Hunter Biden could have been spending millions on prostitutes and offshore accounts for his dad Joe and Trump would still have a problem

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For years, Donald Trump worked in a field where shady deals, bad-mouthing people, and backstabbing are quite common. One only has to watch a single episode of Million Dollar Listing New York to see how cutthroat it is inside the world of real estate.

Trump doesn't operate in that space anymore, but that doesn't appear to matter. The Wall Street Journal recently broke the news that in a phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump repeatedly — eight times — urged Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden's son, Hunter, who sat on the board of the Ukranian gas company Burisma. The problem is, a Ukranian official already looked into Hunter Biden and determined he did nothing wrong.

So in the end, what we have here is the President of the United States exerting his influence with a foreign government to go after the son of not just a political opponent, but his possible counterpart in the 2020 presidential election.

It's difficult to fathom this act being anything other than an abuse of Trump's presidential power. Whether or not Hunter Biden did anything wrong is irrelevant. Hunter could have been taking kickback payments of millions of dollars, spending it on prostitutes and drugs and then filtering some of it to Dad Joe to deposit in Swiss bank accounts and it wouldn't matter. Trump has no business seeking the assistance of foreign governments in going after his political adversaries.

Now, it's likely true that Joe Biden would like the story to disappear. After all, the more Hunter is in the news, the more scrutiny his father will face. While no one suggested Hunter has engaged in any wrongdoing, his entire career indicates his last name opened doors for him that otherwise would not. Why would an oil and gas company offer a board seat to someone with no background in oil and gas? With an opponent like Elizabeth Warren, who focuses like a laser on issues of cronyism — particularly the cozy relationship between government and business — it’s a headache that Joe Biden doesn't want to deal with if he doesn't have to.

Trump's action also puts a lot of pressure on House Democrats. Activists in the party have called for the president’s impeachment almost since the day of his inauguration. However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi treads carefully when it comes to the issue. People were surprised when she was resistant to impeachment following the release of the Mueller report, but it was understandable. The Russia investigation had so many moving parts, and so many players involved, that an impeachment inquiry could have been something that the public found difficult to follow.

Still, the progressive wing of the House have continued to put pressure on Speaker Pelosi since then. And the bubbling Ukraine scandal seems far more cut and dried. Trump, in having no shame, likely saw little issue with exerting his power in such a way and thinking it was entirely appropriate.

It's an unknown as to how much longer Pelosi can hold out, but the natives are restless. For the two years the GOP has controlled the House, Pelosi and others have chastised Republicans for a lack of oversight and promised changes if they win control. Outside of committee hearings, there's been little movement in the direction the activist wing and progressive wing of the Democratic Party wants to see. And that is nothing short of impeachment. Take for example what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, tweeted over the weekend:

Democrats have a problem. There is a concern that Trump could turn any impeachment process into a more significant show trial than the Mueller investigation, playing victim at every turn and using the bully pulpit to beat back the worst of the accusations against him.

At the same time, however, they also face a potential backlash from voters. The chances are meager that Trump faces removal in a GOP-controlled Senate chamber. But that shouldn't deter the House if they think it is the right move. If Democrats can make the case during a Senate trial that Trump committed acts worthy of removal, then Republicans can deal with the fallout of voting to acquit.

If the House fails to act, it could only encourage Trump to do much worse down the road. After all, if there are no consequences for one's actions, why stop?