Official Republican Talking Points Defending Trump

The White House accidentally sends House Democrats the talking points that GOP members are supposed to use to defend Trump‘s actions regarding Ukraine. Here they are:

1. They claim the excerpt shows there’s no quid pro quo.
   In reality, quid pro quo doesn’t have to be explicit, and it’s implied in the transcript.
2. They claim that it’s a myth that Trump made some kind of promise to Zelensky.
   I don’t know of this myth, but maybe they misconstrued quid pro quo?
3. They claim it’s a myth that Trump urged Zelensky to work with Giuliani eight times.
   I don’t know where the “eight times” came from, but Trump does mention Giuliani four times and Attorney General Barr five times in just the excerpt Trump released.
4. They claim it’s entirely appropriate to ask a foreign leader to investigate Ukraine meddling in the 2016 election.
   Even if it’s based on a conspiracy theory? Nonetheless, it’s not OK to withhold aid over whether that country will do your bidding.
5. They say Trump didn’t mention Giuliani until after Zelensky did.
   Zelensky mentioned a previous contact with Giuliani after Trump suggested he talk to Attorney General Barr.
6. And of course they say that Biden bragged about derailing an investigation.
   Biden never bragged about that. He bragged about helping to oust a corrupt prosecutor. I’m not defending Biden on the conflict of interest here, but you can decide for yourself if that was OK.
7. They say the real scandal is the leaks, and that the “Deep State,” the media, and Democrats are hurting our national security.
   Just because information about a crime is leaked, that doesn’t make it any less of a crime.
8. They also say the complaint was handled by the book.
   This could be mostly true. The DNI consulted the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel to find out if the scope fell under the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act. The DOJ’s OLC says it didn’t, but then the head of the DOJ is also implicated in all this.