US President Donald Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate one of Joe Biden's children and said he would instruct his lawyer and attorney general to seek him to "get to the bottom" of the matter, he said. transcript of a July call between the two leaders released by the White House on Wednesday (25).
The transcript is not literal and is based on "notes and memoirs" from Situation Room officials and the National Security Council, the White House explained.
The released transcript shows that Trump, before asking the Ukrainian to investigate the actions of Biden's son, reminded Zelensky that the US sends security aid to Ukraine. "I would say we do a lot for Ukraine," he said. “We make a lot of efforts and spend a lot of time.”
Still in the White House conversation, Trump did not make an explicit telephone call between US military aid - which he had suspended a week earlier - and an investigation into Biden's son Hunter. Zelensky, who was a comedian before being elected president, replied that the president was absolutely right and that European countries "were not working as hard as they should for Ukraine."
Trump also mentions a refuted allegation that his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has made for months: that Biden, as vice president, called for the removal of the prosecutor general from Ukraine to protect his son, then part of the executive board of a company whose owner was the subject of investigation by that prosecutor.
Excerpts from the conversation come after pressure from the United States Congress. Last Tuesday, House Representative Nancy Pelosi announced that she had initiated Trump's impeachment process over this scandal.
The move comes just over a year from the 2020 US election, when the Republican will seek reelection. So far, at least 203 representatives have spoken in favor of opening the case. To approve it, a simple majority of the house, consisting of 435 congressmen and controlled by a Democratic majority, is required.
Understand the case that could lead to Trump's impeachment
At the center of the controversy is not Russia, whose relations with Trump are being investigated for alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, but rather Ukraine. It all started on August 12th when an anonymous complaint was made by a person who would be from the US intelligence community. According to this source, Donald Trump would have talked on the phone with the leader of another country and "made a promise."
The story, however, came to light only a month later, on September 18, when The Washington Post reported the allegation. Gradually, new information came to light, revealing that the leader in question would be the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and that the call took place on July 25.
The topic of the conversation was Joe Biden, former president of the United States under Barack Obama and current leader of the voting polls for 2020 among Democratic candidates. So far, Trump's biggest rival seeking reelection next year.
This Wednesday, Trump and Zelensly are due to meet in person for the first time in New York, where the UN General Assembly is held. The President of Ukraine will now have to measure his words very well about and during the meeting, otherwise he will find himself in a tight skirt either with the current president, in the Trump case, or with the possible next president, Biden, if elected in 2020
