# Please explain to me why this Trump/Ukraine thing is a big deal **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 22, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633 "2019-09-22T00:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/61 "2019-09-23T14:41:41Z")
As of now this is “allegations of …”. That won’t move anyone who wasn’t moved already. Solid proof would move a marginal few more. It is barely hyperbolic to claim as he did that he could shoot someone in broad daylight and his core supporters would find a way to either disbelieve the fake news or support his murdering someone as the right thing to do. Getting them to drop support to the level that two thirds of the Senate would vote to convict to impeach? I don’t know what could accomplish that. There’s more than a third of the states that have enough of those core supporters to make that not happen. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/62 "2019-09-23T14:53:38Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I said I was confident that the Left will present every fact and semi-fact that they can find that makes this look bad for Trump. The rest of the facts - probably not so much. > > Regards, > Shodan It’s important to keep in mind that most facts and semi-facts presented by the Left are a result of malfeasance of the Trump administration and the complicit Republicans who obstruct investigations in order to keep semi-facts from being fully established. This is not the case of “alternative facts” being manufactured from whole cloth; Birtherism, for example. The game, as is evidenced in this discussion, is for the Right to maximize and maintain the veneer of implausible deniability for their base, which will see and hear no evil coming from this White House. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/63 "2019-09-23T15:26:34Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I mean, I get that it would take down any normal presidency, but I don’t understand why people seem to be treating this like a bigger deal than all the other very unusual stuff that has gone on with this administration. Quick take: Because this one is more “real”. Remember the details of the McGahn obstruction of justice possibility that Mueller put in his report? Neither do I. Something about Trump telling McGahn to get rid of Rosenstein. It’s all very murky, unless you read the report. This on the other hand is straightforward. The president is essentially trying to bribe a foreign government to do dirty work for him against an American citizen and possible opponent in the next election. Why Trump should or should not be able to get rid of someone in the DoJ isn’t so cut in dried in the minds of the American people, I would imagine. No cut against them, it just isn’t. We all understand what a bribe is. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/64 "2019-09-23T15:43:16Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Because, so far, it \*isn’t \*any different from what Dems have been saying since Trump because President, and before that about emoluments and obstruction of justice and the inauguration and Russian hookers peeing on the bed and heaven knows what. Its always the same thing. The Democrats wanted him removed when he picked someone’s pocket on first avenue, stole a car on second avenue, mugged someone on third avenue, and robbed a bank on 4th avenue. So why should I pay attention to them now that he’s shot someone on 5th avenue. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/65 "2019-09-23T15:50:08Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It seems to me that President Trump was trying to remedy the wrong of Biden using his official position and the threat of withholding aid money to Ukraine to protect his son from an investigation by the Ukranian prosecutor. **Sherrerd** ’s post seems to me slanted to ignore Hunter (and Joe) Biden’s wrongdoing. At least, that’s how it seems to me from a first pass of what’s been released so far. Biden in and of himself had no power to do anything. He was not the president. So answer me this: why would Obama authorize Biden to make such a threat just to protect Biden’s son? Why risk his reputation for such a thing? It makes no sense. And also, please explain, with facts and evidence, what Hunter’s “wrongdoing” was, other than making an absolutely indefensible decision to put himself into such a conflict of interest in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/66 "2019-09-23T15:57:19Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > …and robbed a bank on 4th avenue… You mean Lex, Park, or Madison. 😉 (Sorry…carry on…) ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/67 "2019-09-23T16:14:34Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > There are some things here that I think everyone agrees on. For example, the answer to your first question earlier: Joe Biden pretty unambiguously threatened to withhold aid from Ukraine if the prosecutor was not fired. He said so in his own words, in a very detailed story. There’s no real dispute there. First let me say that I did not read the whole thread before my above response to you and I should have. As for this, it goes to what I said earlier. Indeed, there is no ambiguity about what Biden said, since you quoted it. 