FILE PHOTO: Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign stop at Mack's Apples in Londonderry, New Hampshire, U.S., July 13, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Former Vice President Joe Biden slammed Trump for abuse of power and demanded that the transcript of the Ukraine call that inspired the whistleblower complaint be released.
In a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, Vice President Biden said:
If these reports are true, then there is truly no bottom to President Trump’s willingness to abuse his power and abase our country. This behavior is particularly abhorrent because it exploits the foreign policy of our country and undermines our national security for political purposes. It means that he used the power and resources of the United States to pressure a sovereign nation—a partner that is still under direct assault from Russia—pushing Ukraine to subvert the rule of law in the express hope of extracting a political favor.
Such clear-cut corruption damages and diminishes our institutions of government by making them tools of a personal political vendetta. At minimum, Donald Trump should immediately release the transcript of the call in question, so that the American people can judge for themselves, and direct the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to stop stonewalling and release the whistleblower notification to the Congress.
The reports that Biden referred to are stories in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal that detailed Trump’s repeated efforts to pressure the then-incoming Ukranian president to collude with him and launch an investigation into Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
Trump is trying to run the exact playbook in 2020 that he used in 2016. He wants to replace lock her up chants with lock him up chants.
The former vice president was correct. Trump’s actions as reported are an astounding abuse of power. Trump has no reason to hide the transcript of the call if he did nothing wrong.
Trump admitted that he tried to pressure Ukraine, as his desperation may end up costing him the only thing that is keeping him out of prison.
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