Republicans defend Trump as concerned with Ukrainian corruption but aides tell a different story

Some of President Trump’s allies have argued that his motivation for holding up almost $400 million in aid to Ukraine was his deep-seated concern about corruption — and that he needed to test the new Ukrainian administration’s dedication to rooting it out.

In persistent questioning during the House hearings, Republican lawmakers and their staff lawyer have pressed witnesses to agree that Ukraine has long had a corruption problem and to portray Trump’s desire to have Kyiv investigate his political rivals as fitting within that broader worry.

“Corruption is not just prevalent in Ukraine. It’s the system. Our president said time out, time out, let’s check out this new guy,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said last week, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

View the complete November 20 article by Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.