Trump publicly asks China to investigate Biden, even amid impeachment inquiry

By Roberta Rampton and Patricia Zengerle

 

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Florida from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday again invited foreign interference in a U.S. presidential election by publicly calling on China to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden, the kind of request that has already triggered an impeachment inquiry in Congress.

 

The Republican president said he believed both China and Ukraine should look into 2020 presidential hopeful Biden and his businessman son Hunter, and described the impeachment probe as "crap."

 

"And by the way, likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens. Because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine," Trump told reporters at the White House.

 

Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have offered no evidence for their assertions of corruption against former Vice President Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic Party nomination to run against Trump.

 

Questioned about whether he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to investigate, Trump said: "I haven't, but it's certainly something we can start thinking about."

 

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Trump's appeal to China was particularly striking given that Washington and Beijing are locked in a bitter trade war which has damaged global economic growth. They are due to hold another round of talks in the United States next week.

 

The China remarks stiffened the resolve of Democrats in the House of Representatives to push ahead with a probe into whether Trump should be impeached following revelations by an anonymous whistleblower who said that in Trump asked Ukraine in July to investigate the Bidens.

 

Hunter Biden was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company at a time when the United States and Europe were trying to woo Ukraine away from next-door-neighbour Russia.

 

Some Republicans have criticized Biden for taking his son on the Air Force Two vice presidential plane in 2013 to China, where Hunter had business interests.

 

At a healthcare event in The Villages, Florida, Trump said Democrats had launched the impeachment probe because they cannot beat him at the ballot box in 2020.

 

"That's why they do the impeachment crap - they know they can't win," Trump said.

 

While the election is still a long way off, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows Trump narrowly trailing the top Democratic candidates, including Biden, in hypothetical matchups.

 

IMPEACHMENT PROBE

The impeachment probe could lead to the approval of articles of impeachment - or formal charges - against Trump in the Democratic-controlled House.

 

A trial on whether to remove him from office would then be held in the Republican-controlled Senate. Many Republicans, however, have shown little appetite for ousting him.

 

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy wrote to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday asking that all efforts surrounding the impeachment inquiry be suspended until "customary rules and procedures are established."

 

He asked whether she planned to hold a vote of the full House authorizing the inquiry, and whether the president's counsel would be allowed to attend all hearings and depositions. Refusing to do these things would contradict previous impeachment procedures, McCarthy said.

 

Pelosi announced the impeachment investigation last week after the whistleblower lodged a complaint about Trump asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to look into investigating the Bidens.

 

President Donald Trump on Thursday again invited foreign interference in a U.S. presidential election, publicly calling on China to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden - similar to a request that has already triggered an impeachment inquiry in Congress. Jonah Green reports.

 

Trump froze $400 million in U.S. aid to Ukraine shortly before speaking to Zelenskiy, prompting accusations from Democrats that he had misused U.S. foreign policy for personal gain.

 

The investigation has angered Trump, whose volatile presidency survived a two-year federal probe that found Russia had intervened to help him win the White House in 2016.

 

In an apparent warning to Trump, Ellen Weintraub, head of the watchdog Federal Election Commission, on Thursday retweeted a post she first sent in June about receiving foreign help in elections.

 

"Let me make something 100% clear to the American public and anyone running for public office: It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election. This is not a novel concept," her post read.

 

Vice President Mike Pence backed an investigation into Biden's dealings with Ukraine.

 

"My predecessor had a son who was paid $50,000 a month to be on a Ukrainian board at the time that Vice President Biden was leading the Obama administration's efforts in Ukraine, I think is worth looking into. And the president has made it very clear that he believes ... other nations around the world should look into it as well," Pence told reporters in Arizona.

 

Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said in a statement that Trump's comments on Thursday showed he was "desperately clutching for conspiracy theories that have been debunked."

 

The House Intelligence Committee's chairman, Democrat Adam Schiff, accused Trump of "a fundamental breach of a president's oath of office" due to his China comment.

 

A longtime U.S. diplomat who served as Trump's special envoy for Ukraine spoke to congressional committee members and staff on Thursday as part of the Democratic-led impeachment probe.

 

Kurt Volker resigned as special representative for Ukraine negotiations on Friday, the day after the public release of the whistleblower complaint that described him as trying to "contain the damage" from efforts by Trump's lawyer Giuliani to press Ukraine to investigate Democrats.

 

Giuliani told Reuters on Thursday that Volker never expressed any concerns about his efforts and put him in touch with Andriy Yermak, an adviser to Zelenskiy.

