Do Latest Texts Exonerate Trump? – OpEd
By Mark Angelides*
A series of texts between top diplomats, released to Congress, are being used in the battle to shore-up support for the impeachment investigation. As with most intel, it is rarely the substance that is highlighted, but rather the narrative that bests suits those who use the information.
Headlines coming out from legacy media outlets appear to show that President Trump did, in fact, pressure Ukraine into a Biden investigation. But is this the full story? And why are no news agencies running with the headline that shows the president specifically refused a quid pro quo situation?
“Incorrect” Assumptions
The texts (available to read in full on LibertyNation.com), are between Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, Gordon Sondland, the United States Ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, a former special envoy to Ukraine. The key sentence being touted comes from a message from Taylor to Sondland and other diplomats, which states:
“I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”
If that were the end of the exchange, it could certainly give credence to Democrat claims that President Trump abused his position. However, the response form Sondland, which is receiving far less coverage and certainly no headlines, reads:
“Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo’s [sic] of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelenskiy promised during his campaign.”
Pushing for Pressure
It’s almost a certainty that Sondland’s correction of Taylor’s assumption will be buried in the hue and cry of the circus sure to follow. It appears Mark Twain’s advice to “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story,” has become the battle cry for a political party desperate to take power by any means necessary.
Studies show that around 60% of an audience only ever read the headline; for the Facebook audience, this rises to 70%. The media rely on messaging for the masses by placing the most salacious and damaging aspects in the top portion of an article and revealing the meat of the matter further down, where they can rest assured the majority will not venture.
Whether or not House Democrats will rely on the apparently faulty assumption of Bill Taylor to deepen their narrative is not in doubt. That the legacy media will back such a play also seems beyond question. And it is at this crux that the matter may rest.
The Real Plan
Should the impeachment investigation become an actual attempt, thus allowing the Senate to hold a trial, these messages will likely be made short work of and dismissed. They show not the president’s intent, but rather other people’s interpretation of it … and an interpretation that is dismissed as “incorrect” by one of the participants.
Surely the Democratic Party knows this? Therefore, we can perhaps make an assumption of what the long-term strategy actually is. They do not intend this to go to a Senate trial. They want to keep this at the forefront of the media, as the vanguard of their campaigns, in order to cast as much doubt as possible about President trump’s ability to stay in office for a further four years.
If the president can force the pace of the investigation, it may turn out to be his most effective tool in exposing the “witch hunt” that has been taking place since the day he was elected.
*About the author: Mark Angelides is Managing Editor of Liberty Nation.com. Hailing from the UK, he specializes in EU politics and provides a conservative/libertarian voice on all things from across the pond. During the Brexit Referendum campaign, Mark worked to promote activism, spread the message and secure victory. He is the editor and publisher of several books on Ancient Chinese poetry.
Source: This article was published by Liberty Nation
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