There has been a lot of chatter in the country for the last 2 weeks in regards to El Presidente 45 and his alleged quid pro quo with the Ukrainians from his July 25th phone call. According to the theory, Trump was pushing at, we give you military aid and you dig up some dirt on Joe Biden and his wayward kid who scored a really cool paying gig for breathing.

However, in all the news coverage that I have consumed, there has been one thing missing and I can’t seem to find it.

Where is the payoff to the Trump team?

In a murder investigation, you have to have a body to declare it a “murder investigation” and it really helps if you have the weapon also. In this case, though, we have a conversation in July and the money being released in Septemeber. We don’t have anything showing that something was exchanged for that money.

Where is that info?

Now, I know my friends on the left side of the aisle will say that is what the investigation is for. However, the Ukrainians have denied that anything was ever sent. If they kept quiet I could see some trouble coming. Yet why would the newly elected President of Ukraine lie about this?

As an example of a clear cut, you do this and you will get this, we will go to Vox and see what Joe Biden said he did while Vice President…

So in 2016, Biden told the Ukrainian government that their loan guarantees would be cut off unless they removed Shokin. He told the story at a session at the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018.

“I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion.’ I’m going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours,” Biden said. “I looked at them and said: ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.’”

The former vice president said after the threat, “Well, son of a bitch, he got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.”

He helped get the prosecutor fired in exchange for money from the United States. This may not be against the law but it sure seems quid pro-quo-ish to me.

I went farther into the Vox article to see if maybe they had any clue to what was the gift that the Trump administration received and WHEN it was. Here is what they said…

The Trump administration initially told Congress it was releasing the aid to Ukraine on February 28. It repeated that assertion to Congress again on May 23, but failed to explain to lawmakers but struggled to explain — both publicly and to the lawmakers who approved the aid — exactly why the funds were withheld.

Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell couldn’t get a straight answer from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper over the summer on why the aid hadn’t been dispersed yet.

But then on September 11, the Trump administration suddenly disbursed the money.

So what changed? It’s not entirely clear.

The last line there, that we do not know what changed being it is not clear, is telling.

Government is not a smooth-running machine contrary to what anyone that thinks it is a savior believes. The Trump administration though makes the everyday “normal” running of government look like it is standing still. They are playing whack a mole and it can get confusing and hectic.

Yet the Federal government delays things all the time. After reading the transcript myself and playing devil’s advocate and pretending I want Joe Bidens head on a plater, I can see where people would want to say Trump was arm twisting. So then to complete the process we need to see where the goods were delivered after the money was released.

Where is the quo in the quid-pro?

If you find it please let me know.

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