 

“There are texts where he asked me to report back to him on Yermak,” Giuliani said. “There are texts that show that I did. There’s never a text anywhere that says he’s concerned about anything. And he never said that to me.”

 

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Susan Cornwell, Susan Heavey, Jeff Mason, Steve Holland, Tim Ahmann and Karen Freifeld; Writing by Alistair Bell; editing by Grant McCool and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-10-04

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Doubling down on dumbness might not work this time, Donald.    

Well..I guess that the world's first experiment in governing by "Twittergoguery" has been an epic fail..

Now we know the real reason Trump won't release his educational records, he is as dumb as a rock. Can't imagine China would do anything to help Trump after trade war. I describe Trump like I describe my ex wife, a thief, a liar, and a <deleted>.

Here's another Trump idea that is bound to backfire ("are we tired of winning yet?").

Quite possibly, this suggestion may just spur China into helping Biden. I'm certain that China will be elated to see this buffoon out of office.

At this point it might be easier to list the countries that the president has NOT asked to collude with?

 

Burkina Faso, are you listening?

 

He is imploding in real time. Sad.

 

 

Perhaps he'll discuss Biden the next time he "meets" the President of the US Virgin Islands, or maybe even the leader of Nambia.

Problem is he doesn't care, and is convinced he'll never be impeached. He can do whatever he likes and will take it a few steps further as well.

Problem is that Hunter Biden, like so many others, got rich from politics. The revolution is brewing.

He succeeded in creating political chaos. 

On 10/4/2019 at 5:57 AM, Jrbamc said:

Now we know the real reason Trump won't release his educational records, he is as dumb as a rock. Can't imagine China would do anything to help Trump after trade war. I describe Trump like I describe my ex wife, a thief, a liar, and a <deleted>.

Trump became president of the United States of America and you married a thief,a liar and a <deleted> and you're saying Trump is "dumb as a rock"?

Chopper talk...

 

In all honesty I don't think he knew what he was saying? Maybe he mixed up "Company" and "China"?

 

Chinese diplomats in DC thought this was a joke. WH officials said no, this is how we roll.

 

I can't follow his utterances/train of thought ~ 90% of the time. He could try using a complete sentence at least once a week?

 

That said, there are reports he told Xi that he would not criticize China for Hong Kong, if China would investigate Biden and Warren. Quid Pro Quo.

 

They've got to get him off TV and twitter, for his own safety.

 

 

 

Is there no end to the arrogance of this fool? Asking a Country he has done nothing but put shlt on for the last 3 years to help him put down a political opponent! Ya gotta wunda!

 

Then the hippocracy of it all when it comes to family and financial dealings in politics.

There you have it donald is busy selling us out desperate for help rigging the election our sovereignty is up fro anyone to influence Donald you are derelict in your duty

If the dems can start witch hunts why not Trump? If anybody says it is to interfere with the election then they need to take a long hard look at the impeachment train wreck. 

You cant expect anything else from a person who has no idea of whats right or wrong and displays it daily. No moral compass, no understanding of the rules and expectations that come with being President of a world power. Deluded and sick. People have been committed to mental institutions for far less disturbing behavior.

Just now, Lungstib said:

You cant expect anything else from a person who has no idea of whats right or wrong and displays it daily. No moral compass, no understanding of the rules and expectations that come with being President of a world power. Deluded and sick. People have been committed to mental institutions for far less disturbing behavior.

 

The dems are the same they just think they hide it better. 

Donnie! Tired of winning yet? Squirm baby squirm. Love it.

37 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Problem is that Hunter Biden, like so many others, got rich from politics. The revolution is brewing.

Thats not illegal, ask ivanka and jared.

7 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

You cant expect anything else from a person who has no idea of whats right or wrong and displays it daily. No moral compass, no understanding of the rules and expectations that come with being President of a world power. Deluded and sick. People have been committed to mental institutions for far less disturbing behavior.

 

George Conway makes this exact case in a (very) lengthy piece in The Atlantic.

 

(The good news is that the president will likely give up reading this after the first paragraph.)

 

Unfit for Office

 

You don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and you don’t need to be a mental-health professional to see that something’s very seriously off with Trump—particularly after nearly three years of watching his erratic and abnormal behavior in the White House. Questions about Trump’s psychological stability have mounted throughout his presidency. But those questions have been coming even more frequently amid a recent escalation in Trump’s bizarre behavior, as the pressures of his upcoming reelection campaign, a possibly deteriorating economy, and now a full-blown impeachment inquiry have mounted. And the questioners have included those who have worked most closely with him.

