Thread by @ReginaldOhLaw

It’s time for Democrats to stop saying “quid pro quo,” and instead frame Trump's misconduct as extortion and bribery.

And between extortion and bribery, emphasize extortion.

Why extortion? Because extortion lets you tell a compelling story with a bad guy & a victim.

Thread

First, here’s how I would describe Trump’s misconduct: Trump threatened to cancel 400 mill in military aid unless Ukraine agreed to smear Biden.

That’s extortion, and it's a story that we want to be telling.

Here’s the key elements of a classic story about extortion:

(1) A malicious bad guy with a lot of power
(2) Making a threat
(3) To force a vulnerable victim to do something he doesn’t want to do

And here’s the extortion story with the facts in the Ukraine scandal:

1) A corrupt President Trump
2) threatening to cancel 391 million in military aid
3) Unless Ukraine, a war torn nation in desperate need of funds, smeared Trump’s political rival.

It’s a clear cut story with a powerful villain doing something reprehensible to a sympathetic, vulnerable victim.

It’s a story of coercion, abuse, exploitation, and manipulation.

It’s a much more compelling story than “quid pro quo,” or even bribery.

Bribery also tells a compelling story, but what’s missing in bribery are the elements of coercion/threat and a sympathetic victim.

Why? In a typical bribery story, both actors are guilty of seeking illicit gain.

I.e., a corrupt businessman bribing a corrupt politician to award him a big government contract. Both parties are willing participants in the bribery scheme.

That's a story that doesn't quite pull at your heart strings like a story with a villain and a clear victim would do.

Extortion is that story.

Ukraine is that sympathetic, vulnerable victim.

Ukraine, a poor nation torn apart by war for the past five years.

A nation at war against a powerful foe, Russia.

A nation with a new young president desperate to keep U.S. as an ally.

A nation desperate for the military aid needed to fight the war and prevent a complete Russian take over.

A nation vulnerable to extortionist demands made by Trump.

With a sympathetic victim, you feel anger & outrage at the villain who is taking advantage of that victim.

And you need the public to feel righteous anger at Trump if you are going to create a public groundswell for conviction and removal.

You want to tell a story that gets the public to think to themselves, "How could he do that to poor Ukraine?"

Realistically, Trump is probably going to get acquitted.

But if there’s any chance of getting a conviction, we need to be able to tell the most compelling story about a "bad guy" maliciously inflicting harm on a helpless victim.

The extortion frame lets you tell that story. END