There are warnings the United States could be set for a “constitutional crisis” as new information continues to be revealed, detailing the extent of the US President's attempts to involve international counterparts in domestic affairs.
In recent weeks, Donald Trump has admitted to asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as a whistleblower complaint culminated in an impeachment inquiry against the US President.
Despite Democrat assertions President Trump gravely misused his position, the commander in chief has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. On Friday, in front of rolling television cameras and White House press reporters, President Trump doubled down by publicly encouraging China to look into the Bidens.
An 'unsettling, new low'
Australian National University International relations expert Dr John Blaxland says such “unsettling” actions have never before been seen by a leader of a Western democracy.
“The fact that this happened on the public stage is hard to find a precedent for,” Dr Blaxland told SBS News.
“In third world countries, in former Soviet countries, that kind of pressure is much less unlikely to occur. But we hold ourselves in the west, I guess, to a higher standard, and I think that's what people are looking at and thinking 'that's what makes it unprecedented'.”
“It's setting a new low in terms of the standards we should expect from our leaders, and I find that pretty unsettling.”
"This is absolutely unprecedented, yes. (President Trump) is trying to normalise this (behaviour)," agreed Dr David Smith from the University of Sydney's US Studies Centre.
US President Donald Trump asked Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, for a "favour" in a July 25 phonecall - calling on Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. Source: UKRAINE PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE
“This is very worrying because of the number of people in the Trump administration and the number of Republicans in Congress who are acquiescing to it. Republicans are actually going along with this, refusing to say anything about the fact that this is really an attack on the rule of law.”
‘Normalising worrying behaviour’ and Australian implications
Dr Blaxland believes if President Trump walks away from the impeachment inquiry unscathed, or if his actions aren’t found to be a misuse of power, it would usher in a new, and “worrying” era in Western politics.
“International relations are very much affected by norms and precedent, and by what is considered acceptable and what is considered unacceptable,” he explained.
“If the President of the leading Western democracy is allowed to do this, and can get away with it, and it comes to be considered as normal, it does set a new benchmark for normality in international relations that I think is unhealthy and worrying, and from an Australian point of view is particularly unsettling.”
The rolling scandal has engulfed Australia, with the revelation that Mr Trump also pressed Prime Minister Scott Morrison to assist the US Justice Department with its investigation into the Mueller Report - the 2016 inquiry into Russian interference.
Dr Blaxland believes there are significant and grave implications and ramifications facing Australia, if President Trump’s actions are “normalised”.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and US President Donald Trump shake hands during a September visit to Pratt Industries' plant opening in Ohio. Source: AFP
“Australia is a small to middle power that has come to be quite dependent on the international mechanisms, the so-called rules-based global order, from which Australia has benefited enormously,” he told SBS News.
“So steps that are seen to undermine that order, or delegitimise it, or to give ammunition for those who are its detractors to further that position is clearly not in Australia's interest - and I think that's an angle which is particularly disconcerting for us.”
How did this all begin?
Donald Trump is facing an impeachment inquiry, launched by US Democrats, after an unnamed whistleblower revealed the US President asked his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Joe Biden and son Hunter, over his assertions Mr Biden misused his position as Vice President to assist his sons’ business dealing in Ukraine.
The transcript of that 30-minute phonecall with Volodymyr Zelensky was released by the White House in the aftermath, showing President Trump indeed pushed to have Ukrainian prosecutors open an inquiry into the Bidens.
“I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation in Ukraine,” Mr Trump is recorded to have to said to Mr Zelensky.
Amid the sea of critics after the bombshell revelations were made, former acting CIA director Michael Morell slammed the President’s actions as inappropriate.
“I have never seen a presidential call before where the president has asked a foreign leader to help him politically. That is unprecedented in my experience,” Mr Morell told US network CBS.
“What matters to me here is the putting of US national security below partisan politics.”
Democrats have called the details “damning” – including the admission that US Security of State Mike Pompeo was listening in on the phone call, despite initially denying he had any knowledge of the matter.
The Chair of the US House Intelligence Committee, Democrat Adam Schiff, has called Mr Trump's actions "a fundamental breach of the President's oath of office". Source: AAP
Dr David Smith says that while he hopes the President’s actions will see a “backlash against this kind of behaviour”, he fears it ultimately won’t be seen as a “historical warning as to what happens when presidents ignore the rule of law”.
“We're not seeing what happening during the Nixon era, when the handbrake on Nixon's corruption was that Republicans actually started opposing him, actually started defecting,” Dr Smith explained.
“Unfortunately it's not very likely that we're going to see this in the Trump era.”
'Constitutional crisis'
Dr Smith says there is a “worrying feeling” that the chaos currently being observed on Capitol Hill is “accelerating”, as Republicans refuse to cooperate with impeachment investigators.
“Trump is talking about having political opponents arrested for treason, he's suggesting that (the whistleblower) should be executed, he's talking about this isn't an impeachment, it's a coup - there just seems to be more and more noise being made very loudly in a way that is really intensifying this feeling of crisis.”
“This complete non-cooperation is another thing from the white house that has all the makings of a constitutional crisis. Republicans are essentially gambling that they can get away with obstructing the impeachment investigation as much as possible.”
Dr Blaxland adds that the President’s actions could be emulated by other leaders, who may feel emboldened and entitled after seeing Mr Trump do so without consequence.
“It's really disconcerting and it provides ammunition for those state leaders that are less democratic, if democratic at all, to justify taking more repressive and more dodgy steps to secure their own hold on government,” Dr Blaxland said.
“If the President of the United States can do this and get away with it, then why on earth can't somebody else from a tinpot dictatorship somewhere else go and do likewise? The precedent is really corrosive internationally.”
“It's hard to say what the long term ramifications of this will be,” adds Dr Smith.
“When Trump is gone, is this going to be the new normal: of presidents going after their political opponents basically by any means possible, including using the justice department or the weight of US foreign policies.”
President Trump maintains he did nothing wrong, describing the phonecall as “perfect”, and denouncing the inquiry against him as a “witchhunt”.
