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Quid Pro Quo? Taylor and Vindman testify (Real Law Review) - YouTube
Channel: LegalEagle
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this episode of legal eagle was made
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possible by skill share learned to think
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like a lawyer for free for two months by
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clicking on a link in the description in
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the last few weeks we've seen defenders
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of this administration go from there was
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absolutely no quid pro quo there was no
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conditionality there there was no quid
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pro quo there - it would only be a quid
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pro quo if President Trump were really
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thuggish about it
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grant was asked what he thought would
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constitute inappropriate quid pro quo
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saying hey pal you know you need to like
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go after the Biden's right I'm gonna
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give you any money he'd be really like
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thuggish about it - quid pro quos happen
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all the time and in fact they're
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actually really good you just described
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is a quid pro quo it is funding will not
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flow unless the investigation into the
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into the democratic server happened as
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well we do we do that all the time with
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foreign policy so what's the deal with
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quid pro quos impeachable offense or
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routine diplomacy tool
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[Music]
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hey legal eagles it's time to think like
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a lawyer you all took Latin in high
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school right everyone knows the legal
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definition of quid pro quo and we can
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just all go home right no you want me to
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talk about why this is all relevant okay
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fine
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on October 22nd bill tailored the top
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diplomat or chargee d'affaires
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testified behind closed doors before the
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House committees that are leading the
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impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump
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Taylor's full testimony is currently
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unknown but news agencies got a hold of
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Taylor's opening statement now this was
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just Taylor's opening statement but what
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he revealed and it basically stunned
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everyone that's paying attention Taylor
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you might recall was one of the
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diplomats who was a party to a whatsapp
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conversation with US special envoy kurt
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volker and US ambassador to the EU
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Gordon Sandlin Volker turned over the
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transcripts of those texts to the House
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committees Taylor famously texted on
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September 9th as I said on the phone I
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think it's crazy to withhold security
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assistance for help with a political
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campaign to which Gordon Sandlin replied
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five hours later bill I believe you are
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incorrect about president Trump's
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intentions the president has been
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crystal clear no quid pro quos of any
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kind the president is trying to evaluate
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whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt
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the transparency reforms the president
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Solinsky promised during his campaign I
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suggest we stop the back-and-forth by
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text if you still have concerns I
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recommend you give Lisa Kenna or s a
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call to discuss them directly thanks
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Taylor was asked to testify as a witness
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to the investigation into the Trump
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administration's efforts to pressure
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ukrainian president below to mere
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zalenski into opening an investigation
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into repudiated allegations of Ukraine's
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interference in the 2016 US presidential
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elections as well into the company
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buries MA for the purpose of eliciting
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or fabricating dirt on hunter Biden and
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by proxy Joe Biden political candidate
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for president of the United States
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Taylor began his opening statement by
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emphasizing the importance of the United
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States relationship with Ukraine saying
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our national security demands that this
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relationship remains strong Tilly went
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on to say more about this noting that
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Ukraine now in for the last five years
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has been under attack from Russia and of
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the United States security assistance is
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crucial to Ukraine's defence against
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Russia and that withholding security
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assistance would be quote crazy
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and crazy is exactly what Taylor would
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soon discover on the part of the Trump
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administration in June Taylor delivered
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a letter from President Trump to
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President Solinsky congratulating him on
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his election victory and inviting him to