🙂 But just because he made a threat does not mean he had the power to come to that decision on his own. Unless Obama had just turned the whole of Ukraine foreign policy over to him. I see no evidence this was the case. So again, what was Obama’s motive? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/68 "2019-09-23T16:31:43Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Is the Trump Administration pursuing diligent investigations of all possibilities of malfeasance under the Obama Administration, or is the focus of the requests to Ukraine focusing on Biden, who may be next year’s opponent in the presidential election? Just ask Barack Hussein Obama himself, who’s had his U.S. passport revoked for fraudulently claiming to be born in Hawaii. We could ask Crooked Hillary Clinton, but all her time is taken up with all those investigations and criminal trials Trump’s Attorney General began against her the day the President was inaugurated. For another example of Trump’s commitment to uncovering evil and righting wrongs, ask the humiliated Ted Cruz, who resigned from the Senate after Trump’s investigation showed Cruz’s father was involved in the JFK assassination, which also put an end to all those “who killed JFK?” conspiracy theories. Oh, wait. . . ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/69 "2019-09-23T16:39:28Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > First let me say that I did not read the whole thread before my above response to you and I should have. > > As for this, it goes to what I said earlier. Indeed, there is no ambiguity about what Biden said, since you quoted it. 🙂 But just because he made a threat does not mean he had the power to come to that decision on his own. Unless Obama had just turned the whole of Ukraine foreign policy over to him. I see no evidence this was the case. So again, what was Obama’s motive? The Biden quote makes it clear that he was acting under the authority of the president and also made that clear to Ukrainian officials. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/70 "2019-09-23T17:21:53Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > You mean Lex, Park, or Madison. 😉 > > (Sorry…carry on…) As a New Yorker, I cannot let this go unaddressed in my own thread. There is, indeed, a 4th Avenue in Manhattan – it runs from around 6th street to the south side of Union Square. The Simpsons even visited it on their visit to NYC, I believe. OK, NOW you can carry on. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/71 "2019-09-23T17:43:29Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > … As for this, it goes to what I said earlier. Indeed, there is no ambiguity about what Biden said, since you quoted it. 🙂 But just because he made a threat does not mean he had the power to come to that decision on his own. Unless Obama had just turned the whole of Ukraine foreign policy over to him. I see no evidence this was the case. So again, what was Obama’s motive? Just being frank, I don’t know how much autonomy Biden had with Ukraine. In his CFR comments, he said “I was—not I, but it just happened to be that was the assignment I got. I got all the good ones. And so I got Ukraine.” [He’s been described as “the administration’s point-man on Ukraine” and “in charge of U.S. policy toward” Ukraine](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/21/trump-ukraine-biden-1507051). I don’t know the exact degree of personal latitude Biden was given to fulfill the Obama administration’s broader objectives. For example, it looks one way if Obama ordered Biden to specifically withhold the $1B until Shokin was removed, or do whatever is necessary to get him fired. It’s a bit different situation if Obama wanted Biden to fight corruption generally, and was prepared to support his decisions on the matter, and Biden chose to pursue that mandate by going to the mat for the firing of Shokin. I just don’t know how hands-on Obama was with the decision(s) regarding Ukraine. This is another one of those things about which I think there’s some uncertainty still. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/72 "2019-09-23T18:02:54Z")
And look how much we’re talking about Biden in a thread about an urgent and credible IG complaint against Trump that the administration is illegally blocking from congress. Well done, Ditka, you’ve completely hoodwinked everyone into playing your game. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/73 "2019-09-23T18:04:32Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > The Biden quote makes it clear that he was acting under the authority of the president and also made that clear to Ukrainian officials. Yes, no doubt. He did not have to authority to do it on his own. Obama gave him the authority. It makes sense then that Obama/Biden would want the prosecutor fired because he wasn’t doing his job, and for the record, other officials from other countries did. It does not make sense that Obama would want to do this _merely_ to protect Hunter Biden. Therefore, there was nothing wrong here. No scandal. Obama/Biden were acting in the interest of the US, not themselves. