A former SDNY prosecutor stated that if Trump knew of the whistle-blower’s complaint when he released aid to Ukraine, it suggests a “consciousness of guilt”
Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Despite President Trump’s all-cap-Sharpie note to himself last week that there was “no quid pro quo,” a New York Times report published on Tuesday polished up the preponderance of evidence arguing otherwise. In late August, the White House counsel’s office informed the president of the whistle-blower’s report that Trump withheld aid in exchange for politically-motivated investigations in Ukraine.
This new timeline suggests that Trump was aware that he had been accused of abusing his executive power when the White House eventually released the aid to Ukraine in September. It also paints his I’m-not-a-crook correspondence with U.N. Ambassador Gordon Sondland in a less honorable light. Sondland testified that 0n September 9, Trump told him “I want no quid pro quo.
Shortly after learning of the whistle-blower complaint, Trump had a similar conversation with Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who asked the president if the withheld aid to Ukraine was connected to something he wanted done in Ukraine. “‘No way,’” Johnson recalled Trump saying. “I would never do that. Who told you that?”
While the Times report suggests that the above question is yet another from Trump offered in bad faith, it could have more serious repercussions as Democrats plan to gather articles of impeachment. As former Southern District of New York prosecutor Mimi Rocah points out: “This is what prosecutors call consciousness of guilt. It’s very strong evidence that when he froze the money it was for an illicit purpose.
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