 

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/george-conway-trump-unfit-office/599128/

2 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

George Conway makes this exact case in a (very) lengthy piece in The Atlantic.

 

(The good news is that the president will likely give up reading this after the first paragraph.)

 

Unfit for Office

 

You don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and you don’t need to be a mental-health professional to see that something’s very seriously off with Trump—particularly after nearly three years of watching his erratic and abnormal behavior in the White House. Questions about Trump’s psychological stability have mounted throughout his presidency. But those questions have been coming even more frequently amid a recent escalation in Trump’s bizarre behavior, as the pressures of his upcoming reelection campaign, a possibly deteriorating economy, and now a full-blown impeachment inquiry have mounted. And the questioners have included those who have worked most closely with him.

 

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/george-conway-trump-unfit-office/599128/

 

Well then let's have a vote on the house floor or an election. Pretty simple stuff.

Just now, Cryingdick said:

 

Political candidates are trying to have their political opponent investigated. What is the difference if Trump stoops to the same tactics? The dems need to put impeachment to a vote on the floor or they are doing the same thing or even worse.

 

So don't follow the Clinton impeachment roadmap.... got it.

 

Whitewater/Starr: four year investigation 1994-1998

 

Impeachment: 1998

 

Senate Trial: 1999

 

 

4 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

Well then let's have a vote on the house floor or an election. Pretty simple stuff.

 

So simple it hardly requires memorializing?

 

Yes, there will be a vote on Article(s) of Impeachment. Can we allow them to be drafted first?

 

 

We can't wait for an election, sorry, that genius has bolted the stable.

 

He'll do anything to cheat and steal another election. Allowing an emboldened criminal to continue his crime spree is, well, CRAZY.

 

 

 

47 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Trump became president of the United States of America and you married a thief,a liar and a whore and you're saying Trump is "dumb as a rock"?

One person can make a mistake and come to realize and admit it.

How many voted Trump to be POTUS ?

1 minute ago, mtls2005 said:

 

So don't follow the Clinton impeachment roadmap.... got it.

 

Whitewater/Starr: four year investigation 1994-1998

 

Impeachment: 1998

 

Senate Trial: 1999

 

 

 

I am not even defending Trump here. I am saying that the dems need to take a vote or win by election. You can't just say Trump blew his lid. You have to take actionable measures. You can not just run an inquisition on a whim for several years. Impeach the mofo or run against him. If there is proof he is mentally unfit to stay in office by all means take the appropriate measures to remove him.

 

By suppressing the vote on the floor it deprives the defense of due process under the law. The dems are trying to have it both ways.

4 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

So simple it hardly requires memorializing?

 

Yes, there will be a vote on Article(s) of Impeachment. Can we allow them to be drafted first?

 

 

We can't wait for an election, sorry, that genius has bolted the stable.

 

He'll do anything to cheat and steal another election. Allowing an emboldened criminal to continue his crime spree is, well, CRAZY.

 

 

 

 

Then do not demand evidence from the WH before you have a vote and waste time with all these mindless procedures and subpoenas. Take a vote and then demand evidence.

1 minute ago, Cryingdick said:

By suppressing the vote on the floor it deprives the defense of due process under the law.

 

What "vote" are you referring to?

 

Are you unfamiliar with the Impeachment process?

 

 

14 minutes ago, Sujo said:

Thats not illegal, ask ivanka and jared.

Im sure you can tell us how much their already substantial incomes and assets have increased due to their positions, other than their personal portfolio increases due to their economic polices. O wait, they must have gotten a tax cut.

 

Sorry my friend, I only commented about the Bidens because in my mind, when you start off ordinary and come out rich from public service there is something wrong, vis a vis, the Big Bad Orange Man making a point on a $140 room. Biden isnt the only one: Harry Reid, John Boehner, Al Gore, The Clintons, the Obamas....but rather than argue the facts of each one, note they all got rich from politics, just think of Clubber Williams finally getting his Tenderloin

3 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

What "vote" are you referring to?

 

Are you unfamiliar with the Impeachment process?

 

 

 

They should take a formal vote on the house floor like they did for Nixon and Clinton. After that they can subpoena or do whatever they want.

 

I am probably as familiar with the impeachment process as much as you are unless you are a professional litigator representing politicians threatened with impeachment. What credentials do you hold?

The man has big Cojones made out of stainless steel, he has by now has broken every true and tested molds of what a US president should do or say, would it work in his favor? only time will tell...