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/74 "2019-09-23T18:06:42Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > … Obama/Biden were acting in the interest of the US, not themselves. AKA The good old days. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/75 "2019-09-23T18:16:48Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Just being frank, I don’t know how much autonomy Biden had with Ukraine. In his CFR comments, he said “I was—not I, but it just happened to be that was the assignment I got. I got all the good ones. And so I got Ukraine.” [He’s been described as “the administration’s point-man on Ukraine” and “in charge of U.S. policy toward” Ukraine](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/21/trump-ukraine-biden-1507051). I don’t know the exact degree of personal latitude Biden was given to fulfill the Obama administration’s broader objectives. For example, it looks one way if Obama ordered Biden to specifically withhold the $1B until Shokin was removed, or do whatever is necessary to get him fired. It’s a bit different situation if Obama wanted Biden to fight corruption generally, and was prepared to support his decisions on the matter, and Biden chose to pursue that mandate by going to the mat for the firing of Shokin. I just don’t know how hands-on Obama was with the decision(s) regarding Ukraine. This is another one of those things about which I think there’s some uncertainty still. Okay, I too am not aware of the intricate details about Biden regarding Ukraine. My point though, is that I find it highly unlikely that Obama would just give him carte blanche to do as he pleased there, therefore Bidens’ actions would have been subject to the president’s approval. Trump wants to make out that Biden did something unethical. All evidence points to the fact that getting that prosecutor fired was the important thing, that other countries also supported it, and Hunter Biden had nothing to do with it. If other facts come out to the contrary, so be it. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/76 "2019-09-23T18:36:23Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > And look how much we’re talking about Biden in a thread about an urgent and credible IG complaint against Trump that the administration is illegally blocking from congress. Well done, Ditka, you’ve completely hoodwinked everyone into playing your game. _shrug_ the OP specifically asked me for my opinion. I shared it. People asked follow-up questions and this is the direction the conversation went. This wasn’t me hoodwinking everyone or playing games. I answered what I perceived to be a few sincere questions with sincere answers. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/77 "2019-09-23T18:55:33Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > _shrug_ the OP specifically asked me for my opinion. I shared it. People asked follow-up questions and this is the direction the conversation went. This wasn’t me hoodwinking everyone or playing games. I answered what I perceived to be a few sincere questions with sincere answers. No, trust me, you hoodwinked everyone. You were asked about your feelings on Trump’s actions and you immediately pivoted to Biden’s. And the OP and others (but not everyone) took the bait. Bravo. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/78 "2019-09-23T19:06:14Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > And look how much we’re talking about Biden in a thread about an urgent and credible IG complaint against Trump that the administration is illegally blocking from congress. Well done, Ditka, you’ve completely hoodwinked everyone into playing your game. [The Alt-Right Playbook: Control the Conversation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaPgDQkmqqM). ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/79 "2019-09-23T19:51:21Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > No, trust me, you hoodwinked everyone. You were asked about your feelings on Trump’s actions and you immediately pivoted to Biden’s. And the OP and others (but not everyone) took the bait. Bravo. Did I take the bait? Was I hoodwinked? Whatever you want to call it, I responded to HD. I said what I wanted to in direct response to the OP, had nothing particularly pressing to say about other’s posts, so I addressed what I think was his erroneous idea that Biden was trying to help his son rather than do his regular duties as vice president. Fighting ignorance, and all of that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mjmlabs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mjmlabs/32/69_2.png) [@mjmlabs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmlabs)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633/80 "2019-09-23T20:49:21Z")
