Donald Trump repeatedly urged Ukraine’s new leader to investigate Joe Biden, a memo of a telephone call shows.
In the call, the US president raised unsubstantiated allegations that Mr Biden, a former vice president who is a Democratic candidate in the 2020 election, sought to interfere with a Ukrainian prosecutor’s investigation into his son Hunter.
Speaking to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Mr Trump said: “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.”
(The) – minute conversation between the two leaders is part of a whistleblower’s complaint that followed the call on (July.) )
Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi announced on Tuesday that the House of Representativeswill examine whether Mr Trump sought Ukraine’s helpto smear Mr Biden, the frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Mrs Pelosi, the House speaker, said such actions would mark a “betrayal of his oath of office” – declaring: “No one is above the law.”
Mr Trump describ former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, as a “highly respected man” in the phone call, according to a memorandum of the conversation.
He continued: “I will ask him to call you along with the attorney general. Rudy very much knows what’s happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great.”
The US president also said there was “a lot of talk about Biden’s son”, the lawyer and lobbyist Hunter Biden.
Earlier this year, Mr Trump claimed the former vice president wielded his influence to benefit his son’s private-sector work in Ukraine.
He said: “Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great.
“Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you · can look into it … it sounds horrible to me. “
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mr Trump said” there was no pressure whatsoever “on Mr Zelenskiy in regards to his request and described the impeachment inquiry as a” witch hunt “.
The president continued:” Just so you understand, it’s the single greatest witch hunt in American history. Probably in history. But in American history. It’s a disgraceful thing.
“The letter was a great letter, meaning the letter revealing the call. That was done at the insistence of myself and other people that read it. It was a friendly letter, there was no pressure.
“The way you had that built up – that call was going to be the call from hell. It turned out to be a nothing call. Other than that a lot of people said I never knew you could be so nice. “
In the days before the phone call, Mr Trump ordered advisers to freeze $ (m) £ 323 m) in military aid for Ukraine, prompting speculation that he was holding out the money as leverage for information on the Bidens.
The US president has insisted he has done nothing wrong but acknowledged blocking the funds, which were later released.
The connection to attorney general William Barr could be the beginning of a serious problem for Mr Trump, as it shows he took steps to involve the US government with a foreign country to investigate a political rival.
Former Democrat leader Hillary Clinton said that Mr Trump had “betrayed our country” and said she supports the impeachment inquiry.
She tweeted: “The president of the United States has betrayed our c ountry. That’s not a political statement-it’s a harsh reality, and we must act.
“He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”
The whistleblower, a member of the intelligence community, said in their complaint that they had heard the information from “White House officials”, though did not have first-hand knowledge of the call, a Justice Department official said.
Prosecutors from the department determined Mr Trump did not violate campaign finance law after reviewing the transcript, the official said.
Following months of investigations by House Democrats of the Trump administration, the impeachment inquiry sets up the party’s most direct and consequential confrontation with the Republican president.
Before the White House released the memo on Wednesday, Mr Trump tweeted: “Will the Democrats apologize after seeing what was said on the call with the Ukrainian President? They should, a perfect call – got them by surprise! “
It comes after his angry reaction to Mrs Pelosi’s announcement on Tuesday, tweeting in block capital letters:” PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT! “.
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