profiting off his presidency, which should be the focus of the 2020 election, presuming - as we all do - that the Senate won't remove him.

"Only investigating Ukraine" is still a potentially very wide ranging investigation.

No comments: