The Justice Department said Tuesday that President Trump never told Attorney General William Barr to contact Ukraine about any investigation of 2020 Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, apparently distancing itself from Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s actions.
“The president has not spoken with the attorney general about having Ukraine investigate anything relating to former Vice President Biden or his son,” DOJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. “The president has not asked the attorney general to contact Ukraine — on this or any other matter. The attorney general has not communicated with Ukraine — on this or any other subject. Nor has the attorney general discussed this matter, or anything relating to Ukraine, with Rudy Giuliani.”
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The DOJ released the statement following the White House’s release of a transcript of the controversial July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump suggests that Ukraine should investigate Biden and his son Hunter, who was on the board of a company owned by Ukrainian oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky. Zlochevsky was being investigated by top prosecutor Viktor Shokin.
Biden boasted in 2018 that, as vice president, he threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees if Ukraine didn’t fire Shokin, which Trump’s allies have said was because of the investigation, but Democrats have said was part of a U.S. and European effort to oust Shokin as ineffective and a hindrance to Ukraine’s anti-corruption investigation. Ukraine removed Shokin in 2016.
The newly released transcript does not show any explicit quid pro quo, but it does show that Trump brought up how much assistance the United States gives Ukraine and later said he wanted Zelensky to speak with Giuliani and Barr about a possible investigation into the Bidens.
“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,” he said.
Trump urged Ukraine’s president to speak to Giuliani.
“I will tell Rudy and Attorney General Barr to call,” Trump said.
DOJ says no such call between Barr and the Ukrainians ended up taking place.
“The Attorney General was first notified of the President’s conversation with Ukrainian President Zelensky several weeks after the call took place, when the Department of Justice learned of a potential referral,” Kupec said.
The DOJ determined that the call and the surrounding circumstances described in an intelligence community whistleblower complaint did not constitute a campaign finance violation.
