Trump and his team are idiots, page 2

originally posted by: Peeple
The whole impeachment thing stands on the claim Trump withheld money to Ukraine because he wanted to blackmail them to provide dirt on Biden.
That's pure bs, because the money was scratched from ERI/EDI to fund his wall.
It amazes me how stupid everybody is, do you seriously not know what you did yesterday?
Even Rachel #ing Maddow had it on her show with the whole how Trump makes everything on Putin's wishlist come true thing.
Are you kidding me? I'm no lawyer but I'm pretty sure if you can prove you didn't hold back money to blackmail but to secure your backyard the whole case collapses.
Just would be #ing helpful if you could remember what you did yesterday and why.

And no I won't link sources, this is a rant and I'm not helping idiots.

I'm not a lawyer either, but I'm not sure it would be legal for Trump to divert ERI/EDI funds to build his wall. As I understand it, the only way Trump was able to do that in the past is because he declared a national emergency, which has a provision that allows the President to redirect funds in the DOD budget from one construction project to another. So, he took money that had been planned to build shooting ranges, airplane hangars, missile emplacements, etc. I don't think that ERI/EDI funds would fall in the right category.

The main problem I see with your line of argument, however, is the fact that this at least the third explanation I've heard from Trump and his apologists for why he froze the funds. When Trump first spoke about this back in September, he claimed that he froze the funds because he was extremely concerned about corruption. Rep.Matt Gaetz is still singing that song on talk shows today. The next day after Trump's first explanation he said he was actually concerned that other European allies weren't paying their fair share. Now, you're saying the real reason is because he wanted to use that money to build his wall.

These three stories can't all be true, can they? That means that at least two (and maybe all three) are bull#. Trump and his apologists seem to be relentlessly trying to make up a story to support the idea that his motives were not corrupt. And they can't even agree with each other.

And here's another thing. IF Trump really had a motive to freeze the funds that was not corrupt, why did he engage in deep secrecy and evasion even within his own agencies when he decided to do it? As I understand it, the law that provided the ERI/EDI funds in the first place requires the President to notify Congress in writing if he wants to hold back or redirect any of the funds and explain what his reasons are. Then Congress and the President would negotiate the issue. That's what the law says should have happened. Trump signed the law back in 2017 without protest. He also took an oath of office to see to it that the laws of the land are faithfully executed. If Trump really thought he had a legitimate reason to freeze the funds, why didn't he simply obey the law? Among other things, that would have provided a paper trail that would have totally avoided this entire controversy.

While we're on the topic, why has Trump provided no paper trail whatever that would support the claim that his motives were not corrupt? If he had discussed with any of his closest senior officials that the reason he was freezing the funds was because of: Ukrainian corruption/cheapskate allies/building the wall (take your pick) don't you think there would be emails, memos, phone conversations, etc. that would prove that? Don't you think Trump would release that paper trail and let his senior officials testify to his innocence if that were true?