Top Ukrainian Official Defends Donald Trump’s Phone Call: ‘There Was No Pressure’
President Donald Trump has come under fire on the heels of a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which a whistleblower later claimed the president made an inappropriate request involving digging up dirt on former vice president and top 2020 Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden.
According to Fox News, Trump allegedly pressured the Ukrainian president to look into business dealings in his country conducted by Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
While accusations have been flying fast and furious in Washington, D.C., in the wake of the whistleblower’s report, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko provided a different version of the story on Saturday, one that makes the phone call controversy sound not so controversial after all.
“I know what the conversation was about and I think there was no pressure,” Prystaiko told a Ukrainian news outlet.
“There was talk, conversations are different, leaders have the right to discuss any problems that exist. This conversation was long, friendly, and it touched on many questions, sometimes requiring serious answers.”
The situation erupted in recent days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump made multiple requests to Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden’s dealings with a Ukrainian natural gas company under investigation for possible corruption.
Trump’s personal attorney and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has accused Biden of trying to protect his son from investigation while he was still vice president. In a Saturday tweet, Giuliani also accused the media of working to cover up anything negative related to Biden over past years, claiming he’s part of the “protected class.”
The president has also remained steadfast in denying any wrongdoing he’s accused of for the July phone call, even taking to social media to talk about what he’s now calling the “Ukraine Witch Hunt” and echoing Giuliani’s charge that the media is helping to protect Biden, the 2020 Democratic front-runner.
Biden’s responses to reporters’ questions about the developing situation were blunt, according to The Inquisitr. During an Iowa campaign stop, Biden grew agitated with questions from reporters about the controversy. At one point, Biden scolded a reporter and told him to “ask the right questions!”
The former vice president also fired off a shot at Trump, claiming the only reason the president is talking about his son Hunter is because “he knows I will beat him like a drum.”
Fox News reported that Rep. Adam Schiff — a top House Democrat — is claiming that the whistleblower’s complaint is being withheld from Congress by acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire in an effort to protect the Trump White House.
