WASHINGTON, USA: Trump openly calls on Ukraine, China to investigate Biden

“If they were honest about it they would start a very simple investigation on the Bidens,” he said of Ukraine.

“Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens, because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.”

Asked if he would ask Mr Xi to do the same, Mr Trump replied, “It’s certainly something we can start thinking about.”

In a statement, Mr Biden’s campaign called the President’s comments “a grotesque choice of lies over truth and self over the country”.

Ms Kate Bedingfield, Mr Biden’s deputy campaign manager, said Mr Trump was “desperately clutching for conspiracy theories that have been debunked and dismissed by independent, credible news organisations”.

“Donald Trump is terrified that Joe Biden will beat him like a drum,” she added.

.

BELOW IS RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

EX-UKRAINE ENVOY QUESTIONED

Mr Trump ramped up his effort to shape the public narrative just as the first major witness in the impeachment probe arrived in Congress to provide testimony on allegations that the White House illicitly sought political help from Ukraine for the 2020 election.

Former US special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker was caught up earlier this year in the efforts by Mr Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukraine to investigate Mr Biden and his son Hunter, who had business ties to a Ukraine gas tycoon.

.

BELOW IS RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

.

BELOW IS RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

Those efforts culminated in a July 25 phone call between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky, in which Mr Trump appeared to tie getting dirt on Mr Biden to military aid for Ukraine.

A US intelligence officer’s whistle-blower complaint about the impropriety of Mr Trump’s actions, and a White House record of the call, both released last week, drove Democrats to open the impeachment investigation, alleging that the President betrayed his oath of office and jeopardised national security.

Mr Volker could strengthen the Democrats’ case. The whistle-blower complaint depicts him speaking with Mr Giuliani “in an attempt to ‘contain the damage’ to US national security” of Mr Giuliani’s meddling in Ukraine affairs.

.

BELOW IS RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

A day after the July 25 call, Mr Volker met Mr Zelensky and other senior Ukraine officials and advised them “about how to ‘navigate’ the demands that the President had made of Mr Zelensky”.

.

BELOW IS RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

‘CONSPIRACY THEORIES’

House investigators received more potential evidence against Mr Trump on Wednesday (Oct 2) when the inspector general of the State Department handed over a package of materials sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this year to support an investigation of the Bidens.

Mr Giuliani told US media that he sent the package, which was in an envelope labelled “White House”. It contained “disinformation, debunked conspiracy theories, and baseless allegations” regarding the Bidens, Democrats said in a statement after meeting the inspector-general.

“These documents also reinforce concern that the President and his allies sought to use the machinery of the State Department to further the President’s personal political interests,” they said.

.

BELOW IS RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

RISING PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR IMPEACHMENT

Mr Trump, meanwhile, pressed forward with his strategy of deflecting the allegations by focusing the narrative on the Bidens, as his Republican allies in Congress sought to put brakes on the impeachment probe.

House Minority Leader called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to suspend the inquiry until “transparent and equitable rules and procedures” could be established.

.

BELOW IS RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

.

BELOW IS RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

Anything less than a “through, transparent, and fair process would represent a supreme insult to our Constitution”, he said.

Mr Trump and Mr Giuliani allege that Mr Biden, as vice-president, tried to block a Ukraine corruption probe into his son’s business partner, using US aid as leverage.

But the record shows that there was no investigation, and that Mr Biden in fact viewed Kiev’s corruption prosecutor at the time as himself deeply compromised.

Mr Trump is also seeking to paint his Democrat accusers “liars”.

“Schiff has now been proven to be a liar… he’s a stone-cold liar,” Mr Trump told reporters, referring to Mr Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who will be heading the impeachment inquiry.

.

BELOW IS RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

“The whole investigation is crumbling.”

Opinion polls showed increasing public support to impeach the President, but also suggested his strategy to hurt Mr Biden was having an impact.

USA Today said 45 per cent of Americans support an impeachment vote, against 38 per cent opposed, according to a USA Today/Ipsos poll published on Thursday.

The poll, however, also showed 41 per cent in favour of examining the Bidens’ ties to Ukraine while 21 per cent were opposed.

.

BELOW IS RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –