It’s Not What the President Did—It’s Why He Did It

In his opening statement at today’s first public impeachment hearing, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee argued that the real story of the Ukraine scandal is not any inappropriate behavior by Donald Trump, but rather the actions of a deep state that hates the president and is determined to subvert his leadership.

“Elements of the civil service have decided that they, not the president, are really in charge,” Representative Devin Nunes charged. “After expressing skepticism of foreign aid and concern about corruption on the campaign trail, President Trump acted skeptically about foreign aid and expressed concerns about foreign corruption … Officials showed the surprising lack of interest in the indications of Ukrainian election meddling that deeply concerned the president at whose pleasure they serve.”

In the picture Nunes was drawing, unelected officials tried to block Trump’s pure-hearted battle against corruption. But