Nobody can decide if there was quid quo pro, but my fear is that we are never going to get that “smoking gun”. Trump has spent his entire life talking like a mob boss. He won’t actually say what he wants, but alludes to it for plausible deniablility. I just see this transcript as more mob boss speak. I do think he is guilty as hell, but he always makes sure to phrase things that allow him to wiggle out of it. He has spent 75 years perfecting this art. |
He uses the same "code" that Michael Cohen referred to. If you understand the code, it is crystal clear in this conversation. |
Trump is saying, "Either do this for me, or I'll leave you vulnerable to Putin." |
TRUMP: We need reciprocity in our relationship with Ukraine.
ZELENSKY: We need Javelin missiles. TRUMP: OK, I need election aid. Talk to my lawyer. - Seth Abrahmson |
Now the Republicans are trying to make the case that Ukrainian leader didn't wake up with a horse head in his bed, so no crime. |
He’ll pull a Flake. |
I love that you filled in that blank. the poster you quoted probably didn't read the very short, big-fonted letter. |
Bingo. “Michael Cohen said in testimony to Congress on Wednesday that President Donald Trump never directly ordered him to lie, but instead made his wishes clear by speaking in “code” understood by anyone who works with him. “He doesn’t give you questions, he doesn’t give you orders, he speaks in a code. And I understand the code, because I’ve been around him for a decade,” testified Cohen, Trump’s former longtime personal attorney. For example, Cohen said Trump would frequently remark that he had no business ties in Russia. Cohen said he understood Trump to mean that he should deny any such connections.” |
Look, if the bag didn't have a dollar sign on it, there was no crime. Stupid libs. |
The fact that you are quoting anything Michael Cohen said is laughable. |
Exactly. He’s nothing but a pathetic drama queen. |
Let me guess, you still believe that Trump had no business ties in Russia. |
Exactly. This conversation is totally a smoking gun. Read the document that was released. Zelensky says explicitly: We are ready to purchase more US weapons, specifically Javelins, for defense purposes. Trump: Great, but please work on this issue for us ... (then he starts talking about Guiliani and the AG and everything). It really couldn't be clearer. Trump's requests to Zelensky came in the middle of Zelensky saying he wants deeper cooperation with the US and more US weapons. |
It is exactly "code," but that is the problem. We ALL know what it is code for, but how do you actually prove it? That is the point of the mob boss code speak. |
Let's also be clear: This isn't a transcript. This is a reconstruction of the call based on the recollections of the NSC policy staff and Sit Room duty officers who listen in on POTUS's foreign leader calls.
So Trump lied when he said we'd get an unredacted transcript. |