ADVISER CONTENDS
Trump put no pressure on Ukraine to look into Biden family.
WASHINGTON — White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien asserted Wednesday that President Donald Trump had not sought Ukrainian help to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, despite evidence to the contrary.
Trump expressly asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to “look into” the Biden family during the July 25 phone call that played a central role in House Democrats’ decision to impeach the president.
O’Brien also said the Senate impeachment trial that ended Wednesday with Trump’s acquittal has cast “a terrible pall” that set back U.S. foreign policy.
He did not directly answer a question about whether the Trump administration will continue to seek Ukrainian investigations of the Bidens now that the impeachment case is over. Joe Biden is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination to run against Trump this year. Hunter Biden accepted a position on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while the elder Biden was vice president, a move that Trump’s allies have called corrupt even though their allegations haven’t been substantiated.
“Look, I’m not aware of any request the president made to investigate the Bidens per se. I think what the president wanted done was he wanted the Ukrainians to investigate corruption in the Ukraine, and he made
that very clear,” O’Brien said in front of an audience of ambassadors and reporters at the Meridian International Center in Washington.
A White House summary of the call, released in September, quotes Trump as encouraging Zelenskiy to work with Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who has publicly accused the Bidens of corrupt activities in Ukraine, and to reopen an inquiry into the gas firm that had employed Hunter Biden. Trump also recommended that Zelenskiy speak to Attorney General William Barr.
“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,” Trump said. “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,” Trump said. “It sounds horrible to me.”
The administration has not said whether that request still stands as a matter of U.S. policy toward Ukraine. Giuliani has said he will continue his efforts.
In an interview with NPR on Tuesday, Giuliani said Trump should continue pressing for an investigation after his acquittal.
“Absolutely, 100%,” Giuliani said. “I would have no problem with him doing it. In fact, I’d have a problem with him not doing it. I think he would be saying that Joe Biden can get away with selling out the United States, making us a fool in the Ukraine.”
Both Bidens deny wrongdoing, and Joe Biden has said Trump and his allies have trafficked in lies and conspiracy theories surrounding his anti-corruption efforts as vice president.
In an interview after O’Brien’s address, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Volodomyr Yelchenko, declined to comment on O’Brien’s assertion.
“I was not a part of that famous conversation,” Yelchenko said of the July 25 call. “I’m not as close to President Trump as [O’Brien.] He probably knows better.”
O’Brien delivered a warm endorsement of Zelenskiy on Wednesday and said U.S. support for Ukraine remains strong.
He urged the audience to visit Ukraine for fine food, hospitality and architecture.
“Look, Ukraine is a friend, it’s a partner,” O’Brien said. “We’re there to support Ukraine.”
Yelchenko noted, however, that O’Brien did not answer a question the ambassador had posed about whether Washington was selecting a replacement for Kurt Volker, the former special envoy for Ukraine focused on negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
Volker resigned last fall, as Democrats were beginning what became the impeachment inquiry.
Yelchenko said Ukraine has repeatedly pressed the U.S., including when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Kyiv last month, for a commitment to appoint a replacement for Volker.
“I can only say that Pompeo reacted that, ‘Yes, there was an issue and we are working on that,’” Yelchenko said.
He said there is still no agreement on a date for a White House visit by Zelenskiy, but that it should be part of Zelenskiy’s visit to the United States that’s being planned.
That visit will include a stop in Houston to open a new consulate, as well as a trip to California, Yelchenko said.
The key point discussed during Pompeo’s visit, however, was the continuing U.S. military, security, economic and political assistance — especially to have more active American participation in addressing problems tied to Russia.
That is why the Ukrainians want a replacement for Volker as soon as possible. Yelchenko said O’Brien “is very much aware” of the issues. “I didn’t expect anything [substantive] in front of 100 ambassadors,” he said.
The detail will have to come in a one-on-one meeting, he said.
Yelchenko had said during an earlier interview with The Washington Post that when he made a visit to Trump last month, the president assured him that he would welcome Zelenskiy to the White House and that they just needed to find a date.