Progressive firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter Friday to attack Donald Trump for purportedly trying to “extort a foreign government for personal gain,” referring to the president’s July phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Breitbart reports.
“You are correct!” she tweeted in response to Trump’s tweet that you can’t impeach somebody who “hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“But you tried to extort a foreign government for personal gain, so here we are,” she added.
Trump’s July phone call with Zelensky is what sparked the current impeachment probe into his behavior. According to Trump’s critics, he was using foreign aid to Ukraine to pressure Zelensky into digging up dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Conversely, the president’s supporters claim that there was no quid pro quo and suggest the inquiry is politically motivated to destroy Trump’s presidency.
Axios reports that some Senate Republicans are prepared to admit that there may have been a quid pro quo in Trump’s conversation with Zelensky. The admission is reportedly part of a strategy to shift focus onto the belief that such a request is legal and not an impeachable offense.
According to sources close to a strategy session that reportedly took place Wednesday, Sen. John Neely Kennedy argued that the U.S. government “often attaches conditions to foreign aid” and that Trump’s call was nothing out of the ordinary. In addition, Cruz reportedly said that quid pro quo isn’t illegal “unless there is ‘corrupt intent,’” adding that these conditions are a “tool of foreign policy.”
We did and in it you asked for the Ukrainian President to investigate your leading 2020 Democratic opponent Joe Biden while you were withholding military aid to the Ukraine. Here’s the part of the transcript everyone needs to read. #Extortion pic.twitter.com/kM3h2yc2oZ
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) October 31, 2019
As for Ocasio-Cortez, she has been supportive of impeachment. On an appearance on CNN ‘s Cuomo Prime Time , the New York City Representative supported House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s narrow inquiry that specifically focuses on Trump’s Ukraine conduct as opposed to other potentially impeachable offenses.
“This Ukraine allegation is head and shoulders, one of the most serious and urgent allegations that we have seen come out of this administration to date,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez also suggested that the probe provides a window to protect the 2020 election from Trump’s alleged potential to interfere with the process.
“We have the opportunity to act now to prevent a profoundly destabilizing action and intervention in our democracy before it happens,” she said, adding that actions must be taken “right now.”
The 30-year-old congresswoman recently blasted the GOP in a tweet that highlighted that her working-class life makes her better at her job, appearing to imply that the GOP is out of touch with such people.
