The people on the cable news shows have been throwing around a Latin term that the legal community has been throwing around: “quid pro quo.” In English, it means when someone asks a favor in return for something. Check out what else Donald Trump has been asking.
House Democrats have been seeking a paper trail between the “quid” and the “quo” when it came to the president and what he would give in return. He told the Iranian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he would remove his halt on the military aid money to Ukraine when Zelensky came up with dirt on Trump’s potential 2020 presidential candidate, Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
That was why the House Democrats were asking for the documents. The House’s committees issued subpoenas that went to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought. The two have until October 15 to comply with the subpoenas.
The White House has really dug in against the House’s attempts to oversee the Executive Branch. The House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs and Oversight committee have requested all the documents that involved the president’s ask of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This is part of their investigation into Trump looking for dirt on former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Three House committee chairs announced they had subpoenaed the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget to get their documents that were involved in the impeachment inquiry.
The representatives included Representatives Adam Schiff of Intelligence, Elijah Cummings of Oversight, and Eliot Engel of Foreign Affairs. The purpose of those subpoenas was to explain how the president held direly-needed military aid from Zelensky until the Ukrainian president complied with Trump’s administration.
The subpoenas were also issued to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the OMB’s acting director, Russell Vought. They have until Oct. 15 to comply.
The leaders wrote a letter to Esper and Vought which read:
‘The Committees are investigating the extent to which President Trump jeopardized U.S. national security by pressing Ukraine to interfere with our 2020 election and by withholding military assistance provided by Congress to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression, as well as any efforts to cover up these matters.’
Those leaders also subpoenaed the White House for documents that were linked to the impeachment probe. In the case of White House sobpoenas, they have until October 18 to comply.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump’s personal attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, were also subpoenaed in the impeachment inquiry. In addition, Vice President Mike Pence has been sent a request for documents.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced the impeachment in September, shortly after a whistleblower complaint. This complaint formalized concerns that Trump was wielding the full power of the presidency force a country into interfering in the 2020 presidential election.y.
The whistleblower’s complaint, as well as a five-page memorandum of the call, were made public shortly after Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry.
Trump has recently said he made the decision to withhold that aid to Zelensky, because he wanted other countries to pay a larger share of the assistance going to Ukraine. This was odd, because other countries have committed a larger proportion of money, Trump has maintained that there was no “quid pro quo” tying the aid to his requests to Zelensky.
It seems that former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker sent text messages that proved U.S. officials were tied to an investigation of Trump’s presidential opponents and Zelensky’s White House visit. The Ukrainian president was eager to come to the White House and did so recently.
Spokespeople for OMB, the White House, and the Pentagon spokesperson had no comment.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
