WASHINGTON\u2014Political corruption is so deeply embedded in all sectors of Ukraines government that witnesses called by Democrats in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) impeachment inquiry agreed that President Donald Trump was right to worry that U.S. aid would be wasted.<\/p>\n
Thats according to a highly detailed, 18-page memorandum to HPSCI Republicans from their committee staff released late Nov. 11. The committees minority staff argued that the testimony provided behind closed doors in the past 49 days was \u201call unclassified, so the closed-door process is purely for information control.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis arrangement has allowed [HPSCI Chairman Rep. Adam] Schiff\u2014who has already publicly fabricated evidence and mislead Americans about his interactions with the anonymous whistleblower\u2014to selectively leak cherry-picked information to help paint misleading public narratives, while at the same time, placing a gag order on the Republican members present.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schiffs (D-Calif.) misleading narrative, according to the memorandum, claims Trump pressured Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky in a July 25 telephone call to \u201cinvestigate his political rivals for his political benefit in the 2020 election.\u201d The evidence presented thus far, however, doesnt support that allegation nor allegations that Trump covered up misconduct or obstructed justice, the memorandum stated.<\/p>\n
To the contrary, the memorandum points to multiple examples of Democratic witnesses testifying about the accuracy and prudence of Trumps views on Ukraine, most notably by Ambassador Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump demonstrated that he had a very deeply rooted negative view of Ukraine, based on past corruption. And that is a reasonable position. Most people who would know anything about Ukraine would think that,\u201d Volker told the HPSCI.<\/p>\n
Volker also told the committee, according to the memorandum, that \u201cUkraine has a long history of pervasive corruption throughout the economy, throughout the country, and it has been incredibly difficult for Ukraine as a country to deal with it, to investigate it, to prosecute it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Numerous other witnesses subpoenaed by the committees Democrats, led by Schiff, told the panel the same thing about the pervasive nature of Ukrainian corruption and that Trump was correct in his wariness about it.<\/p>\n
George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, for example, told the committee in his closed-door testimony that Ukraines corruption problem is \u201cserious\u201d and has long been \u201cpart of the high-level dialogue\u201d between the United States and Ukraine.<\/p>\n
So, too, did former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovich, telling the committee that \u201ccorruption is frankly not just pervasive, it is the system.\u201d And Ambassador William Tayler, the current U.S. charge daffaires in the Ukraine, described corruption as \u201ca big issue\u201d there.<\/p>\n
Former White House National Security Council Senior Director Fiona Hill told the committee that Trump \u201chas actually quite publicly said that he was very skeptical about corruption in Ukraine. And, in fact, hes not alone, because everyone has expressed concerns about corruption in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Catherine Croft, Volkers deputy at the Department of State, testified, according to the memorandum, that Trump \u201cdescribed his concerns being that Ukraine was corrupt, that it was capable of being a very rich country, and that the United States shouldnt pay for it, but instead, we should be providing aid through loans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The unanimity among the Democratic witnesses, rather than illustrating political venality on Trumps part, demonstrates that \u201cany reluctance on the Presidents part to meet with President Zelensky, or to provide taxpayer-funded assistance to Ukraine, is entirely reasonable,\u201d according to the memorandum.<\/p>\n