Washington – President Donald Trump urged the new leader of Ukraine this summer to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, a person familiar with the matter said. Democrats condemned what they saw as a clear effort to damage a political rival, now at the center of an explosive whistleblower complaint against Trump.
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It was the latest revelation in an escalating controversy that has created a showdown between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration, which has refused to turn over the formal complaint by a national security official or even describe its contents.
Trump is defending himself against the intelligence official’s complaint, asserting that it comes from a “partisan whistleblower,” though the president also says he doesn’t know who had made it. The complaint was based on a series of events, one of which was a July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to a two people familiar with the matter. The people were not authorized to discuss the issue by name and were granted anonymity.
In a tweet Saturday, Trump referred to “a perfectly fine and routine conversation I had” with Ukraine’s leader. “Nothing was said that was in any way wrong.”
According to one of the people, who was briefed on the call, Trump urged Zelenskiy to probe the activities of potential Democratic rival Biden’s son Hunter, who worked for a Ukrainian gas company. Trump did not raise the issue of U.S. aid to Ukraine, indicating there was not an explicit quid pro quo, according to the person.
Biden told reporters in Iowa on Saturday that “Trump deserves to be investigated. He is violating every basic norm of a president. You should be asking him the question, why is he on the phone with a foreign leader trying to intimidate a foreign leader, if that’s what happened.”
He accused Trump of “doing this because he knows I’ll beat him like a drum and he’s using the abuse of power and every element of the presidency to try to do something to smear me.”
The U.S. government’s intelligence inspector general has described the whistleblower’s Aug. 12 complaint as “serious” and “urgent.” Trump insisted “it’s nothing” and “just another political hack job.”
There has yet to be any evidence of any wrongdoing by Biden or his son regarding Ukraine.
Trump and Zelenskiy plan to meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this coming week. The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump pressed Zelenskiy about Biden.
The standoff with Congress raises more questions about the extent to which Trump’s appointees are protecting the Republican president from oversight and, specifically, whether his new acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, is working with the Justice Department to shield the president.
Democrats say the administration is legally required to give Congress access to the whistleblower’s complaint. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., has said he will go to court in an effort to get it if necessary.
The intelligence inspector general said the matter involves the “most significant” responsibilities of intelligence leadership.
In the whistleblower case, lawmakers are looking into whether Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani traveled to Ukraine to pressure the government to aid Trump’s reelection effort by investigating the activities of Biden’s son.
Democrats have contended that Trump, in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, may have asked for foreign assistance in his upcoming reelection bid.
During an CNN interview Thursday, Giuliani was asked whether he had asked Ukraine to look into Biden. He initially said, “No, actually I didn’t,” but seconds later he said, “Of course I did.”
Maguire has refused to discuss details of the whistleblower complaint, but he has been subpoenaed by Schiff’s committee and is expected to testify publicly next Thursday. Maguire and the inspector general, Michael Atkinson, also are expected next week at the Senate Intelligence Committee.
(AP)
Trump is using his mentor, the disgraced sicko lawyer Roy Cohn’s disgusting playbook to attack his enemies and drag the US down. Why is Trump attacking the WHISTLEBLOWER and at the same time Trump says he doesn’t know who the WHISTLBLOWER is! Does that make sense? Will Trump attack IRAN to distract from this latest scandal?
I would like to know how Biden’s son sat on the Board of a Ukranian gas company. How much money did he make? How did he get the job, etc. etc. ?
first investigate the Obama – Biden administration sending a PLANE LOAD OF “CASH” to Iran
He threatens them with USA aide made tens of millions selling his office and he’s upset that trump wants to investigate collusion between dems and Russia yesh that’s about right
He is just trying to create a lot of smoke so they should not look in to his corruption in Ukraine and China.
Stop attacking Daddy, he denies ever talking to that Ukranian about anything other than women and golfing which are his favorite things. He has set new standards for the Presidency.
Archy, you wrote that because the Republicans control the Senate, Trump can’t be impeached; did you ever study Social Studies or History in school? If you would read the U.S. Constitution, it clearly states that it is not the Senate which impeaches, but the U.S. House of Representatives, which is in fact controlled by the Democrats. The Senate holds a trial, after a President is impeached, in order to ascertain if an impeached President will be convicted, and hence, removed from office. The last time this occurred, was in 1999. Clinton was cleared in the U.S. Senate, along party lines, after he was impeached. However, this occurred shortly before Clinton was due to leave office, after his second term expired. It did not occur during his first term, as with Trump. Whereas Trump would probably be cleared by the Senate (assuming that he was impeached by the House), how does it look for a U.S. President running for reelection, to have “Impeached”, on his resume?
Biden on video bragged about with holding US tax payers money to Ukraine until they fire a prosecutor, who was investing his son shady deal.
No that is Quid pro quo.
Biden is a bad dude who for 8 years enabled the most evil obumer harsha.