It's not clear cut, only because Trump didn't outright say "investigate Biden or we don't give you money" on the call but sugar-coated it in a mob thread.
I've said it elsewhere, but Trump essentially made a very transparent mafia-esque threat. "I'd like you to do us a favor" is not a thing with much interpretation if you've read any mafia novels or seen mafia movies (and for Trump -> his family has ties to the mob) and then having several people send to Ukraine to ensure an investigation is started before the money gets handed over is a quid quo pro.
We don't just need to look at Trump here for the call. Giulianis, Sondland and all the others around him tell us much more about what actually happened and how it was intended. The White House made an active effort to cover up the call itself, Giuliani has been involved in notorious shifty deals, Volker outright came clean in his hearing because he didn't want to get scapegoated by Trump et al., the White House is actively telling it's own administration members to not testify.
They know they fucked up with this situation. Let me put it like this: The allegations made are really damn serious. Trump is facing impeachment charges. Now, the best way to respond would be complete openness. If it's all as horseshit of an investigation as Republicans claim it is, then they should show it. But instead, they're going on a full lockdown mode, not revealing anything and instead constantly complaining about non-existent procedural issues whilst telling everyone to shut the fuck up and not say anything.
Saying it's not a "quid pro quo" is incredibly disingenuous at this point.
You're still caught up in specifics based on an entire farce. You're buying into the bullshit. You can argue speculative hearsay all day long, but the specifics in these instances don't jive with reality. I could address every single thing that Liberals bring up about the entire situation, but that's playing into their hand. It's like spending 7 hours of an inquiry looking into if the witness had any information pertaining to the fact that Trump was guilty of a crime and using all but 2 minutes to distract from the issue that the witness has zero evidence. This is how the entire thing has been played out. A bunch of hot air coming from the Liberals. So excuse me if I don't want to start pointing out about each claim you bring up and how each one is bullshit. It's a waste of my intelligence and time. I specifically addressed this witness to highlight the overall invalidity of the entire 10th impeachment effort. I'm really not interested in being distracted by the things you mentioned that don't show any proof of quid pro quo. When you've got some actually valid evidence get back to me.
Just because you're being accused of something doesn't mean you should provide unfettered access to your personal data/property, especially if the accusations are false. Who knows what else the Liberals will use and try to twist and use against Trump. If someone accuses me of something I will do whatever I can to prevent them from accessing any of my personal information. Just because you're doing nothing wrong doesn't give anyone a right to go through your stuff and nor does being accused of a crime. I love how people try to argue that if you're doing nothing wrong that you should just let anyone access your personal property or watch you on demand. Clearly, if I came to your house and asked to go through your entire house, including records like your bank accounts and to be given unfettered access to your email and browser history plus sit back and monitor and follow you around based on the fact that I claim that I overheard people saying you said something you'd be okay with that right? What about if I wanted to put cameras in your bathroom and watch your take a shower and go about your business on a daily basis. Surely, privacy doesn't matter nor should even be a thing. If that's the case, what's your gbatemp password? I accuse you of being a lying Liberal and want to make sure you're being honest.
I do agree with you that the allegations are serious, which is why I would support punishing the people responsible for making them up if they don't produce an actual impeachment. I mean, this is the 10th attempt? Should we sit back and allow another four of five attemps to go on at our expense? Clearly, Congress could be working on moderate solutions to our problems instead of pandering to the Far Left socialists because their user base can't get over the fact that they lost. It's just a shit show that goes to show what sort of people Liberals are. Most of the USA sees right through the Liberal minorities agenda. You realize, that most of the country aren't Twitter trolls nor succumb to fake news sites. They work for a living. I've never liked poor losers. When I lose at something I accept defeat, shake my opponents hand and work to make things better. This is why Liberals will always be on the losing side of history.
Last edited by cots,