Also, the transcripts prove that Trump attempted to force President Zelensky-a man who had just been elected with 70% of the vote on an anticorruption platform-to “prove” he was serious about fighting corruption by tying the release of military aid to Ukraine already approved by Congress to Zelensky’s willingness to “go in front of a microphone” and “announce” an investigation into Burisma and Hunter Biden-not to actually start an investigation, but simply to announce one, simply to provide footage Trump could use in a campaign ad against Joe Biden, were Biden to be the Democratic presidential nominee. It’s clear that the military aid to Ukraine was ONLY released under congressional pressure, and it’s also clear that there was no valid reason to even try to tie the release of the military aid to an insistence that President Zelensky create a visual for the Trump campaign by “go(ing) to a microphone” and announcing-not holding, but ANNOUNCING-an investigation into an American politician that the Ukrainian government had no reason to announce. As an aside, it was silly and embarassing for Mr. Trump to say that the U.S. had “been through a lot”, as an argument for trying to force President Zelensky to make this pointless announcement-the country hasn’t “been through a lot”-Mr. Trump is just feeling sorry for himself for the sake of feeling sorry for himself, despite the fact that he’s been the victim of nothing.