https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a29637491/trump-ukraine-call-transcript-alexander-vindman-burisma/
"No wonder they tried to smear Vindman as a double agent on Fox News. They don't want people to believe it when he makes it clear that the Ukrainian president knew exactly what Trump wanted. It wasn't some general crackdown on corruption—it was an investigation of the Bidens he could use as a political weapon. We've known this via other avenues, not least from the good work of Rudy Giuliani, International Man of Stupidity, who made it clear to the Ukrainians via backchannels that they wanted an announcement that specifically mentioned Burisma. But it's good to get this confirmed from all angles, just like it was useful to hear from European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland—who served as Trump's henchman on this—that there was a quid pro quo. You need all the angles because Trump and his cronies are working all the angles in response. In the Age of Shamelessness, you cover all your bases in defense: we didn't do it, fake news, but even if we did do it, it's not a crime, OK we did it, but everybody does it and we do it all the time. You can even backtrack to saying it didn't happen after saying you do it all the time. It can be Fake News and Totally Normal, Nothing to See Here all at once. Because the truth doesn't actually matter. Language and rhetoric are hammers you use to bludgeon the various enemies until they stop fighting back. Trump's Republican allies will soon enough be saying that withholding military aid until a foreign power ratfucks your political opponent so you can win an election is good and smart. Also, it never happened."
