How a Fringe Theory About Ukraine Took Root in the White House (In 2017)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
In an April 2017 interview with The Associated Press, President Trump suddenly began talking about the hack of the Democratic National Committee a year earlier, complaining that the F.B.I. had not physically examined the compromised server.
“They brought in another company that I hear is Ukrainian-based,” the president said.
“CrowdStrike?” the surprised reporter asked, referring to the California cybersecurity company that investigated how Russian government hackers had stolen and leaked Democratic emails, disrupting Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
“That’s what I heard,” Mr. Trump resumed. “I heard it’s owned by a very rich Ukrainian; that’s what I heard.”
More than two years later, Mr. Trump was still holding on to this false conspiracy theory. In his July call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, he summed it up in a sort of shorthand — at least according to the White House memorandum , labeled “not a verbatim transcript.”
“I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say CrowdStrike … I guess you have one of your wealthy people …,” the president said. It is unclear whether the ellipses indicate that words were omitted or that Mr. Trump’s voice was trailing off.
Then he added one novel detail: “The server, they say Ukraine has it.”
Now, Mr. Trump’s call for Ukraine to look into his CrowdStrike story forms the background to the House impeachment inquiry, which is focused on the second request he made: that Mr. Zelensky investigate Mr. Trump’s possible 2020 opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Mr. Trump has placed a concoction of disprovable claims, of the kind usually found on the fringes of the web, squarely in the middle of American politics and diplomacy.
The tale of the supposedly hidden server may have appealed to Mr. Trump because it undercut a well-established fact that he has resented and resisted for three years: The Russian government interfered in the 2016 election to help him win, an effort thoroughly documented by American intelligence agencies and amply supported by public evidence.
By contrast, there is no evidence to support the president’s vague suggestion that Ukraine, not Russia, might be responsible for the hacking, or that CrowdStrike somehow connived in it. But his alternate history has provided a psychological shield for the president against facts that he believes tarnish his electoral victory.
Mr. Trump has long called for better relations with Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia and brushed aside complaints about its conduct. So there is a certain symmetry to his suggestion that Ukraine, Russia’s opponent and the victim of its territorial grab, may somehow have framed Russia for the 2016 election activity.
“Ukraine is the perfect scapegoat for him, because it’s the enemy of Russia,” said Nina Jankowicz, a fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington who regularly visits Ukraine and is writing a book called “How to Lose the Information War.”
She noted that a number of Ukraine-linked stories, some of them distorted or exaggerated, have been pulled together by Mr. Trump’s supporters into a single narrative.
For example, there is the idea, promoted by the president’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, that Ukraine’s government actively sabotaged Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign. A Ukrainian-American lawyer who consulted for the D.N.C. looked into the finances of Paul Manafort and spoke with Ukrainian embassy officials. But there appears to have been no organized Ukrainian government effort to intervene — certainly nothing comparable to the activities of Russian intelligence agencies ordered by Mr. Putin.
It is true that a Ukrainian legislator helped publicize documents on Mr. Manafort’s multimillion-dollar payments from a Ukrainian political party, leading to his resignation as Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman. But the claim of Mr. Manafort’s wrongdoing turned out to be justified. He is now serving seven and a half years in prison for financial fraud and other crimes.
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When you put a corrupt and dishonest lunatic like Trump in power eventually you get to where we are now.
Why do leftists care more about Ukraine then they do about this country?
Trump is the result of the last four years of Democrats trying to destroy this country at a fundamental level.
It seems all leftists can do is scream "But Trruuummmmppppp!!!!!!" Instead of actually fixing the problems with their party that allowed Trump to come to power.
Most Americans don't give a fuck about Ukraine; and want US resources to stop being wasted there when there is so much wrong with this country.
As for the article. So what?
Trump doesn't like or trust Ukraine or Zelenskyy. What have they ever done to earn anyone's trust?
When the war started, many leftists, some on here, hoped for the destruction of Ukraine because of the claim that the country was being run by nazi, white supremacist fascists.
When it was noted to them that they are de facto supporting Russia, something they claimed Trump did during his entire first four years, they changed tune, dropped the labeling of Ukranians and magically started to support them.
What a word the left lives in.
Comment 3.1 is, of course, fraudulent, revisionary history.
Since the war started, may reactionaries, some on here, even as recently as yesterday, have been profuse in their expressions of hatred for Ukraine, denounce it as run by nazis and fascists just as their Russian counterparts do.
What a hell hole reactionaries want America to become. No wonder they are so strong in their support for the Trump/Vance regime.
Not sure what these "reactionaries" are you constantly refer to, but I have never seen anyone on the right state that Ukraine is run by nazis, etc.
Maybe you could post some of those "reactionaries on here" posts that show this.
Speaking of fraudulent, revisionary history, can you say "Russia Russia Russia hoax"?
Here are a couple of recent examples, among many:
Hmm. Apparently you need to familiarize yourself with the Senate Intelligence Committe Report on Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. You can start here:
Why do reactionaries hate democracy, hate our freedoms and hate America?
Trump is the result of two generations of Republicans since Newt Gingrich trying to destroy this country at a fundamental level.
It seems all reactionaries can do is scream "Leftists!" instead of doing anything to benefit Americans or the American way of life.
Most Americans care about not letting Ukraine be devoured by Trump's friend, the murderous dictator Putin.
Trump is a wanna be dictator. Of course, he doesn't like Ukraine or Zelensky who are struggling to maintain their freedom.
[✘] "Most Americans care about not letting Ukraine be devoured by Trump's friend, the murderous dictator Putin."
Most Americans probably don't care one way or the other but most will agree that the money being sent there could do great things for this country, something you cry that "reactionaries" are against.
"Trump is a wanna be dictator. "
If that is true, then he would have already taken steps. Because he hasn't, you are mad that he hasn't proven your point, which is fraudulent revision history.
Most right wingers believe in conspiracies so of course it doesn't bother them to have a conspiracy nut as president
You mean like the one that used the 51 intelligence officials that declared his son's laptop Russian misinformation as an attack during the 2020 election?
That conspiracy nut?