Trump Ukraine Transcript: Asked for Biden Review, But Made No Mention of Withholding Military Aid

Legal Insurrection  "President Donald Trump released the transcript of his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that took place on July 25 from 9:03 AM to 9:33 AM.

"It shows that he asked Zelensky for a review on Vice President Joe Biden’s family dealings in Ukraine.

"However, Trump did not threaten to withhold “military aid as part of a quid-pro-quo, as Democrats have suggested in pressing forward with impeachment.”

"You can read the transcript here: WhiteHouse.gov:

"From Fox News:

It begins with the president congratulating Zelensky on his election victory, before Trump eventually broaches the subject former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

“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 so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great,” Trump said in the phone call. “Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it…It sounds horrible to me.”

That refers to Joe Biden, while vice president, urging Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, while Shokin was investigating the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings — where Hunter Biden was on the board. Biden has maintained that corruption concerns prompted his intervention.

"Zelensky told Trump Ukraine’s new prosecutor would look into the controversy surrounding Biden and his son Hunter Biden working with a Ukrainian company:

“He or she will look into the situation specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue, the issue of the investigation of the case is actually the issue to restore the honesty so we will take care of that and we will work on the investigation of the case.”

The president told Zelensky he wanted his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General Bill Barr to get involved.

“I will have Mr. Giuliani give you call and I’m also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom if it. I’m sure you will figure it out,” he said.

"I see on Twitter people saying it implicates Trump, but it lacks the quid-pro-quo the Democrats latched onto as an excuse for an impeachment inquiry. Supposedly Trump threatened not to hand over $400 million of military aid to Ukraine.

"Yet, in the transcript, Zelensky says the matter of Biden is also important to him:. . . "

Ukraine call transcript shows Trump sought Biden probe, asked about DNC server – but made no mention of US aid
. . . “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 so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great,” Trump said in the phone call. “Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it…It sounds horrible to me.”

"This refers to Joe Biden, while vice president, urging Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was investigating the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings — where Hunter Biden was on the board. Biden has maintained that corruption concerns prompted his intervention.
"Trump, in the run-up to the transcript's release, was accused by Democrats of essentially pressuring a foreign power to investigate a political opponent, as Biden is now a top contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
"On Monday, it was reported that Trump had even ordered his staff to freeze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine a few days before the phone call with Zelensky, a detail that fueled impeachment calls and led to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to announce a formal impeachment inquiry Tuesday. But the call transcript does not show Trump mentioning the aid as a bargaining chip or otherwise — though Zelensky did appear to reference military aid early in the call, when he thanked Trump for "great support in the area of defense.' " . . .

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