BRKG Not just Ukraine, Trump now calls for China to probe Bidens

StarryEyedLad

désespéré pour le ciel
Not just Ukraine, Trump now calls for China to probe Bidens
By JILL COLVIN and ZEKE MILLER October 3, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, ensnared in an impeachment inquiry over his request that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, on Thursday called on China to do the same.

“China should start an investigation into the Bidens,” Trump said in remarks to reporters outside the White House. Trump said he hadn’t directly asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to investigate Biden and his son Hunter but said it’s “certainly something we could start thinking about.”

By publicly egging China on to investigate a Democratic political rival, Trump affirmed the approach he made in private to Ukraine’s president that has led to the impeachment investigation by the House. Trump has defended his contact with Ukraine as “perfect” and now is giving broad airing to a similar appeal to China, a nation that has much at stake in its relationship with the United States in an ongoing trade war.

Trump’s comments evoked his public call in 2016 for Russia to release Hillary Clinton’s emails if they had obtained them by hacking _ which U.S. intelligence agencies later determined to be the case.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said during a July 2016 press conference. He later claimed in written answers to questions from special counsel Robert Mueller that he made the appeal to Russia “in jest and sarcastically, as was apparent to any objective observer.”

The boldness of his call on Thursday suggests the president is shelving that idea of humor and that he will continue to try to make the case that requests that another country investigate a potential opponent in the 2020 election are normal, even in the face of broad condemnation from Democrats and even some Republicans. In the case of both Ukraine and China, Trump has made his allegations against Biden without evidence of wrongdoing.

The president and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani also have tried to raise suspicions about Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China, leaning heavily on the writings of conservative author Peter Schweizer. On Monday, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the allegation that Chinese government business gave Biden’s son $1.5 billion “totally groundless.”

Trump’s requests for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate the Bidens, as well as Giuliani’s conduct, are at the center of an intelligence community whistleblower’s complaint that sparked the House Democratic impeachment inquiry last week.

The president’s reference to China came unprompted when he answered a question about the July 25 Ukraine call and moments after he was asked about trade negotiations with China.

“I have a lot of options on China, but if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous, tremendous power,” Trump said.

He later alleged without evidence that China had a “sweetheart deal” on trade with the U.S. because of the Bidens.

“You know what they call that,” Trump said. “They call that a payoff.”

Biden campaign Chairman Cedric Richmond dismissed Trump’s assertions as a reflection of the president’s concerns about facing Biden in his re-election campaign. “This president is scared, and he’s acting out,” the Louisiana congressman said.

House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff, who is taking a leading role in the impeachment inquiry, said Trump’s comments show “he feels he can do anything with impunity.”

Federal Election Commission Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub responded to Trump’s remarks, tweeting a reminder that it is a violation of campaign finance law for anyone to “solicit accept or receive” anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election. The agency polices campaign finance laws. But after a recent resignation, its board does not have enough commissioners to legally meet and take enforcement action.

Trump’s comments came as he publicly acknowledged that his message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials was to investigate Biden, a leading 2020 Democratic presidential contender. He had ducked the question at a news conference on Wednesday.

“It’s a very simple answer,” Trump said of his call with Zelenskiy. “They should investigate the Bidens.”

Trump has sought to implicate Biden and his son in the kind of corruption that has long plagued Ukraine. Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma, at the same time his father was leading the Obama administration’s diplomatic dealings with Kyiv.j

___

AP writers Brian Slodysko, Alan Fram and Bill Barrow contributed.

https://apnews.com/c4fc388b22f549e0a67925cab8cd7e93
 

Bones

Living On A Prayer
Trump needn't look any further on implicating Biden in nefarious, treasonous, crimes. We've all send the video and heard the audio where the creepy old pervert admits to it and seems to actually brag about it.

Until there are tribunals, convictions, and sentences carried out, none of the chest pounding on either side matters

We're already in CWII. Only one side of it is violent, thus far. Look for it to go hot and resolve quickly when it does.

My 4G network is in place.

God
Grub
Guns
Guts

**Yes, I'm supremely fed up.....with nearly everything.**
 

The Cub

Behold, I am coming soon.
Rush pointed out how Trump continues to impel the crooked Media into covering topics that they would otherwise refuse to cover.

Trump continues to play these fools like a violin.
 

StarryEyedLad

désespéré pour le ciel
Fox’s Napolitano: Trump’s Public Plea to China to Investigate Biden is a ‘Criminal Event … That’s Clear!
By Joe DePaolo Oct 3rd, 2019, 4:58 pm

Earlier today, we posted about Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano calling President Donald Trump‘s behavior “criminal and impeachable.” And as the president has doubled down by publicly asking China to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, Napolitano is doubling down as well.

Appearing on Your World with Neil Cavuto Thursday, Napolitano weighed in on Trump’s public solicitation of assistance from China in probing one of his potential election challengers. According to Napolitano, there is no room for interpretation on the president’s actions.

“In the president’s view, asking a foreign government to investigate a domestic political opponent is not troublesome or problematic,” Napolitano said. “The problem with that is the statute, which says soliciting — asking — for aid in a domestic political campaign, whether the aid is delivered or not, is a criminal event. That’s clear in the statute! Whether the aid is delivered or not, asking for it is impermissible.”

Napolitano suggested that Trump may getting poor legal advice.

“In the president’s view, he has nothing to hide,” Napolitano said. “He is transparent, and he’s not … going behind anybody’s back. He must be getting advice from some source that there’s no problem asking a foreign government for help in a domestic political campaign.”

Watch above, via Fox News.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/foxs-na...tigate-biden-is-a-criminal-event-thats-clear/


(Note: Video at link.)
 
Top