He Knew He Got Caught

On Tuesday night, the New York Times broke the story (link here) that Donald Trump released the critically important military aid to Ukraine immediately after learning that a whistleblower had filed a complaint about what he'd done. His withholding of the aid and attempted extortion of Ukraine's leaders, of course, is the catalyst that set the impeachment inquiry ball rolling.

This revelation is critically important because it destroys a GOP talking point that there was no quid pro quo for releasing the aide — which never should have been delayed in the first place, given it was already approved by bipartisan Congressional action. It thus reveals that Trump only released the aide once he realized he'd been caught.

The article also reported about how the freeze in aid was placed the very same day that Trump placed the fateful call to the President of Ukraine and begin his extortion scheme. As well, the piece notes how various senior administration officials had no idea why the freeze was in place and no one would answer them when they inquired.

If the funds were really frozen because of concerns about corruption, that explanation would have been freely given. But it wasn't, because the real reason was illegal.

With Trump's defenses increasingly in tatters, that will leave Republicans with only one defense — that what Trump did was wrong and illegal but that it doesn't rise to the level of an impeachable offense.

The Ukrainians who were killed because Trump withheld the funds might beg to differ.