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a meeting at the Oval Office this
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meeting was an apparent goal for
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szalinski but in order to obtain this
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goal
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zalinsky had to do some things for Trump
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first for example in a plan to June 28th
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call with ukrainian president ambassador
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Sandlin quote did not wish to include
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most of the regular interagency
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participants and quote said that he
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wanted to make sure no one was
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transcribing her monitoring as they
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added president zalenski to the call
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taylor noted that a short time later it
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became abundantly clear to him that
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quote the meeting president Solinsky
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wanted was conditioned on the
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investigations of burries m'a and
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alleged the ukrainian interference in
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the 2016 US elections and that this
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quote irregular policy channel was
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guided by Rudy Giuliani on July 18th
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Taylor learned from an individual at the
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Office of Management and Budget the OMB
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that there was a hold on security
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assistance to Ukraine this individual
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could not explain why there was a hold
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but Taylor had a pretty good idea when
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Taylor inquired further the individual
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told him that her boss had quote
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instructed her not to approve any
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additional spending of security
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assistance for Ukraine until further
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notice this unidentified individual also
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relayed that the directive for the hold
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had come directly from President Trump
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through Mick Mulvaney to the OMB z--
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chief of staff this is very very bad and
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we'll talk about in a moment this is
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strong evidence for a quid pro quo in
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his statement Taylor went on to
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emphasize how important US aid to
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Ukraine was and how many more lives
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could be lost if the hold remained he
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also noted that the Secretary of Defense
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Secretary of State the CIA director and
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the national security adviser all tried
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to sit down with President Trump and
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convince him to release the hold this
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sit down however was quote hard to
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schedule what President Trump wanted
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Taylor discovered was for zalenski to
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quote say that he will help the
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investigation and address any specific
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personnel issues if there are any
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Trump's administration wanted zalenski
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to publicly announce his participation
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in this investigation and they even
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tried to give zalenski a scrip
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of what to say to trump suggesting that
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he announced the quote I will leave no
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stone unturned with regard to quote
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investigations all the while making it
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look like the US was uninvolved
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zelinsky's response according to Taylor
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to all of this was that he did not want
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to quote be used as a pawn in a u.s.
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re-election scheme this testimony paints
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a picture of the Trump administration's
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motivations by withholding US aid they
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hope to get Solinsky to announce his
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investigation into Joe Biden's son in
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the hopes that it would bolster trumps
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reelection campaign at this point the
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clock was ticking with regard to
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security assistance to Ukraine because
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of the way the u.s. budget works if the
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funds weren't released by the end of
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September they would essentially expire
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and disappear not to mention the actual
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Ukrainians whose lives were at stake in
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the last five years
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13,000 Ukrainians have been killed by
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Russian soldiers and potentially dozens
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of ukrainian civilians had been killed
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by russia during this time period taylor
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was worried especially because quote if
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the White House did not lift the hold
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prior to the end of the fiscal year
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September 30th the funds would expire
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and Ukraine would receive nothing as the
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wait went on ambassador Sandlin
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explicitly stated that quote the
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Security Assistance money would not come
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until present Solinsky committed to
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pursue the buries m'a investigation
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Taylor's fears were confirmed this was
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the first time that he had heard that
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security assistance not just a White
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House oval office meeting was
