Release of Full, Unredacted Trump-Ukraine Transcript Still Isn't Enough for 2020 Democrats
For Democrats in the House and on the campaign trail, it’s always time to move the goalposts.
After bleating incessantly since last week that President Donald Trump should release the transcript of his July phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky because there’s allegedly evidence of an impeachable offense contained in it, liberals were brought up short Tuesday by Trump’s announcement that he would indeed release the record Wednesday morning.
And suddenly, of course, it wasn’t good enough at all — especially with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing Tuesday afternoon that a formal impeachment inquiry into the president would be established by the Democratic-run House.
Trump’s Twitter post on the topic is fairly comprehensive. He said he would release the “complete, fully declassified and unredacted transcript of my phone conversation” with Zelensky.
Anyone who remembers how Democrats behaved over the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report wouldn’t be surprised at what happened next.
Democrats promptly declared that the transcript alone wasn’t good enough — not by a long shot.
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, former Texas Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar were among those in the still-crowded 2020 Democratic presidential field who demanded more.
President said he’s releasing call transcript. Remember it’s the whistleblower complaint we must see. Not just one call. Complaint reportedly involves more. It isn’t legal to sell out your country for personal gain. As I’ve said before, House should open impeachment investigation
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) September 24, 2019
Not enough. Congress and the American people deserve the full whistleblower report. https://t.co/1KJCHzPwYv
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) September 24, 2019
Ok. Now release the full whistleblower complaint. https://t.co/FCoRgQDXrQ
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 24, 2019
Anyone who thinks even that will be enough is a fool.
In the case of the Mueller report, Democrats first weren’t happy because they said it wasn’t being released fast enough, as Forbes reported. Then, when it was released, it contained court-ordered retractions of grand jury material.
Now, five months later and long after most of the country has lost interest in the ultimately empty special counsel investigation, Democrats from Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s Judiciary Committee are still in court fighting over it.
Basically, Democrats know they have a problem with American voters.
They spent more than two years and tens of millions of dollars investigating supposed Russian “collusion” with the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and came up empty.
Unless there’s a downturn in the economy between now and November 2020 (something traitorous Democrats are no doubt hoping for) they have nothing to attack Trump with on the domestic front that will put them over the top.
Now, they’ve got a bizarre shot again thanks to an anonymous “whistleblower” who has some kind of complaint with the administration that was originally based on the contents of a phone call between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, but now might not be about that phone call at all.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Tuesday announced the whistleblower wants to testify in front of his committee in person. But considering he’s the guy who used to claim there was evidence of Trump collusion with Russia in “plain sight,” all that’s likely to do is whet the Democratic appetite for more dirt and potential dirt on the Trump administration.
Publicly releasing the transcript of what was intended as a private conversation between two heads of state might or might not be a good idea, but Trump clearly has decided that quelling a current domestic controversy is worth the price of whatever worries a foreign leader might feel on the phone with the White House in the future.
But it’s clear that it won’t be enough for Democrats. Nothing will ever be enough until 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. has a new resident.
Until that happens, whether through the ballot box in 2020, impeachment, or — if the country is lucky enough — after another four-year Trump term, they’re never going to give up.
They have to keep moving the goalposts. They can’t win without cheating.
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