It was a “perfect call.”
Okay, maybe not perfect, but the bad stuff is all hearsay – nothing to indicate that he did anything wrong.
Okay, the transcript he put out shows that he did something wrong, but only that one thing about asking a foreign power to intervene in our election for his benefit. There was no quid pro quo, no extortion/bribery.
Okay, the transcript he put out shows he did ask a foreign government to help him get re-elected, and there was a quid pro quo. The extortion/bribery never was carried through, though. No harm, no foul.
Okay, the transcript he put out shows he did ask a foreign government to help him get re-elected, there was a quid pro quo, and the extortion/bribery was carried through using the power of the presidency until they got caught. But the key is that it wasn’t done with a corrupt intent.
Okay, the transcript he put out shows he did ask a foreign government to help him get re-elected, there was a quid pro quo, the extortion/bribery was carried through by abusing the power of the presidency, and the intent was completely corrupt (as in “he asked a foreign government to help him get re-elected”, “extortion/bribery”, and “abusing the power of the presidency”). But there definitely was no cover up.
Okay, the transcript he put out shows he did ask a foreign government to help him get re-elected, there was a quid pro quo, the extortion/bribery was carried through by abusing the power of the presidency, it was completely corrupt, and we all definitely tried to cover up the whole thing. But that doesn’t rise to the level of impeachment.
Okay, the transcript he put out shows he did ask a foreign government to help him get re-elected, there was a quid pro quo, the extortion/bribery was carried through by abusing the power of the presidency, it was completely corrupt, we all tried to cover this up, and if that isn’t impeachable, nothing is.
Okay, then, the Republican Party is formally announcing that it is totally okay with (a) asking a foreign government’s help in an American election, (b) extorting or bribing that government to get their help, (c) abusing the power of elected office, and (d) subverting the Constitution and obstructing justice to cover up (a), (b), and (c). That stuff happens all the time. It’s all good.
Okay, ah, Fox - you got our backs, right?