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conditioned on zalenski committing to
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investigating buries m'j the bottom line
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is that taylor testified that one there
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was in fact a quid pro quo the White
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House conditioned the release of four
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hundred million dollars of military aid
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on Ukraine's statement that they were
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opening investigation into buries m'a
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number two the order to withhold aid
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came from the President himself number
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three this was never about corruption it
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was about getting dirt on Joe Biden and
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his son and number four the White House
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tried to hide their involvement by
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scripting Ukraine's announcement and
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pretending that the investigations had
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been Ukraine's idea all along it's of
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course always important to take a step
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back and look at the various players
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everyone has bias that is an important
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to recognize when you have two
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conflicting accounts Taylor is a career
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diplomat who served in both Republican
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and Democratic administrations so could
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he be too close to Ukraine of course
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interestingly
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
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specifically asked Taylor to essentially
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come out of retirement to help with the
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situation
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Taylor was essentially president Trump's
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picked to run diplomacy with Ukraine
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Taylor acknowledge his own bias in
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stating that he wanted the u.s. to
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support Ukraine and conditioned his
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coming out of retirement on that very
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fact on the other side of the coin there
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is Gordon Sandlin who is a hotel yay who
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donated million dollars to Trump's
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inauguration allegedly when Gordon
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sunland's testified behind closed doors
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he did not recall most of what Bill
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Taylor testified to although he doesn't
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appear to outright contradict anything
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that Bill Taylor actually said Taylor
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allegedly took contemporaneous notes
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throughout the affair in addition to
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bill Taylor's testimony
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Lieutenant Colonel Alexander VIN Minh an
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army officer assigned to the National
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Security Council also testified recently
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he was one of the members of the NSC
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that listened to the infamous July 25th
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call from the Situation Room according
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to his opening statement VIN Minh
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largely confirmed the account of the
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whistleblower and the readout that has
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already been made public and which I
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covered in an earlier video VIN Minh
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testified in his opening statement that
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he was quote concerned by the call
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stating I did not think it was proper to
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demand that a foreign government
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investigate a u.s. citizen and I was
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worried about the implications for the
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u.s. government support of Ukraine I
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realized that if Ukraine pursued an
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investigation into the Biden's and
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burries m'a it would likely be
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interpreted as a partisan play which
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would undoubtedly result in Ukraine
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losing the bipartisan support it had
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thus far maintained this would all
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undermine US national security following
[550]
the call I again reported my concerns to
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the NSA's lead counsel The New York
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Times is also reporting that VIN Minh
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stated in his deposition which lasted 10
[558]
and a half hours and that's quite a long
[560]
time that he requested several changes
[562]
to the wording of the readout of the
[564]
call but that those changes were
[565]
rejected by the White House for unknown
[567]
reasons
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vend Minh also testified about an
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earlier July tenth call with all
[571]
examiner donna luke the secretary of the
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national security defense counsel for
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ukraine and national security advisor
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bolton ambassadors Volcker and sunland
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and energy secretary Rick Perry binman
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testified that during this July tenth
[585]
call the meeting proceeded well until
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Ukrainians broached the subject of a
[588]
meeting between the two presidents
[590]
ambassador Sandlin started to speak
[592]
about delivering specific investigation
[594]
in order to secure the meeting with the
[595]
president at which time ambassador
[597]
Bolton cut the meeting short following
[599]
this meeting there was a scheduled
[601]
debriefing during which ambassador
[603]
Sandlin emphasized the importance that
[604]
Ukraine deliver the investigations into
[607]
the 2016 election the Biden's and
[609]
burries m'a I stated to ambassador
[612]
Sandlin that his statements were
[613]
inappropriate that the request to
[615]
investigate Biden and his son had
[617]
nothing to do with national security and
[619]
that such investigations were not
[621]
something the NSC was going to get
[623]
involved in or push dr. hill then
[625]
entered the room and asserted to
[627]
ambassador Sandlin that his statements
[628]
were inappropriate following the
[630]
debriefing meeting I reported my
[632]
concerns to the NSCs lead counsel dr.
