The consistent GOP line has been that post-Soviet Ukraine has always had a problem with corruption (true). And Pres Trump was only trying to get them to crack down on corruption, albeit in a uniquely targeted way. People have tended to credit the logic if not the facts ...
2/ of this argument. But it’s actually the complete opposite. Trump was demanding Ukraine be more corrupt if it wanted its military aide. When people talk abt endemic corruption in Ukraine, it’s not just people taking bribes or getting sweetheart deals.
3/ More specifically it is that business is driven by control of the state. Those in power allow their allies to loot the state at will while using the power of the state - particularly prosecution - as a weapon against those out of power. This drives a trend in ...
4/ which those in power max out their money making and then usually go into exile or prison when their allies lose power. What President Trump was demanding - political investigations aimed political rivals - is exactly what “corruption” means in Ukraine.
5/ Indeed, he was demanding that Ukraine take the practices that have hobbled and bedeviled Ukraine and export them to the United States. It’s really clear cut. Trump wasn’t asking Ukraine to crack down on corruption but expand it and indeed to export it to the USA.
