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Trump Meets With Ukraine’s President and Denies Pressuring Him to Investigate Biden Trump Meets With Ukraine’s President and Denies Pressuring Him to Investigate Biden
(about 1 hour later)
President Trump on Wednesday adamantly denied that he pressured Ukraine to investigate one of his leading Democratic rivals despite the newly released record of a call in which he asked the country’s president to look into Democrats as “a favor” to him.President Trump on Wednesday adamantly denied that he pressured Ukraine to investigate one of his leading Democratic rivals despite the newly released record of a call in which he asked the country’s president to look into Democrats as “a favor” to him.
Mr. Trump received some backing from the president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who by chance met with Mr. Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at the same time the House was gearing up for impeachment proceedings stemming from the interaction between the two leaders.Mr. Trump received some backing from the president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who by chance met with Mr. Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at the same time the House was gearing up for impeachment proceedings stemming from the interaction between the two leaders.
Sitting side by side with Mr. Trump in their first face-to-face meeting, Mr. Zelensky told reporters that he wanted to stay out of United States politics but provided a benign interpretation of the July 25 call in which Mr. Trump asked him to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and any Ukrainian ties to Democrats during the 2016 campaign.Sitting side by side with Mr. Trump in their first face-to-face meeting, Mr. Zelensky told reporters that he wanted to stay out of United States politics but provided a benign interpretation of the July 25 call in which Mr. Trump asked him to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and any Ukrainian ties to Democrats during the 2016 campaign.
“We had, I think, a good phone call,” Mr. Zelensky said. “It was normal, we spoke about many things. So, I think you read it that nobody pushed it, pushed me.”“We had, I think, a good phone call,” Mr. Zelensky said. “It was normal, we spoke about many things. So, I think you read it that nobody pushed it, pushed me.”
“In other words, no pressure,” Mr. Trump chimed in. “And by the way, you know there was no pressure.” “In other words, no pressure,” Mr. Trump chimed in. “And by the way,” he added, addressing a reporter, “you know there was no pressure.”
That call has become the subject of enormous interest in Washington, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Tuesday that the House was opening a formal impeachment inquiry into whether Mr. Trump abused his power by leaning on a foreign country to provide dirt on a domestic political adversary. The timing of the meeting between the two men, scheduled before the revelations that prompted Speaker Nancy Pelosi to open a formal impeachment inquiry, was just one element in a day of rapid-fire developments. After days of resistance, the administration released a memo recounting the conversation between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky and then agreed later in the day to give Congress the complaint made by an unidentified government whistle-blower that touched off the furor.
The White House released a reconstructed record of the July call earlier on Wednesday and argued that it showed Mr. Trump did nothing wrong. But Democrats said it was evidence that the president had betrayed his oath and should be charged with high crimes and misdemeanors. The whistle-blower’s complaint reportedly deals with more than just the single call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky, but its contents have remained shrouded in mystery until now. House Democrats have decided to examine whether Mr. Trump abused his power by leaning on a foreign country to provide dirt on a domestic political adversary.
In the call, Mr. Trump urged Mr. Zelensky to contact Attorney General William P. Barr about opening a potential corruption investigation connected to Mr. Biden, according to the administration’s reconstruction of the conversation. The complaint was set to be delivered hours before a planned House vote on a resolution that would have condemned Mr. Trump and the administration for withholding the material and would have demanded that Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, promptly furnish it.
“I would like you to do us a favor,” Mr. Trump said in response to Mr. Zelensky raising the prospect of acquiring military equipment from the United States. Noting that the United States had “done a lot for Ukraine,” Mr. Trump also asked that the Ukrainians examine an unsubstantiated theory about stolen Democratic emails. The resolution also demands that Mr. Maguire, who is set to testify before the intelligence panel on Thursday, ensure that the whistle-blower is protected from retribution. It chastises the president for comments disparaging the whistle-blower in recent days.
With the complaint heading to Congress, it was not clear whether the vote would happen.
In releasing a reconstructed record of the July call on Wednesday, the White House argued that it proved that Mr. Trump did nothing wrong. But Democrats said it was evidence that the president had betrayed his oath and should be charged with high crimes and misdemeanors.
In the call, Mr. Trump urged Mr. Zelensky to contact Attorney General William P. Barr and talk with Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, about opening a potential corruption investigation connected to Mr. Biden, according to the administration’s reconstruction of the conversation.
