Letters to the Editor: Add this to impeachment: Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Russians

To the editor: Your editorial regarding the impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump lists some of the most important allegations against the president and advises the House of Representatives to focus primarily on these.

What is absent from the editorial is any mention of reports that the president told high-level Russian officials in the Oval Office that he was not concerned about their meddling in the 2016 election. This has to be one of the most egregious of President Trump’s sins.

This revelation means that the president knew all along that the Russians did it but lied to the American people about his beliefs, that he doesn’t care about the Russian attack on our democracy, and that he is implying they should do it again in 2020.

What can be more shameful than this behavior? This should be at the top of the list of the allegations investigated and publicized by the House. It represents a greater danger to the country than any of the other items, even as bad as they are.

Sandy Cohen, Northridge

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To the editor: The strongest case for impeaching Trump is not his violation of the law, but that he compromises our national security.

It’s not that he himself is a threat, but because of his personal corruption, by using his office for personal gain, he cannot fully advance our national security interests. Not only can he no longer respond effectively to our adversaries, he also cannot coordinate with our allies.

And it appears that Trump’s personal corruption has affected others who work in this administration.

Vic Volpe, Camarillo

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To the editor: I haven’t seen any indication that Trump tried to get Ukraine to help his 2020 campaign. I see Trump asking for help in investigating corruption, but that is all.

If it inadvertently helps Trump in 2020, I have no problem with that.

P.J. Gendell, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: My family left Ukraine when it was still the Soviet Union in 1975. We left because the corruption of the Soviet system forced every citizen to live a life of theft, grift and lying.

We heard that America was about justice and equality, not grift and anti-Semitism. And we were right, until now.

Soliciting election interference as military aid for a desperate nation is being held back? Threatening the legislator investigating him with arrest for a crime whose punishment includes execution? I thought I had left all of this far behind.

It is ironic that, as Trump bludgeons the rule of law with impunity, as he tries to bring Soviet-style kleptocracy to America, it is little ex-Soviet Ukraine that is likely to destroy his regime.

Alexander Rivkin, Los Angeles