[634]
hill also reported the incident to the
[636]
NSA's lead counsel so in general
[638]
Lieutenant Colonel VIN moons testimony
[640]
backs up bill tailors and refutes the
[643]
testimony of ambassador Gordon song land
[645]
additionally there have been attacks
[646]
from the right against
[648]
lieutenant-colonel VIN Minh for his
[649]
status as a Ukrainian immigrant and
[652]
allegations of dual loyalty despite the
[655]
fact that he's the US citizen and
[657]
longtime member of the army it's not
[659]
clear that these attacks or criticisms
[661]
are based on anything more than
[663]
speculation so that brings us to the
[665]
quid pro quo now of course in the famous
[668]
online text Sandlin relayed that the
[671]
president has been crystal clear that no
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quid pro quos of any kind but just
[675]
because they claim that doesn't
[676]
necessarily mean that it wasn't a quid
[678]
pro quo arrangement as Taylor himself
[680]
said in response to this contention
[682]
quote president Trump did insist that
[685]
President Zaleski go to a microphone and
[686]
say he is opening investigations of
[688]
verismo and 2016 election interference
[691]
and that presidents eleska should want
[693]
to do this himself
[694]
quid pro quo translates literally to
[696]
this for that it is a type of exchange
[698]
where someone on one side gives a thing
[700]
of value to someone else and expect
[702]
something in return from that person
[704]
whether a quid pro quo is illegal and
[706]
illicit depends on the context if I give
[709]
you $5.00 and you give me a book that's
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a quid pro quo and there's nothing wrong
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with that but things take a turn when
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you're talking about government
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officials using the power of their
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office to extract a personal benefit
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oftentimes a quid pro quo emerges in a
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governmental setting when a government
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official receives something of personal
[726]
value
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and then abuses his or her official
[729]
power to give something in return to
[731]
that specific constituent who gave some
[734]
personal benefit to that government
[736]
official you can imagine a government
[737]
contractor who gives a fancy new sports
[739]
car to a government official who then
[741]
steers a valuable governmental contract
[744]
to that contractor that is a classic
[747]
quid pro quo illegal quid pro quo
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arrangements also tend to pop up in a
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workplace setting a quid pro quo would
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exist where an employer demands sexual
[755]
favors in return for an employee keeping
[758]
their job so it depends on the context
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Mick Mulvaney has recently been
[762]
emphasizing that especially in foreign
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policy settings quid pro quo
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arrangements happen all the time that's
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just the nature of foreign policy we do
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that all the time with foreign policy
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I'll help you do this if you help me do
[774]
that everyone is happy and secure for
[775]
example throughout the history of the
[777]
United States we have used our own aid
[779]
or assistance as leverage for achieving
[781]
things such as democracy abroad an end
[784]
to corruption and even physical access
[785]
to important geographical areas for
[788]
example President Jimmy Carter provided
[789]
Egypt with aid in exchange for Egypt
[791]
making peace with Israel President Bush
[793]
even demanded that countries provide
[795]
free speech and freedom of assembly
[797]
before receiving certain US aid however
[800]
while this may be true quid pro quos
[802]
that involve a concerted self-interest
[804]
for a particular politician do not
[807]
happen all the time in foreign policy
[809]
quite frankly they really don't happen
[811]
at all in fact it was such a stunning
[814]
admission by Mick Mulvaney to admit that
[816]
this was a quid pro quo on behalf of the
[818]
Trump administration ostensibly for
[820]
president Trump that it elicited an
[822]
almost immediate walk back from Mulvaney
[825]
and the rest of the administration this
[826]
arrangement between the Trump
[828]
administration and President zalenski of
[829]
Ukraine falls into the problematic
[832]
category of quid pro quos for a couple
[834]
of reasons first of all such an
[836]
arrangement is probably highly illegal
[838]
and may be sufficient to prove the
[840]
crimes of bribery and election
[841]
interference well would be admittedly
[843]
difficult to indict and convict a
[845]
president of these crimes for reasons
[847]
that we've already talked about on this
[848]
channel in order to establish a prima
[850]
facie case for bribery under 18 USC 201
[853]
one would have to prove that a public
[855]
official in this case president Trump
[857]
directly or indirectly corruptly
[859]
demanded anything of value personally
[861]
in this case bolstering his re-election
[863]
