A more than eight-hour hearing has given the US Democrats new incriminating evidence against US President Donald Trump. Text messages from leading US diplomats show how the government has offered to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj with Trump on the condition that Ukraine investigate US presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The unsubstantiated claim Trump that Ukraine in the US election campaign in 2016 secretly promoted his rival Hillary Clinton, should therefore be investigated.
The then US government special envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, wrote to the Selenskyj consultant Andrey Yermak: "Heard about the White House - assuming President S convinces Trump that he will investigate / get to the bottom of the events [of 2016] will ', we will set a date for a visit to Washington. "
The text message is said to have been written before a telephone conversation between Trump and Selenskyj on 25 July. The conversation was criticized by a whistleblower and brought Trump investigations into a possible impeachment. He argued, inter alia, that the allegations were unfounded, since there was no "quid pro quo", so no clear demand for a return.
US Ambassador in Ukraine warned against using military aid as a lever
Other news from early August show that Volker and the US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, were planning a public statement by Selensky with Yermak. The Ukrainian president should announce investigations into the US election in 2016 and the gas company Burisma, in whose board Hunter Biden sat. Neither the statement nor a meeting of the two presidents in the White House has been put into action.
The diplomat and former US Ambassador to the Ukraine, Bill Taylor, expressed in several news his discomfort at the handling of the Trump government with Ukraine. Selenskyj was anxious that his country be taken seriously - and serve Washington "not only as an instrument" in domestic policy and on the way to a possible re-election, Taylor wrote in July.
In September, he expressed serious concerns that blocking military aid should be used as a lever. "I think it's crazy to refuse military support to get help for a political campaign," Taylor is quoted as saying.
Democrats accuse the US government of "misinformation and misleading"
Democratic MPs Eliot Engel, Adam Schiff and Elijah Cummings published the text messages along with a statement. In it, they accuse Trump and his advisors of "a misinformation and misleading campaign" to make it normal to recruit foreign forces to influence US elections.
The name Biden does not fall in the published text messages. However, US Democrat Eric Swalwell said there was "enough evidence" that Selenskyj should initiate a bidding inquiry "if he wanted to make an appointment." Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Attorney General has announced a review of the business of Burisma. About a misconduct of Hunter Biden, however, he has "no information".
It was also said that the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office was "independent of the presidential office and the political influence of the bureau". Altogether about 15 old procedures would be examined whether they were set possibly unlawful.
Trump does not want to have put pressure
US President Trump is under intense pressure since it was revealed that he had urged Selenskyj to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden on the July 25 phone call. Trump then made no secret of his desire to investigate - but he rejected the accusation of pressure.
Trump suspects the Biden without evidence to have been involved in corruption cases in Ukraine as in China. Most recently, Trump came under fire for publicly asking China to investigate.
