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Washington (CNN) - US President Donald Trump acknowledged on Sunday that he spoke about former Vice President Joe Biden during a call in July with the President of Ukraine, while Democrats hardened calls to investigate Trump's contact with the leader Foreign.
While speaking with journalists before leaving the White House for events in Texas and Ohio, Trump continued to defend his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but said during the exchange he talked about the Democratic presidential candidate.
- What is happening with Trump, Biden and Ukraine?
“We had a great conversation. The conversation I had was largely congratulatory, it was largely corruption, all the corruption that took place, it was largely the fact that we don't love our people like Vice President Biden and his son (paying for corruption) "Trump told reporters.
CNN previously reported that Trump pressured Zelensky on the call to investigate ex-president Biden's son, Hunter, according to a person familiar with the situation. That call was also part of a complaint by an informant submitted to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, another person familiar with the situation told CNN.
There is no evidence of irregularities by Joe or Hunter Biden.
Trump previously criticized the so-called "Ukrainian witch hunt," while Biden accused the president of abusing his power to "defame him." On Sunday, the president said he expects officials to release details of the call, but criticized the informant responsible for filing a complaint.
Later on Sunday, the president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, issued a strong warning to the Trump administration, which has refused to submit the complaint of complainants, saying that "it will enter a new serious chapter of illegality" if The resistance persists.
The warning, shared in a letter to all members of the Chamber, comes after last week's rejection of the interim Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire to deliver the complaint to Congress. In his letter, Pelosi said that if the administration's denials continue, it would constitute a "possible serious breach of constitutional duties" by Trump and lead Congress "to a new stage of investigation."
Pelosi set a deadline for Maguire to deliver the full complaint to the House Intelligence Commission during its appearance scheduled for Thursday.
The letter from the Democratic leader threatens an investigation at a time when the White House is already facing investigations of the House on multiple fronts and an investigation of political judgment by the Judicial Commission of the House. So far, the Trump administration has divided on how to handle the details of the call, but any investigation led by the House on the president's contact with Ukraine could find significant resistance from the White House, as it has blocked many of the Congress investigations that are already underway.
Pressure for a political trial
In considering the controversy this Sunday, the president of the Intelligence Commission of the House of Representatives, Adam Schiff, said the political trial "may be the only remedy" to Trump's refusal to make the complaint and transcript of the public phone call.
“If the president is essentially withholding military aid while trying to trick a foreign leader into doing something illegal that provides dirt on his opponent during a presidential campaign, then that may be the only remedy equivalent to the evil that that represents. conduct, ”Schiff told Jake Tapper of CNN, without asking Congress to immediately begin the proceedings.
Schiff, who has so far resisted joining other Democrats to request a political trial, told Tapper that he has been "very reluctant" to press for a lawsuit against the president because he sees it as a "last resort remedy." appeal ”, but also said that the president does not have the authority“ to start undercover discussions ”. The apparent turn of the commission president towards political trial comes after pressure from other members of his party, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to begin the proceedings.
On Friday, Warren, who competes for the presidential nomination of his party, tweeted that "Congress is complicit" by not initiating the political trial proceedings against Trump after it was learned that he had allegedly pressured Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden .
Echoing Warren's feelings, Ocasio-Cortez suggested in a tweet on Saturday that the "refusal of his party to initiate a political trial" against Trump was an even greater scandal than what, according to her, was the "offending behavior of the law ”of the president.
Questioned on Sunday by Tapper that Trump kept private talks with foreign leaders private, Schiff said: "Well, not if those talks involve corruption or potential criminality or leverage used to gain political advantages against the interests of our nation."
“This would be, I think, the deepest violation of the presidential oath of office, certainly in this presidency, which says a lot, but perhaps in almost any presidency. There is no privilege covering corruption. There is no privilege to participate in unclear discussions, ”he said, adding that he is not sure that the call is the subject of the complaint.
The White House, divided
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko told reporters on Saturday that he did not believe Trump had tried to pressure Zelensky during the July call, but failed to say that the issue of Biden's son was not raised.
The president on Sunday described his conversation with the Ukrainian president as "warm and friendly" and repeatedly urged journalists to look at Biden and the Democrats, who said, without providing evidence, "they have done very bad things."
But although the president suggested that he was open to publicize the conversation, telling reporters that "I hope they can get it out," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there is no evidence that such action "is appropriate" at this time.
“We don't publish transcripts very often. It's a rare case, ”Pompeo said Sunday on ABC“ This Week. ” “Those are private conversations between world leaders and it would not be appropriate to do so, except in the most extreme circumstances. There is no, there is currently no evidence that is appropriate. ”
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin also intervened, telling Tapper on Sunday that he believes that publishing the transcript "would be a terrible precedent," arguing that "conversations between world leaders must be confidential."
Sarah Westwood, Manu Raju Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.
Joe BidenUkraine