The Impeachment Inquiry Story

Reported by Rashad Smith, Graphic by Carla Cieza Espinoza

 If you have not been paying attention to the news like I have, you probably still caught wind of a big I word being used. That word is Impeachment, a big no-no in the political scene. It means our president, Donald Trump, could potentially be kicked out of office! 

Crazy stuff, I know. Our very own commander-in-chief is currently under investigation for allegedly pressuring the Ukrainian government to assist his campaign for the upcoming 2020 election. A whistleblower, a person who informs on a person or organization engaging in illicit activities, well, blew the whistle on the big guy via a telephone call transcript placed in a storage system for highly sensitive information regarding national security. You know, the place where insignificant archived telephone calls are usually kept. 

If you were to ask Mr. President himself what was in that phone call, he would probably tell you what he’s already told Twitter just a little louder: “This is simply about a phone conversation that could not have been nicer, warmer, or better,” he added. “No pressure at all (as confirmed by  Ukrainian Pres.). It is just another Democrat Hoax!” (@realDonaldTrump). However, other White House officials and media sources would say otherwise.

According to the Independent, the call with the Ukrainian president was ‘crazy’, ‘frightening’ and had nothing to do with national security, a White House official reportedly told the CIA whistleblower.” In fact, many sources indicate that what  Donald Trump had discussed with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky was about seeking aid for investigating Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

 Trump believes that Biden had secretly employed foreign aid to help his son Hunter avoid a criminal investigation. His way to investigate this supposed illegal activity, naturally, is to use illegal activity. While no concrete evidence in support of this accusation against the Bidens has surfaced, there has been evidence concerning our President’s own case against him. 

Ironic…

So what’s the deal then? If our President did something illegal, why is he still our President? Well, if you remember the title, it is The Impeachment Inquiry Story. As in, whether Trump can be formally prosecuted under the judicial system or not is still up in the air. Generally, Democrats believe what he did was illegal, while Republicans do not. If the question was: “is what Donald Trump did kinda shady, even in the slightest?” there probably would be a more cohesive consensus. According to the BBC, “Regardless, the July call is now at the centre of an effort by Democrats to expel Mr Trump from office. But for it to be successful, members of his own Republican party will have to turn against him.”

There’s a lot of information to digest here, especially with so many people involved. In order for you as media consumer to acquire the most objective and well-informed stance on this issue, you’ll have to do more digging for yourself. However, with what facts are provided currently, we may not know the truth until it’s, well, out of the office.