Trump pressed Ukraine president to probe political rival: call summary – World

President Donald Trump pressured the President of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, in coordination with the US attorney general. UU. And his personal lawyer, according to a summary of an explosive July phone call launched by the Trump administration on Wednesday.

When organizing a dramatic political confrontation that threatens Trump's presidency, House of Representatives president Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that the Democratic-led chamber was launching an official recall investigation and ordered six committees to proceed with investigations of the actions of the president.

Democrats have accused Trump, a Republican seeking re-election next year, of requesting Ukraine's help to defame Biden, the favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination, before the 2020 elections.

The half-hour call on July 25 between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy came after Trump had ordered the US government to freeze almost $ 400 million in US aid to Ukraine. The administration only later released the aid.

According to the administration's summary, Trump told Zelenskiy that Attorney General William Barr, the chief US law enforcement official. UU., And Rudy Giuliani would talk to him about reopening a Ukrainian investigation into a Ukrainian gas company for which Biden's son, Hunter, had served as director. .

"The other thing, there's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that, so anything he can do with the Attorney General would be great," Trump said, referring to Barr.

In summary, Trump never explicitly tells the Ukrainian president that US assistance depends on him investigating Biden, but Trump emphasizes the importance of US financial support before pressing him to act on Biden.

"I will say we do a lot for Ukraine," Trump said. Trump then said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel "does nothing" for Ukraine, but that "the United States has been very, very good with Ukraine." According to the summary, Zelenskiy responds that Trump is right "1,000{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5}", and thanks Trump for "his great support in the area of ​​defense" and expresses his interest in making another arms purchase in the United States.

When raising Biden's problem, Trump tells Zelenskiy that "I heard that I had a prosecutor who was very good and that it was closed and that is really unfair." He said he will have Giuliani, "a very respected man," and Barr will call him. .

“Biden boasted of having stopped the accusation, so if you can investigate it. Sounds horrible to me, ”Trump said.

Zelenskiy assures Trump that his next attorney general will "investigate the situation." "I'm sure he will solve it," Trump tells him, according to the summary.

Zelenskiy then says that "the last time I traveled to the United States, I stayed in New York near Central Park and stayed at Trump Tower," one of the president's businesses, according to the summary.

"I also want to assure you that we will take the case very seriously and work on the investigation," Zelenskiy added.

Trump never asked Barr to contact Ukraine, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said, and Barr has not contacted Ukraine about a possible investigation or any other issue. Barr, appointed by Trump, learned about the conversation several weeks after it took place, Kupec said.

The House's investigation could lead to articles of political judgment in the House that could trigger a Senate trial on whether to remove Trump from office.

Pelosi said the call notes confirm that Trump participated in a behavior that undermines the integrity of the US elections, the dignity of the presidency and the US national security.

“The president has tried to make illegality a virtue in the United States and is now exporting it abroad. … It is not part of your job to use taxpayer money to shake other countries for the benefit of your campaign, ”said Pelosi.

Trump has repeatedly suggested that Biden and his son have acted badly, but has not offered evidence to support the claim.

Former White House and national security officials have said that any summary published by the administration is not likely to be literal or transcribed from a recording. Instead, written notes taken by US officials who heard the conversation are likely to be met, they said.

Repeated scandals

Trump has resisted repeated scandals since taking office in 2017. Democrats in the House of Representatives considered, but never advanced, pursuing articles of political judgment on Trump's actions related to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections aimed at boosting your candidacy

According to the Constitution of the United States, the Chamber has the power to accuse a president for "misdemeanors and misdemeanors." No president has been removed from office for removal. Democrats currently control the House and Trump Republicans control the Senate.

Justice Department officials concluded last week that Trump's conduct in the call did not amount to a criminal violation of campaign finance law because what he was asking for, an investigation by a political rival, did not amount to a "thing of quantifiable value. a senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Trump has defended his actions in the Ukraine affair as appropriate and said he did not put pressure on Kiev with the help of the United States. Trump denounced the political trial movement on Wednesday as "the biggest witch hunt in the history of the United States."

Biden, who served as U.S. Vice President. UU. From 2009 to 2017, he leads a field of other Democrats competing for the nomination of the party to face Trump, who is seeking a second four-year term in the November 2020 elections. There has been no evidence that Biden has used his position. as vice president to help your child in this matter.

The United States, European countries and others had pressed for the dismissal of the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the energy company because he was not pursuing it aggressively enough. The prosecutor who replaced him, Yuriy Lutsenko, said Reuters on Friday that no irregularities were found by Biden's son in his relationship with the energy company.

Ukrainian officials have not said publicly that they would open any investigation into Biden or his son.

Many Republicans came out in defense of Trump and said that the absence of a quid pro quo, a Latin phrase that means a favor for a favor, in the call showed that the concerns of the Democrats were exaggerated. The majority leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, denounced what he called the "political trial obsession" democrat. But Republican Senator Mitt Romney told reporters he had read the memo and "remains extremely problematic." It is deeply worrying. "

Pelosi did not commit to a impeachment schedule, but Judicial Committee Democrat David Cicilline said the removal items could be moved to the House in a matter of weeks, if the allegations against Trump are true.

"The president of the United States has already admitted the misconduct," Cicilline said, referring to Trump discussing Biden with the Ukrainian leader.

Help Ukraine

The United States has been providing military aid to Ukraine since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. The $ 391.5 million in aid in dispute in the current dispute were approved by the United States Congress to help Ukraine deal with an insurgency of separatists. backed by Russia in the east part of the country.

Trump acknowledged on Sunday that he talked about Biden and Biden's son with Zelenskiy. Trump denied Monday trying to force Zelenskiy to launch a corruption investigation into the Bidens in exchange for US military aid.

Trump has offered different reasons why he wanted to freeze money for Ukraine, at first saying that it was because of corruption in Ukraine and then because he wanted European countries like France and Germany, not the United States, to take the initiative to provide assistance to Kiev.

The current controversy arose after a complainant from the US intelligence community. UU. He filed a complaint with an internal control body about Trump's conversation with Zelenskiy. Although federal law requires that such complaints be disclosed to Congress, the Trump administration has not done so.

The complainant was concerned that Trump was pressuring a foreign leader to take an official action that would help his re-election in 2020, according to a legal memorandum published by the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice.

The Inspector General's office found "some indication of a moot political bias" by the complainant in favor of a rival political candidate, "but determined that the accusation seemed credible, according to the office.

Barr must refrain from any investigation related to Ukraine in light of the content of the call, said Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the Chamber's Judiciary Committee.

The Department of Justice concluded that the denunciation of complainants did not have to be shared with Congress because the relevant law only covers the behavior of intelligence officials, not the president, according to a legal analysis published by the Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

US intelligence agencies UU. And a special lawyer appointed by the Department of Justice previously concluded that Russia boosted Trump's candidacy for the 2016 presidential election with a campaign of piracy and propaganda aimed at harming his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.