Trump calls Democratic impeachment attempt 'a joke'
President Trump has insisted that he did ‘nothing wrong’ after the Democratic Party launched an impeachment inquiry against him.
The president said that claims he had ‘violated the constitution’ and acted improperly during a call with the President of Ukraine were a ‘hoax’.
President Trump has been accused of asking a ‘foreign power to help him win an election’ and is alleged to have asked Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
He is also said to have made US aid to Ukraine, including $400 million in military assistance, conditional on Zelenskiy working with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, to look into Mr Biden’s affairs.
It comes as Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, said that the whisteblower behind the allegations – believed to be a US intelligence officer – could give evidence to Congress as early as this week.
Speaking at a news conference in New York, Mr Trump insisted he didn’t threaten anybody, and went on to accuse Democrats themselves of ‘threatening’ the new Ukrainian president and of trying to make him do things they wanted ‘under the form of political threat’.
The president also went on to insist on transparency from Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, on the ‘millions of dollars that were quickly and easily taken out of Ukraine and China’.
The White House released a transcript earlier of the president’s phone call with the Ukranian President.
It showed Trump suggesting to Zelensky that former Vice President Joe Biden – who hopes to stand against Trump in the 2020 presidential election – interfered into a potential prosecution of a Ukrainian energy firm whose board members included his son Hunter.
Trump also suggests that the probe into that gas company, Burisma, should be restarted.
He goes on to offer the services of his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as US Attorney General Bill Barr, to work with Ukraine on any such probe.
The president went on to claim that the Democrats who launched the inquiry against him were ‘busy wasting their time on a witch hunt’.
The decision to start the impeachment inquiry was announced by congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
Ms Pelosi said: ‘The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution’.
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