President Donald Trump is set to face an impeachment trial over his plot to get Ukraine to investigate his domestic political opponents. That plot didn’t pan out — but in a hilariously ironic twist, this Thursday, Ukraine did, in fact, announce a criminal investigation. That new investigation targets associates of Trump himself in response to evidence revealing them appearing to plot surveillance of and some kind of harm against Marie Yovanovitch when she was still serving as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. Many Twitter users noticed the irony of Trump’s plot backfiring in this pointedly fitting fashion.
Joe Biden presidential campaign staffer Joe Flaherty commented:
‘Trump wanted Ukraine to announce a sham investigation into Joe Biden and instead got a real investigation into himself. Art of the deal, baby.’
Trump wanted Ukraine to announce a sham investigation into Joe Biden and instead got a real investigation into himself. Art of the deal, baby. https://t.co/V96iedD72m
— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) January 16, 2020
It’s true — the Bidens were a target of Trump’s hoped-for Ukrainian investigations, despite the complete lack of evidence tying them to any kind of criminal activity. Meanwhile, literal text messages are now public that feature personal Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas chatting with Connecticut Republican Robert Hyde about seemingly surveilling and harassing Yovanovitch. It’s right there in the texts, plain as day.
National security reporter Greg Miller asked in amused amazement:
‘So Ukraine has launched an investigation OF Rudy and his pals, instead of the investigation sought BY Rudy and his pals?’
Good job Rudy! At this rate, who knows what mess Trump’s oh-so-great legal counsel will get him into next. Maybe they could try the email thing — that seemed to work for Republicans going after Hillary Clinton.
So Ukraine has launched an investigation OF Rudy and his pals, instead of the investigation sought BY Rudy and his pals? https://t.co/3d2IXn9sNN
— Greg Miller (@gregpmiller) January 16, 2020
For his part, Parnas has claimed that he actually had no part in any actual surveillance or harassment of Yovanovitch. During a televised interview with Rachel Maddow this week, he claimed that he was just going along with Hyde, who he claimed had a drinking problem. No matter the excuse of the texts just constituting some kind of drunken rambling, Yovanovitch was told by Ukrainian officials that Giuliani and his goons “had plans, and that they were going to, you know, do things, including to me.” Similarly, during a phone conversation with the Ukrainian president, Trump himself insisted that Yovanovitch was “going to go through some things.” What were these morons concocting?
Reminder that Yovanovitch testified that UKRAINIAN officials warned her that Guiliani and other associates “had plans, and that they were going to, you know, do things, including to me”. https://t.co/MG6Y5J1t9F
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) January 14, 2020
Check out more Twitter reactions:
Welp, Trump finally got Ukraine to announce an investigation… https://t.co/gxyj5LCPVo
— Heath Mayo (@HeathMayo) January 16, 2020
Giuliani finally got Ukraine to open an investigation. https://t.co/h9YMuQ9fUy
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) January 16, 2020
Trump wanted Ukraine to announce an investigation. Mission accomplished! https://t.co/UzAXqtlkdF
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) January 16, 2020
Yay! Trump FINALLY got his Ukraine investigation! He needs to be careful what he wishes for though.
— MΞGAN KΞLLΞY HALL (@MeganKelleyHall) January 16, 2020
Looks like Ukraine finally opened up an investigation… just against the actual criminals in all this: The Trump administration and their goons. https://t.co/wram7oMCVU
— Gissur Simonarson 🇮🇸🏴 (@GissiSim) January 16, 2020
I swear this administration is like bizarro world… everything they say… the exact opposite turns out to be true. They FINALLY got Ukraine to announce an investigation https://t.co/Wa9HznVjh5
— Sebastian Kole (@SebastianKole) January 16, 2020
“That feeling when you undertake a massive criminal conspiracy to get Ukraine to announce an investigation into your rival and instead they announce one on you” – @apiper13 https://t.co/roOYbaONXg
— Versha Sharma (@versharma) January 16, 2020
