The impeachment investigation of President Trump was launched roughly a month ago due to a whistleblower complaint. The complaint said that Trump abused his power for political gain by pushing the Ukranian president to investigate former-Vice President Joe Biden. Democrats have issued several subpoenas and requests for documents and testimonies in order to proceed with the investigation.
On October 31, the House voted to make the impeachment inquiry formal. It passed in a 231 to 194 vote with no support from Republicans and three abstentions. Only two Democrats voted no on the formalization and there was one abstention. This opened up a new public side of the investigation.
The vote approved a resolution that would set out rules for an impeachment process. Democrats had been investigating the issue behind closed doors for evidence and heard testimonies for about five weeks before the vote. Now that evidence is slowly being made public.
Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union and ally to Trump, provided an important testimony last month on October 3. His original testimony stated that there was “never” a precondition on the military aid that was sent to Ukraine. This opposed many of the statements that had gone out, saying Trump put a quid pro quo on the aid.
Quid quo pro essentially means “thing for a thing,” or giving someone something they want but only when they give you what you want. The debate between the House is focused mainly on whether or not Trump put a quid pro quo on the aid he withheld from Ukraine, making them first investigate Biden for his own gain.
On Monday November 4, Sondland changed his testimony and, in a three page addendum, said that the aid to Ukraine was in fact linked to the investigation of corruption in the country. He said that it was actually he who offered the quid pro quo to a Ukranian official, telling them that they probably would not get the aid unless they publicly announced the investigation Mr. Trump wanted.
Sondland’s argument was that two other recent testimonies he heard had “refreshed his memory,” according to NPR news. This boosted the Democrats’ argument that Trump did put a quid pro quo on the aid, and angered Republicans who believe Sondland betrayed Trump by going back on his word.
Trump has not expressed any worries about the ongoing investigations. According to the New York Times, he said, “I’m not concerned about anything. The testimony has all been fine.” He also said many of the witnesses were people he did not know or who do not support him. When asked about Sondland he said “I hardly knew the man.”
Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House Chief of Staff, said last month in the White House briefing room that a quid pro quo did link the aid money to investigation and that reporters should “get over it,” according to the New York Times. He retracted this statement a few hours later.
Trump said in a tweet from November 3 that “False stories are being reported that a few Republican Senators are saying that President Trump may have done a quid pro quo, but it doesn’t matter, there is nothing wrong with that, it is not an impeachable event. Perhaps so, but read the transcript, there is no quid pro quo!”
As the investigation moves forward, a new defense approach is being taken by Republicans and Trump. Most Republicans who have been against the impeachment have said that Trump did not put a quid pro quo on the aid. With all the new evidence coming forward that may suggest differently, some are now saying that even if he did, it is not grounds for impeachment.