So the Democrats were pestering the Ukrainians to collude with them to steal the election from Trump...

May 3, 2019 By Monica Showalter

It's funny how false 'narratives' can flip.

John Solomon at the The Hill has a doozy about how Democratic Party operatives were pestering the Ukrainians something fierce in mid-2016 to come collude with them to steal the election from Donald Trump. That's not Solomon's assessment, it's what named Ukrainian officials are saying.  writes:

In its most detailed account yet, Ukraine’s embassy in Washington says a Democratic National Committee insider during the 2016 election solicited dirt on Donald Trump’s campaign chairman and even tried to enlist the country's president to help.  

In written answers to questions, Ambassador Valeriy Chaly's office says DNC contractor Alexandra Chalupa sought information from the Ukrainian government on Paul Manafort’s dealings inside the country, in hopes of forcing the issue before Congress.  

Chalupa later tried to arrange for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to comment on Manafort’s Russian ties on a U.S. visit during the 2016 campaign, the ambassador said. 

Chaly says that, at the time of the contacts in 2016, the embassy knew Chalupa primarily as a Ukrainian-American activist, and learned only later of her ties to the DNC. He says the embassy considered her requests an inappropriate solicitation of interference in the U.S. election.

They didn't know who the heck she was, they just didn't want her bothering them.

And they would have had good reason, too. Unlike, say, the Russians, or for that matter the western Europeans, the Ukrainians couldn't take it for granted that Hillary Clinton would win. They would have had a national interest in polite relations with whoever won the election, whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. They weren't hearing from Trump's people but they sure as heck were hearing from the Democrats - and probably felt very nervous about whether the pesterings were actually political blackmail. Consequences to be had if Ukraine didn't play ball with them - and they would have known that for Hillary, it was always pay to play  - or hell to pay. ...... Read more