Washington, D.C. — President Donald Trump’s abuse of power involving Ukraine is even worse than the Watergate scandal because it involves an effort to pressure a foreign country to interfere in American democracy and undermines our national security, according to a new column from the Center for American Progress.
The column recounts Nixon’s misdeeds, which involved domestic actors targeting his political opponents and a subsequent cover-up. By contrast, Trump’s betrayal of the public trust seeks to undermine our elections by urging a foreign actor to intervene in them. Seeking to extort another country to interfere in U.S. elections strikes at the heart of our democracy and is one of the reasons the founders provided a mechanism for Congress to impeach and remove a president.
Trump’s actions also undermine national security by suggesting that American foreign policy is driven by Trump’s corrupt political interests. This is a flagrant misuse of our relationship with foreign allies and jeopardizes the long-term health of the nation’s interests.
Read the column: “Worse than Watergate” by Sam Berger.
For more information or to talk to an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected] or 202-478-6327.