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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 15 November 2019
Pelosi says Trump’s Ukraine actions amount to ‘bribery’

By LISA MASCARO and ment inquiry concerns
MARY CLARE JALONICK Trump’s July phone call with
Associated Press Zelenskiy that first came to
WASHINGTON (AP) — House attention when an anony-
Democrats are refining part mous government whistle-
of their impeachment case blower filed a complaint.
against the president to a In the phone conversation,
simple allegation: Bribery. Trump asked for a “favor,”
House Speaker Nancy Pe- according to an account
losi on Thursday brushed provided by the White
aside the Latin phrase House. He wanted an in-
“quid pro quo” that Demo- vestigation of Democrats
crats have been using to and 2020 rival Joe Biden.
describe President Donald Later it was revealed that
Trump’s actions toward at the time the administra-
Ukraine. As the impeach- tion was withholding mili-
ment hearings go public, tary aid from Ukraine.
they’re going for a more “The bribe is to grant or
colloquial term that may withhold military assistance
resonate with more Ameri- in return for a public state-
cans. ment of a fake investiga-
“Quid pro quo: Bribery,” Pe- tion into the elections,” Pe-
losi said about Trump’s July Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks to reporters on the morning after the first pub- losi said. “That’s bribery.”
lic hearing in the impeachment probe of President Donald Trump on his effort to tie U.S. aid for
25 phone call in which he Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. It’s also spelled out in the
asked Ukrainian President 14, 2019. Constitution as one of the
Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a Associated Press possible grounds for im-
favor. peachment -- “treason,
Trump says the call was one of the most polarizing McCarthy dismissed the News morning recap Thurs- bribery or other and high
perfect. Pelosi said: “It’s eras of modern times. witness testimony as hear- day. crimes and misdemean-
perfectly wrong. It’s brib- Democrats and Republi- say, at best second-hand The president flatly denied ors.”
ery.” cans are hardening their information. the latest revelations. Dur- During Day One of the
The House has opened its messages to voters, who The president, who said ing Wednesday’s hearing House hearings, career dip-
historic hearings to remove are deeply entrenched in he was too busy to watch a diplomat testified that lomats William Taylor and
America’s 45th president, two camps. the initial hearing as it was another State Department George Kent delivered
with more to come Friday, Trump continued to as- televised, caught up in witness overheard Trump somber testimony about
launching a political battle sail the proceedings as “a the White House residence asking about Ukraine inves- recent months.
for public opinion that will hoax” on Thursday, and Wednesday evening and tigations the day after his They testified how an am-
further test the nation in House GOP Leader Kevin tweeted along with a Fox phone call with Kyiv. bassador was fired, the
“First I’ve heard of it,” he new Ukraine government
said, brushing off the ques- was confused and they
tion at the White House. discovered an “irregular
The Associated Press re- channel” — a shadow U.S.
ported Thursday that a foreign policy orchestrat-
second U.S. Embassy offi- ed by Giuliani that raised
cial also overheard Trump’s alarms in diplomatic and
conversation. national security circles.
While Trump applauded It’s a dramatic, complicat-
the aggression of some ed story, and the Demo-
of his GOP defenders, he crats’ challenge is to cap-
felt that many of the law- ture voter attention about
makers could have done the significance of Trump’s
more to support him and interactions with a distant
he pressed that case with country.
congressional allies ahead With a hostile Russia its bor-
of the next hearing, ac- der, Ukraine is a young de-
cording to Republicans mocracy relying on the U.S.
who were not authorized as it reaches to the West.
to speak publicly about Trump’s reelection effort
private conversations and raised more than $3 million
were granted anonymity. on the first day of public
On Friday, Americans will impeachment hearings,
hear from Marie Yovano- and campaign manager
vitch, the career foreign Brad Parscale announced
service officer whom Trump it now hopes to raise $5 mil-
recalled as the U.S. ambas- lion within a 24-hour span.
sador to Ukraine after what A spokesman for the na-
one State Department of- tional Republican Party,
ficial has called a “cam- Rick Gorka, said there’s
paign of lies” against her been a surge of volunteers
by the president’s personal and the response “we’re
lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. receiving from the field has
At its core, the impeach- been tremendous.”q