Thread by @bansisharma

1. Ukraine's Security and U.S. Aid

Of all the charges being heaped on President Trump by the Democrats, the most duplicitous charge is that Trump delayed aid to Ukraine thereby jeorpardizing Ukraine's defenses against Russia. Oh, Really?

Let's review Trump's policy vs Obama's.

2. Let's review the impeachment investigation testimony of three foreign policy officials:
William Taylor: highest-ranking American diplomat in Ukraine
Kurt Volker: former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine
Marie Yovanovitch: former ambassador to Ukraine who was recalled by Trump

3. Bill Taylor called Trump administration policy a "substantial improvement" over Obama's.

4. Details:
Q: "Was it a substantial improvement?"
A: "It was a substantial improvement, in that this administration provided Javelin anti-tank weapons," Taylor explained. The shoulder-fired missiles, he said, "successfully deter Russians from trying to grab more territory."

5. "[That was] also a very strong political message that said that Americans were willing to provide more than blankets," Taylor continued. "I mean, that was the previous. And these weapons are serious weapons. They kill Russian tanks. So these were serious weapons."

6. The "provide more than blankets" was a clear reference to the Obama admin's refusal to provide lethal aid to Ukraine. For all the commentary slamming Trump for temporarily delaying the delivery of aid the fact is, when it comes to lethal aid, Trump provided what Obama did not.

7. Let us hear Volker now:
"There has been U.S. assistance provided to Ukraine for some time," he told the House. "Under the Bush administration, Obama administration, and now under the Trump administration. ..."

8. "... I was particularly interested in lethal defensive weapons. The reason for this is this was something that the Obama administration did not approve. They did not want to send lethal defensive arms to Ukraine. I fundamentally disagreed with that decision."

9. "I thought that this is a country that is defending itself against Russian aggression," Volker continued. "They had their military largely destroyed by Russia in 2014 and 2015 and needed the help."

10. "And humanitarian assistance is great, and nonlethal assistance, you know MREs and blankets and all, that's fine, but if you're being attacked with mortars and artilleries and tanks, you need to be able to fight back."

11. "And has the lethal defensive arms that have been provided [by Trump admin] to date, has that been helpful?" asked Castor.

"It has been extremely helpful."

"And ... you can see materially that this is helping the country of Ukraine?"

"Absolutely."

12. Yovanovitch, having been removed from her post by Trump, was less inclined to give the president credit for anything. But even she admitted that her preferred policy in Ukraine — lethal aid — became reality under Trump.

13. "Yeah, well, I think that most of the assistance programs that we had, you know, continued," Yovanovitch answered, "and due to the generosity of the Congress actually increased."

14. "In terms of lethal assistance," she continued, "We all felt it was very significant that this administration made the decision to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine."

"Did you advocate for that?"

"Yes."

15. "And did you advocate for that prior to the new administration back in 2016?"

"Well, yeah."

Despite Yovanovitch's advocacy, that aid never came from Obama. From Trump, it did. Amid all the accusations flying around, it's important to remember that basic fact.

16. These are the three individuals whose testimonies will be used to potentially impeach President Trump. And to a person, even they acknowledge that Trump admin has been far more helpful to Ukraine in defending themselves against Russia than Obama ever was.

17. Keep this in mind when the media and Democrats start beating their breasts over how Trump caused crucial delay in delivering aid to Ukraine. Such crass partisan hackery is pitiful in the light of the testimonies directly from the field officers.

18. This may be one more reason why Adam Schiff held these interviews in a SCIF. If these exchanges happened in public view, the impeachment inquiry would have already been seen by the public to be a farcical ruse. Let's hope next week's public hearings bring clarity.

The End