As the House opens public impeachment hearings into the Ukraine scandal, the bottom-line question is dead simple: Did President Donald Trump, for political reasons, manipulate military aid to an ally in a war that has cost 13,000 lives?
As Ukrainians were struggling with near-daily shellfire, Trump appeared to treat military aid appropriated by Congress as a personal political tool.
In dealing with Ukraine, Trump has behaved the same erratic, unreliable way he has with the Syrian Kurds, or the South Koreans, or NATO partners in Europe.
The Russians are now discussing an agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy -- the man Trump importuned in his infamous July 25 phone call for a "favor" in investigating his political rivals in return for military help.
How is the United States shaping events as Ukraine is rebalanced?
As you watch the Ukraine hearings, remember this basic fact: While Trump was playing politics on Ukraine, people who depended on U.S. military aid were getting killed and wounded.
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