“different language”! That would be Latin.
LOL I first read the blurb as …“can you inveigle the rest of Ukraine…”
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Such meetings are normal in US government and close “consultant” operations with foreign powers and candidates. Shining a light on them in the context of other events can make it seem like they are something more in the world of gotcha’ journalism. All the more since the headline makes it seem like the dinners were immediately before Trump’s call. Probably the most obvious thing coming out of this so far is the felt need to patronize a Trump property.
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Google pulls up some interesting stuff. This little known lawyer was supposed to be a cutout, I guess, but then why have all the Trump cronies hanging around? If they go to the trouble to make even a half assed effort to cover it up, there is a reason…
What was discussed at this dinner? Just ask the waiters who overhead everything, no doubt or ask the Russians who doubtlessly have bugs in all of Trump’s regular hangouts.
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Poodle-dog Trump would gladly do a favor if Putin asked, but if Putin wanted to influence the Ukrainian election, he would have do so using more reliable assets.
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Who were the musicians?
Maybe they heard something…
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The dude might like the idea of tilting the UKR election, but he might also, too, need the cooperation of the CIA he repeatedly disrespected to pull it off.
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I dunno about the rest of yous, but prior to the dam starting to break, I felt some sympathy for this Zelensky dude, seeing him as one of the good guys.
Now, I hope this fucking putz drowns with the rest of these sonsofbitches.
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Funny thing about this “gotcha journalism”- these bastards are all being gotcha’d by their own shitty actions that have no normal context.
100%. Zelensky went out of his way in the phone call to remind Trump that he’d been a a patron.
But your larger point, that the story makes this out to be more nefarious than it almost certainly was, is on point. It was a networking meeting, not a conspiratorial , almost certainly. He won with over 70% of the vote the next week, and had been the lead in opinion polls since the time he announced. I really don’t think he needed any election interference! If either Trump or Putin wanted to interfere they’d almost certainly have gone with the other guy, an oligarch who, while anti-Putin as well on many fronts, certainly was not above self-enrichment while on the job. My husband pointed out to me that he was caught in the Panama Papers scandal too. (The guy before him, Yanukovych, was the one who fled to Russia, so there was plenty of room for improvement with his successor!).
A much better analogy for Zelensky’s career is Al Franken, not Donald Trump.
I think evidence showing his intent to interfere will suffice.
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That election was un-tiltable, though. Zelensky was far in the lead months before he announced, and won with over 73% of the vote. The part of Ukraine that might not have liked him was occupied by Russia, so.
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And we paid for all of it.