Not This Time Trump: Sen. Chris Murphy Calls For Investigation Into Giuliani’s Ukraine Trip

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) called on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to launch an investigation into Rudy Guiliani’s trip to Ukraine to get dirt on Joe Biden.

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Sen. Murphy Calls For An Investigation of Giuliani

Murphy wrote:

Rudolph Giuliani, the President’s personal lawyer, has apparently held meetings with Ukrainian officials in the United States and plans to travel to Ukraine for further discussions. As far as we know, none of these meetings are being coordinated with the U.S. State Department or other government agencies.

Reports indicate that promises have been made regarding U.S. policy as a quid pro quo in exchange for information. Has the private foreign policy engagement of Rudolph Giuliani or other private representatives of the President led to any official foreign policy decisions, such as the recalling of the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine?

….

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee should be concerned that the President of the United States is making foreign policy decisions through personal or campaign representatives that do not go through the Department of State, preventing us from exercising our constitutional oversight responsibilities on behalf of the American people. Further, the possibility that a personal representative of the President is engaging with foreign governments in order to obtain personal or political gain is a matter that must be thoroughly examined. I appreciate your attention to this urgent issue and look forward to discussing the steps necessary for our committee to carry out the appropriate oversight regarding these questions.

Trump won’t get away with foreign election interference in 2020

Trump is running the same playbook that he used in 2016. He is going to try to find dirt on Biden, have foreign governments run smear campaigns, make the election a referendum on his opponent, not his presidency.

The power of presidential incumbency is a dual-edged sword. It provides great advantages when seeking reelection, but it also comes with the burden of the incumbent’s presidency being the central question of the election. Whether or not a president wins a second term comes down to the same question of do voters want to continue down the same path for four more years?

Democrats and the rest of the country are onto Trump’s tactics and he will not be able to operate in the darkness.

It may have worked in 2016, but too many people are watching for Trump to use the same dirty tricks in 2020.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association