“I would like you to do us a favor,” Mr. Trump said in response to Mr. Zelensky raising the prospect of acquiring military equipment from the United States. Noting that the United States had “done a lot for Ukraine,” Mr. Trump asked that the Ukrainians examine an unsubstantiated theory about stolen Democratic emails as well as look at Mr. Biden and his younger son, Hunter Biden, who was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
“So whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great,” the president told Mr. Zelensky.“So whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great,” the president told Mr. Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president told Mr. Trump that he would have the country’s new top prosecutor look into the matters he raised.The Ukrainian president told Mr. Trump that he would have the country’s new top prosecutor look into the matters he raised.
“The next prosecutor general will be 100 percent my person, my candidate,” Mr. Zelensky assured the president. “He or she will look into the situation.”“The next prosecutor general will be 100 percent my person, my candidate,” Mr. Zelensky assured the president. “He or she will look into the situation.”
In their meeting on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said there was nothing wrong with asking for that because Mr. Biden and the Democrats were the corrupt ones. He went on to castigate Ms. Pelosi, saying she had caved into the liberal wing of her party that wants him ousted from office by proceeding with impeachment.In their meeting on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said there was nothing wrong with asking for that because Mr. Biden and the Democrats were the corrupt ones. He went on to castigate Ms. Pelosi, saying she had caved into the liberal wing of her party that wants him ousted from office by proceeding with impeachment.
“She’s lost her way,” Mr. Trump said. “She’s been taken over by the radical left.”“She’s lost her way,” Mr. Trump said. “She’s been taken over by the radical left.”
Leading House Democrats said the record of the July call made clear that Mr. Trump was pressuring Ukraine to help benefit his own political prospects. Just days before making the call, Mr. Trump had blocked $391 million in American aid to Ukraine. That decision did not come up during the call, according to the White House record, but the two did discuss United States assistance for Ukraine and Mr. Zelensky made clear he needed more. Ms. Pelosi and other leading House Democrats said the record of the July call made clear that Mr. Trump was pressuring Ukraine to help benefit his own political prospects. Just days before making the call, Mr. Trump had blocked $391 million in American aid to Ukraine. That decision did not come up during the call, according to the White House record, but the two did discuss United States assistance for Ukraine and Mr. Zelensky made clear he needed more.
“The president has tried to make lawlessness a virtue in America and now is exporting it abroad,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement. “I respect the responsibility of the president to engage with foreign leaders as part of his job. It is not part of his job to use taxpayer money to shake down other countries for the benefit of his campaign.”
Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday that the president did not need to explicitly threaten aid to make his point as he asked for a favor.Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday that the president did not need to explicitly threaten aid to make his point as he asked for a favor.
“There was only one message that that president of Ukraine got from that call and that was: ‘This is what I need, I know what you need,’” Mr. Schiff said. “Like any mafia boss, the president didn’t need to say, ‘That’s a nice country you’ve have — it would be a shame if something happened to it.’”“There was only one message that that president of Ukraine got from that call and that was: ‘This is what I need, I know what you need,’” Mr. Schiff said. “Like any mafia boss, the president didn’t need to say, ‘That’s a nice country you’ve have — it would be a shame if something happened to it.’”
Mr. Biden said that the House should “hold Donald Trump to account for his abuse of power,” although he did not directly call for impeachment. “It is a tragedy for this country that our president put personal politics above his sacred oath,” Mr. Biden said. “He has put his own political interests over our national security interest, which is bolstering Ukraine against Russian pressure.”
Publicly at least, though, most leading Republicans who addressed the matter on Wednesday stuck by Mr. Trump and agreed that the record of the call showed nothing impeachable.
“From a quid pro quo aspect, there’s nothing there,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who served as a House prosecutor during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999.
Wednesday’s meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky could hardly have come at a more tense moment in Ukrainian-American relations. Mr. Zelensky, a former comedian with no prior political experience, was elected this year to take over a country torn by Russian military intervention and desperately dependent on help from the United States and Europe.
Mr. Zelensky made clear just how much he needed the good will of Mr. Trump when he opened his meeting on Wednesday noting that the president had invited him to the White House, but “I think you forgot to tell me the date” and pressing Mr. Trump to visit Ukraine.
The two sought to make light of the conflict over their call. “He’s made me more famous,” Mr. Trump joked as he sat down with Mr. Zelensky.
Mr. Zelensky said it was better to meet in person “than on the phone.”
Even as he flattered Mr. Trump, the Ukrainian leader made a point of saying he did not actually order the sought-after investigation.
“We have independent country and independent general security, and I can’t push anyone,” Mr. Zelensky said in halting English, referring to the prosecutor general. “So I didn’t call somebody or the new general security. I didn’t ask him I didn’t push him.”