Joe Biden on call for Trump-Ukraine probe: ‘I’m the reason there is impeachment going on’
Joe Biden said Sunday that even though he was the last top-tier Democratic candidate to call for President Donald Trump’s impeachment, “I’m the reason there is impeachment going on.”
The former vice president lambasted Trump for asking foreign governments to investigate him and his son Hunter — despite there being no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of either Biden — at a forum in Iowa, saying that the President is leading the “most corrupt administration in modern American history.”
“It’s gotten so far now, if you don’t move on it, then what do we say to the rest of the world about who we are?” Biden said. “What do you say about opening the gates and saying, ‘Come on in, get involved in our elections?’ What do you do?”
The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate also told reporters that his family and associates would not work for foreign companies if he is elected president, saying he would have an environment in the White House reminiscent of former President Barack Obama’s administration.
“I can tell you now, if I am your president — next president — I’m going to build on the squeaky clean, transparent environment that we had in the Obama-Biden White House,” he said.
The former vice president drew a stark contrast between himself and Trump, saying that no one in his administration would serve in the White House or sit in on meetings as if they are Cabinet members. The comment was a clear reference to Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who both work as senior Trump administration officials.
“No one in my family will have an office in the White House, will sit in on meetings as if they’re a cabinet member, will in fact have any business relationship with anyone that relates to a foreign corporation or foreign country,” Biden said.
Earlier Sunday, Hunter Biden announced he would resign from the board of a Chinese-backed private equity company at the end of the month — also pledging he would not work on behalf of foreign-owned companies if his father is elected president.
Biden said he knew the statement from his son’s attorney was coming, but “did not consult with them while it was being put out.”
“In fact it represents the kind of man of integrity he is and what in fact he has done, and why he stepped down,” Biden said.
Trump faces an impeachment probe in the Democratic-led House over his urging the Ukrainian President in a July phone call to investigate the Bidens. That phone call led to a whistleblower complaint that in part alleges Trump withheld US aid to Ukraine over the matter. The President has denied doing anything improper.
Trump and his associates have launched numerous public attacks related to Hunter Biden’s roles on the boards of a Ukrainian company and a Chinese company. Trump has claimed without evidence that the Bidens are corrupt — publicly saying the leaders of Ukraine and China should investigate his potential 2020 opponent — and on Sunday baselessly tweeted that Hunter Biden “raided and scammed” multiple countries.
“What I’m not going to let you all do is take the focus off the problem,” Joe Biden said Sunday. “No one — no one — has asserted my son did a single thing wrong. No one has asserted that I have done anything wrong except the lying President.”
