Desperate Dems Drop ‘Quid Pro Quo’ Rhetoric, Now It’s ‘Extortion’ And ‘Bribery’
November 6, 2019 By David Marcus

https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/06/desperate-dems-drop-quid-pro-quo-rhetoric-now-its-extortion-and-bribery/

As the hours of transcripts of witnesses in the Ukraine impeachment inquiry rack up and continue to underwhelm, Democrats and their allies in the media have seized on a new tactic. The old, archaic term “quid pro quo,” is about to go the way of the Dodo. In its place the terms “extortion” and “bribery” will fly about like hot air balloons in California wine country.

Here we see the new terms in action from Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., yesterday on CNN. The supposed justification for this ramping up of the rhetoric is an amendment that Ambassador Gordon Sondland made to his testimony before the impeachment inquiry in which he said that on September 1st, 10 days before aid to Ukraine was released, he told a Ukrainian official that that aid was not likely to flow if a promise was not made to investigate the gas company Burisma, which employed Hunter Biden. Such a promise was never delivered.

Zitat

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“We keep using the word quid pro quo, but the accurate word here is bribery and extortion. Those are criminal charges.” @RepGaramendi reacts to Gordon Sondland’s revised impeachment inquiry testimony. https://t.co/7p8voPC14h pic.twitter.com/TbLK3guJGl

— CNN (@CNN) November 5, 2019

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Though Sondland’s revision of his testimony is being heralded as a bombshell (what isn’t) by Democrats, the revelation doesn’t change the basic facts of the case. The so-called scandal still boils down to the President wanting an anti-corruption review of Ukraine before releasing the aid, which included a desire to have Burisma investigated. Rankling in the diplomatic corps ensued about the appropriateness of this condition, and the aid eventually flowed without it having been met.

In terms of describing what actually happened, there is little difference between alleging a “quid pro quo,” “extortion,” or “bribery.” Everything still depends upon whether president Trump was acting within his power by delaying the aid while also asking Ukraine to fight corruption, including that which might involve Vice President Biden’s son. The real reason that our national lesson in Latin is about to give way is that Democrats hope that “extortion,” and “bribery” sounds worse to Americans.

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I just want to make the seemingly obvious point, that demanding a quid pro quo is not an illegal or unethical act, unless it is for personal gain. If you're going to give taxpayers' hard earned money to foreign governments, you'd damned sure better require they do something in return for it.