There was no quid pro quo

"There was no quid pro quo" was a phrase frequently employed by President Donald Trump and his supporters in reference to the 2019 Trump–Ukraine scandal during the first impeachment of Donald Trump, denying that a quid pro quo extortion attempt had taken place.^[1][2]

History

After Bill Taylor wrote to then-ambassador Gordon Sondland,"...I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign" on September 8, 2019, Sondland asked Trump "What do you want from Ukraine?", to which Trump responded by saying "Nothing. There is no quid pro quo."^[3][4][5]

Trump first publicly used the term on September 22, 2019, speaking to reporters about his phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.^[6] On September 25, at a press conference in New York, Trump again denied extortion of Ukraine by saying "I didn’t do it. There was no quid pro quo."^[7]

On October 17, 2019, Mick Mulvaney, then-White House Chief of Staff, said in a press meeting: "Let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election."^[8]

Press interpretation

Some newspapers, including NBC^[3] and CNN,^[6] have characterized Trump's use of the phrase as a means of sidetracking the charges actually levied against him: abuse of power. A quid pro quo was established early in the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump.^[9]