Письмо Джулиани Зеленскому

Среди опубликованных позавчера и вчера документов есть один, который, вероятно, важнее остальных. Это письмо, которое Джулиани написал Зеленскому. Вот оно.



Chait очень хорошо отметил наиболее примечательное качество этого письма, так что я просто процитирую его статью:

What is remarkable about the letter is the degree to which it inverts the relationship between a representative of the world’s richest and most prestigious democracy, on the one hand, and the leader of a small country notorious for its corruption. Giuliani’s letter explains that, even though he holds no government position at all, he represents the president of the United States in a private capacity.

One would expect to find an exchange between an American and a Ukrainian official in which the point was, effectively, Don’t worry if this sounds shady, that’s just the way things are done in my country. What’s remarkable is that this is being said not by the Ukrainian to the American, but the other way around.

Of course, the oddity Giuliani is trying to explain to Zelensky is the entire scandal. He is conducting diplomacy, using the power of the federal government, on behalf of Trump’s interests as a private citizen. This is so obviously improper that Giuliani realizes it will appear improper even to a politician from a country rife with corruption.

Trump’s defense has hinged upon the fact that, in his conversation with Zelensky, Trump said “do us a favor,” which he claims must mean the United States, not his private interests. “With the word ‘us’ I am referring to the United States, our Country,” he tweeted last month. “I said do us a favor, not me, and our country, not a campaign,” he wrote in his diatribe to Nancy Pelosi.

Giuliani’s letter to Zelensky could not have refuted this defense any more effectively. He states in writing he represents Trump “as a private citizen, not as President of the United States.” And he proceeds to note that he is doing so “with his knowledge and consent.”