Here’s the thing about the “Biden got the prosecutor fired because he wanted to protect his son’s company” theory: it’s bass-ackwards. The reason so many international organizations wanted Shokin ousted was that he was viewed as an enabler of corruption, and among his alleged wrongdoings was _burying the Burisma investigation in return for bribes._ This is a point obscured by Trump allies, and it’s a complicated one, so grab a sandwich and open up some coverage from back in May, before the now-infamous phone call/whistleblower complaint: [**A Republican Conspiracy Theory About a Biden-in-Ukraine Scandal Has Gone Mainstream. But It Is Not True.** (Robert Mackey, _The Intercept_, 10 May 2019)](https://theintercept.com/2019/05/10/rumors-joe-biden-scandal-ukraine-absolute-nonsense-reformer-says/) excerpt for the TL;DR crowd: > [@](#): > > To illustrate what he called “rot in the prosecutor’s office,” [_New York Times_ writer Andrew] Kramer cited a notorious example, known in Ukraine as the case of the “diamond prosecutors,” in which “troves of diamonds, cash and other valuables were found in the homes of two of Mr. Shokin’s subordinates, suggesting that they had been taking bribes. But the case became bogged down, with no reasons given.” [ed. note: original article appears as next cite, below] > > Among the most prominent cases of official corruption Shokin had failed to pursue was against Yanukovych’s environment and natural resources minister, Mykola Zlochevsky, who had oversight of all Ukrainian energy firms, including the largest independent gas company, Burisma, which he secretly controlled through shell companies in Cyprus. After Zlochevsky was forced from office along with Yanukovych in 2014, his gas company appointed Hunter Biden to its board. > > “Shokin was fired,” [Daria] Kaleniuk[, an American-educated lawyer who founded Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center] observed, “because he failed to do investigations of corruption and economic crimes of President Yanukovych and his close associates, including Zlochevsky, and basically it was the big demand within society in Ukraine, including our organization and many other organizations, to get rid of this guy.” [**Ukraine Ousts Viktor Shokin, Top Prosecutor, and Political Stability Hangs in the Balance** (Andrew Kramer, _The New York Times_, 29 March 2016)](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/world/europe/political-stability-in-the-balance-as-ukraine-ousts-top-prosecutor.html) some key paragraphs: > [@](#): > > The United States and other Western nations had for months called for the ousting of Mr. Shokin, who was widely criticized for turning a blind eye to corrupt practices and for defending the interests of a venal and entrenched elite. He was one of several political figures in Kiev whom reformers and Western diplomats saw as a worrying indicator of a return to past corrupt practices, two years after a revolution that was supposed to put a stop to self-dealing by those in power. > > As the problems festered, Kiev drew increasingly sharp criticism from Western diplomats and leaders. In a visit in December, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said corruption was eating Ukraine “like a cancer.” Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, which props up Ukraine financially, said last month that progress was so slow in fighting corruption that “it’s hard to see how the I.M.F.-supported program can continue.” > > With this pressure mounting, Parliament on Tuesday voted by a comfortable margin to remove Mr. Shokin. > > In the final hours before Parliament voted him out, Mr. Shokin had fired his reform-minded deputy prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze, with whom he had been feuding. It was not immediately clear whether that firing would remain in force. > > \ > > Since his appointment a year ago, Mr. Shokin had been criticized for not prosecuting officials, businessmen and members of Parliament for their roles in corrupt schemes during the government of former President Viktor F. Yanukovych. He also did not press cases for sniping by the police and opposition activists during the street protests in 2014 that killed more than 100 people and wounded about 1,000. [**New York Times, Bloomberg square off over Biden-Ukraine reporting** (Erik Wemple, Media Critic, _The Washington Post_, 09 May 2019)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/05/09/new-york-times-bloomberg-square-off-over-biden-ukraine-reporting/) Here’s a excerpt, but you _really_ should read the entire piece, because it touches on so many more aspects of the Ukraine/Biden/Shokin narrative(s): > [@](#): > > It’s funny how Giuliani’s investigative priorities are mirrored in the work of John Solomon, an opinion contributor for _the Hill_, spinner of flimsy journalism and mainstay of Sean Hannity’s conspiracy hour on Fox News. “Ukrainian to US prosecutors: Why don’t you want our evidence on Democrats?” reads the headline of a Solomon piece from last month. In another April piece — “Joe Biden’s 2020 Ukrainian nightmare: A closed probe is revived” — Solomon writes, “U.S. and Ukrainian authorities both told me Biden and his office clearly had to know about the general prosecutor’s probe of Burisma and his son’s role.” Sorry for the wall of text, but there’s a lot to unpack. TL;DR: That prosecutor Joe Biden got fired? Sure looks like he got fired for NOT investigating Burisma (Hunter Biden’s employer) and other companies, in an extortion racket. But don’t take my word for it; read and judge for yourself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-to-me-why-this-trump-ukraine-thing-is-a-big-deal/840633.md?page=5)