US Ambassador to Brazil reportedly asks for "favor" to aid Trump's re-election campaign (1 Viewer)

[Richard]

Details are hard to find, but this letter was sent to Ambassador Chapman:

https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/_cache/files/7/7/77887812-a12d-4a7e-b792-11d27d50652b/7A9AEC77883C70FB786C571684B50C9A.7-31-20-chairmen-engel-and-sires-to-ambassador-chapman.pdf

The Brazilian newspaper O Globo is the media outlet that broke the story of Chapman's request that the Brazilian government drop ethanol tariffs in order to help Trump's election prospects in Iowa, the country's biggest ethanol producer.

 

[efil4]

Bribery? Color me surprised.

When you have operated in a certain manner for 4 decades, chances are you are set in you ways.

 

[Richard]

Obviously, the problem isn't asking Brazil for tariff relief or even suggesting that the US would reciprocate in a way that would benefit Brazil. Creating win-win scenarios is at the heart of effective trade policy. It is highly improper, however, to state that you are seeking the assistance of a foreign government to influence an American election. It is the difference between diplomacy and influence peddling.

 

[zztop]

It is highly improper, however, to state that you are seeking the assistance of a foreign government to influence an American election.

I could have sworn Trump got in trouble with something like this before... but maybe I am imagining it and it was just fake news

 

[JRad]

It is highly improper, however, to state that you are seeking the assistance of a foreign government to influence an American election.

Well we were told last time that it’s improper, but Trump didn’t need to be held accountable since he’d learned his lesson and wouldn’t do it again. So no way this came from him, right?

 

[wardorican]

The Senate already green lighted this behavior.

 

[SFIDC3]

Didn't one of those senators give (Collins - Maine) the reason she voted for Trump's acquittal as "the president has learned his lesson" or something?

I mean, I don't think I've ever heard something more disingenuous....I hope she loses her election in a landslide....

How does a relatively popular successful and moderate senator who clearly opposed Trump before the election and even after he was elected turn into a Trump supporter? The pessimist in me thinks the Republican party has become an authoritarian cult....run like the KGB/mafia....

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Didn't one of those senators give (Collins - Maine) the reason she voted for Trump's acquittal as "the president has learned his lesson" or something?

I mean, I don't think I've ever heard something more disingenuous....I hope she loses her election in a landslide....

How does a relatively popular successful and moderate senator who clearly opposed Trump before the election and even after he was elected turn into a Trump supporter? The pessimist in me thinks the Republican party has become an authoritarian cult....run like the KGB/mafia....

It was, indeed, Susan Collins.

Collins: Trump has learned ‘a pretty big lesson’ from impeachment

Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) on Tuesday defended her newly announced decision to vote to acquit President Trump in his Senate impeachment trial, saying he has learned “a pretty big lesso…

thehill.com

 

[efil4]

It was, indeed, Susan Collins.

Collins: Trump has learned ‘a pretty big lesson’ from impeachment

Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) on Tuesday defended her newly announced decision to vote to acquit President Trump in his Senate impeachment trial, saying he has learned “a pretty big lesso…

thehill.com

Which is why the Lincoln Project has turned their attention toward her direction as of late.

 

[insidejob]

Which is why the Lincoln Project has turned their attention toward her direction as of late.

I greatly appreciate everything the Lincoln Project is doing this election cycle to help oust Trump. I just hope they remember what they'd been fighting for after this election is over and they're back to being GOP supporters. Hopefully, they'll help to transform the party back to something resembling the GOP - pre-Tea Party Republicans

 

[TaylorB]

Obviously, the problem isn't asking Brazil for tariff relief or even suggesting that the US would reciprocate in a way that would benefit Brazil. Creating win-win scenarios is at the heart of effective trade policy. It is highly improper, however, to state that you are seeking the assistance of a foreign government to influence an American election. It is the difference between diplomacy and influence peddling.

That is why much of the opposition to the Ukraine impeachment felt so disingenuous. The fact that the bribe he solicited was from a foreign country meant that his supporters could pretend it was part of some legitimate foreign policy interest in rooting out corruption. "Legitimate" foreign policy that for some reason needed to be conducted by Lev, Igor, and bootlickers like Giuliani, Sondland, Barr etc. instead of the existing channels at the state department. As if the Trump we've seen in interviews and at press conferences has some secret deep concern with rooting out corruption in places like Ukraine.

Bolton wrote in his book: “I am hard pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations.” It didn't take a walrus mustache and degree from Yale Law School to figure that out. Of course he's bribing Brazil with favorable foreign policy to help himself get reelected. He's acutely aware which countries lack the guardrails to stop him from soliciting foreign interference, including our own, and will do these things until something or someone stops him. Some of the deals he offers these countries might provide tangential benefits to the US as a whole, but that's never been part of his analysis.