House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a newly released transcript between President Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky shows Trump “engaged in behavior that undermines the integrity of our elections, the dignity of the office he holds and our national security.”
The california Democrat issued the statement hours after the White House released an inexact transcript of the July 25 phone call, and it comes a day after Pelosi announced the House will pursue impeachment.
According to the call notes, Trump asked Zelensky to work with Attorney General William Barr and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Trump sought help from Zelensky regarding allegations former Vice President Joe Biden worked to help his son, Hunter Biden, by threatening to withhold money from Ukraine if it did not fire a prosecutor targeting a gas company paying his son a hefty salary.
Barr, in a statement, denied ever acting on behalf of the president to investigate Ukraine and denied being asked to do so by Trump.
“I respect the responsibility of the president to engage with foreign leaders as part of his job,” Pelosi said. “It is not part of his job to use taxpayer money to shake down other countries for the benefit of his campaign. Either the president does not know the weight of his words or he does not care about ethics or his constitutional responsibilities.”
“The transcript and the Justice Department’s acting in a rogue fashion in being complicit in the president’s lawlessness confirm the need for an impeachment inquiry,” Pelosi said. “Clearly, the Congress must act.”