campaign in return for being influenced
[866]
in the performance of any official act
[868]
in this case releasing money that
[870]
Congress in the Pentagon had already
[872]
appropriated for Ukraine or you can take
[875]
for example 51 USC three zero one two
[877]
one which states that it shall be
[879]
unlawful for a foreign national directly
[882]
or indirectly to make a contribution or
[884]
donation of money or other thing of
[886]
value or to make an express or implied
[888]
promise to make a contribution or
[890]
donation in connection with a federal
[892]
state or local election in this case one
[895]
would argue that the thing of value is
[898]
investigating a political rival which
[900]
obviously the Trump administration would
[902]
try to lord over the head of Joe Biden
[904]
as he tries to secure the Democratic
[907]
nomination for potentially running for
[910]
president of United States in 2020
[912]
additionally an apart from whether any
[914]
of these acts fit the neat statutory
[916]
definitions of these crimes and overcome
[919]
the constitutional issues in terms of in
[921]
dining a sitting president this
[923]
arrangement is problematic because it
[925]
essentially means that the President of
[926]
the United States is subverting the
[928]
national interest for his own personal
[931]
interest in other words he's putting
[933]
himself above the entire country now no
[936]
one argues that hunter Biden's status as
[939]
a board member of Purisima doesn't smack
[941]
of nepotism
[941]
but strong-arming a sovereign nation
[944]
into investigating a conspiracy theory
[946]
about ukrainian computer servers and
[948]
shinning up a defunct investigation into
[951]
buries m'a appears to serve president
[953]
Trump only and not US national interest
[956]
it appears motivated primarily if not
[958]
solely to help President Trump get
[960]
reelected and not to help America Rudy
[962]
Giuliani tweets the quiet part out loud
[964]
when he tweeted with all the fake news
[967]
let me make it clear that everything I
[968]
did was to discover evidence to defend
[971]
my client against false charges
[972]
Dems would be horrified by the attacks
[974]
on me if my client was a terrorist but
[976]
they don't believe real Donald Trump has
[978]
rights the problem here is that at the
[981]
request of the president Rudy Giuliani
[983]
was running his own shadow foreign
[985]
policy operation and he's admitting that
[988]
in this context he wasn't acting on
[991]
behalf of America but acting on behalf
[993]
of his client
[994]
Donald Trump in trying to get dirt
[996]
against a political rival if this had
[998]
been in America's interest President
[1000]
Trump would have used the usual
[1002]
diplomatic channels gone through the
[1004]
mutual legal assistance treaty and
[1006]
avoided using an entirely separate
[1008]
clandestine shadow foreign policy team
[1010]
led by Rudy Giuliani this kind of
[1012]
arrangement pressuring Ukraine to do
[1014]
something to benefit president Trump
[1016]
personally in exchange for four hundred
[1019]
million dollars in US aid and assistance
[1021]
is what appears to be an abuse of power
[1024]
and an attempt to use one's official
[1026]
capacity as president for personal gain
[1029]
now some including former acting
[1032]
Attorney General Matthew Whitaker have
[1034]
argued that an abuse of power is not a
[1037]
crime what evidence of a crime you have
[1039]
I mean the Constitution you know sort of
[1041]
abuse of power is not a crime the
[1043]
Constitution is very clear that this has
[1045]
to be some pretty egregious behavior
[1047]
however such an abuse of power is a
[1049]
crucial inquiry as far as impeachment is
[1052]
concerned that's because impeachment was
[1054]
designed to dismantle this kind of abuse
[1056]
of power ironically Bill Taylor came out
[1058]
of retirement at the request of Mike
[1061]
Pompeo to help Ukraine now he'll
[1063]
probably want to go back into retirement
[1065]
and now that he has more time on his
[1067]
hands maybe he'll finally listened to
[1068]
his grandkids and join Instagram after
[1070]
taking Brandon Wolfe falls class
[1072]
instagram-worthy photography shoot edit
[1074]
and share or maybe he will finally
[1076]
tackle all those chores around the house
[1078]
his wife asked him to do like
[1079]
redesigning his family room he could
[1081]
really use Emily Henderson's Skillshare
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class style your space creative tips and
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techniques for interior design
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Skillshare is an online learning
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community that has tens of thousands of
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classes on everything like music design
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former top diplomats who suddenly find
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themselves with a lot more time on their
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two months so improve yourself now while
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you're waiting to give your own
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congressional testimony before the house
[1118]
impeachment inquiry do you agree with my
[1120]
analysis leave your objections in the
[1122]
comments and check out my other real law
[1124]
reviews over here where I talk about the
[1126]
whistleblower hearsay objections to the
[1127]
impeachment
[1128]
in tons of other breaking news and as
[1130]
always I will see you in court
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