This isn’t an original post but key points from a Washington Post article titled: Five vile things Trump did to Zelensky and Ukraine that you forgot about. If this is behind a paywall and you can’t see it, let me know and I’ll fill in more detail. But in the meantime:
1. Spread propaganda about Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election
As early as 2017, Trump began voicing the conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, had interfered in the 2016 presidential election. This was one of the things Trump pressured Zelensky to “investigate” while withholding military aid.
2. Ousted the well-regarded U.S. ambassador to Ukraine
Trump pushed out Marie Yovanovitch in 2019, after his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani mounted a smear campaign against her. Yovanovitch was perceived as disloyal to Trump.
3. Froze military assistance to Ukraine
Well before extorting Zelensky, Trump alarmed officials by freezing military aid to Ukraine that Congress had appropriated, but without meaningful policy justification. Crucially, officials subsequently testified that granting this aid was important in dissuading Russian aggression, which would be in European and U.S. interests.
4. Withheld a White House meeting from Zelensky
In 2019, Trump communicated in various ways to Zelensky that a much-sought-after White House meeting would be conditioned on doing his corrupt dirt-digging on Joe Biden.
5. Turned Ukraine policy over to Giuliani
This was one of the most shocking subplots: Trump repeatedly instructed Zelensky to contact Giuliani to discuss what Zelensky would be required to do to please Trump. Giuliani’s circumvention of national security protocols deeply alarmed officials.
That effectively handed potential influence over the future of U.S.-Ukraine relations to Trump’s personal lawyer — to the ringleader of the scheme to pressure Ukraine into helping Trump further corrupt our own elections.
Don’t forget these issues as Trump and his minions try to retell history and claim that their regime supported NATO and Ukraine. Bollocks!
Right on. And tie it back to Manafort working with pro-Putin oligarchs to get poll data about Wisconsin and other states, and coordinating Russian online operations to target certain voters.
Ron Johnson owes his seat to those efforts, knew about it before the 2016 election, and covered it up.