Trump publicly urges China to investigate the Bidens
U.S. president’s request came just moments after he discussed trade talks
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, already facing impeachment for pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, publicly called on China on Thursday to examine former Vice President Joe Biden as well, an extraordinary request to a foreign power for help that could benefit him in next year’s election.
“China should start an investigation into the Bidens, because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine,” Trump told reporters. His request came just moments after he discussed upcoming trade talks with China and said that “if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous power.”
The president’s call for Chinese intervention means that Trump and his attorney general have solicited assistance in discrediting the president’s political opponents from Ukraine, Australia, Italy and, according to one report, Britain.
The comments on China came as the first witness appeared on Capitol Hill to be interviewed by House investigators as part of the impeachment inquiry into the president’s request for investigations into Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, and other Democrats during a July 25 phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine at the same time Trump was withholding $391 million in U.S. aid.
Kurt D. Volker, who resigned last week as the Trump administration’s special envoy to Ukraine, was being interviewed behind closed doors by House staff members about his interactions with the Ukrainians and Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney who has been vigorously lobbying for Ukrainian investigations into Democrats.
After Trump’s comments on China on Thursday, Biden’s campaign fired back, asserting in a statement that the president was “desperately clutching for conspiracy theories that have been debunked and dismissed by independent, credible news organizations.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the House Intelligence Committee chairman who is leading the impeachment inquiry, said the president’s latest comments were further evidence of his betrayal of his duties.
“The president of the United States encouraging a foreign nation to interfere and help his campaign by investigating a rival is a fundamental breach of the president’s oath of office,” he told reporters.
“It endangers our elections. It endangers our national security. It ought to be condemned by every member of this body, Democrats and Republicans alike.”