New reporting from The Washington Post completely undercuts a central defense of Donald Trump and his allies regarding impeachment: the notion that they were somehow concerned about corruption in Ukraine more generally, and not simply a politically motivated investigation into the Bidens.
Actually, Trump has been so unconcerned about combatting corruption in Ukraine that White House budget documents show his administration has made repeated attempts to cut billions of dollars in foreign aid designed to help fight corruption in Ukraine and other places.
Among the anti-corruption programs for which the Trump administration sought budget cuts is International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, which seeks to promote justice and law enforcement reforms through new institutions such as Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. Congress, for instance, directed $30 million through the program to Ukraine for fighting corruption after Trump's White House sought to slash the funding to just $13 million. But since the White House didn't succeed in this year's budget, it's trying again for $13 million in next year's budget.
The White House is also seeking to slash a portion of the Economic Support and Development Fund that pushed $250 million toward fighting corruption in Ukraine in 2018 to just $145 million in 2020.
So Trump standing on the White House lawn a couple weeks ago yelling at reporters, “I don’t care about politics, but I do care about corruption," was just, well, Trump yelling at reporters. And lying, as usual.