On MSNBC’s Morning Joe Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed launching a formal impeachment inquiry into a “whistleblower” complaint that President Trump urged Ukrainian President Zelensky to probe White House candidate Joe Biden. She explicitly accused Trump of using “taxpayer dollars to shake down” Ukraine for his own gain.
“I think we have to stay focused as far as the public is concerned on the fact that the president of the United States used taxpayer dollars to shake down the leader of another country for his own political gain,” Pelosi stated.
It is not a fact; Trump released a transcript from his call with Zelensky which clearly showed no quid pro quo with Ukraine. What is a fact is that it was Biden who shook down the Ukrainian president — to fire a prosecutor investigating the business dealings of Biden’s son — and bragged about it on video.
Polls show that a majority of Americans do not want impeachment, and pundits are calling the inquiry a fatal move for the Democrats in terms of the 2020 election.