A senior White House official has confirmed that US President Trump has put pressure on Ukraine with financial resources. It had been partially withheld grants, as Trump has first called for clarification on a computer server of the Democrats in Ukraine. This was confirmed by the White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, according to consensus reports.
Trump had done nothing wrong by linking the funds to Ukraine's investigations, Mulvaney said, according to the AP news agency. "We're doing that all the time in foreign affairs," Mulvaney said.
The US president accuses presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, without mentioning any evidence, of being involved in corruption in Ukraine and China. Trump is said to have put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj to initiate investigations against the Bidens.
The US Democrats, on the other hand, accuse Trump of abusing the power of his office in the affair, so that a foreign government interferes in his election campaign. They are therefore considering impeachment proceedings against Trump.
For weeks Trump and his advisors had denied that there could have been a "quid pro quo" deal with Ukraine, a favor for a favor. The Democrats rated the White House statement as a guilty admission.
More about SPIEGEL +
"I think Mr. Mulvaney's admission means that things have changed from very, very bad to much, much worse," said Democrat Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador Gordon Sondland increased pressure on Trump. Sondland said Trump has ordered him and other diplomats to work with his private lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani sought potentially compromising material about Joe Biden.
Giuliani announced Wednesday that he would not cooperate with the House of Representatives when considering a potential impeachment case against the US president.
Joe Biden defended himself and his son in the Ukraine affair and referred to Hunter Biden's interview with ABC. In it, Hunter Biden had made mistakes in his dealings in China and Ukraine; At the same time, he asserted that he had never done anything improper.
