Fact check: President Trump and Rep. Devin Nunes have said Democrats did the exact same thing the president is accused of doing: pressuring Ukraine to investigate political rivals. Here are the facts.
Trump, who faces an, floated the claim in a news conference Wednesday, saying that Democrats"threatened" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy"if he didn't do things." Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee and a fierce defender of the president, made a similar point Thursday during"Today, they accused the president of pressuring Ukrainians to take actions that would help himself or hurt his political opponents.
"And it got almost no attention, but in May, CNN reported that Sens. Robert Menendez, Richard Durbin, and Patrick Leahy wrote a letter to Ukraine's prosecutor general expressing concern at the closing of four investigations they said were "critical." In the letter, they implied that their support for U.S. assistance to Ukraine was at stake and that if they didn’t do the right thing, they wouldn’t get any assistance.
“If these reports are true, we strongly encourage you to reverse course and halt any efforts to impede cooperation with this important investigation,” the senators wrote. “The article notes that your office considered these cases as too politically sensitive and politically jeopardizing U.S. financial and military aid to Ukraine,” the letter went on, noting that one of those investigations was into Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Manafort
worked in Ukrainian politics for years, including as a consultant for the nation’s corrupt, Russia-allied former presidentNowhere in the letter do the Democratic senators tie their support for the Congress-approved aid Ukraine receives to the reopening of various probes.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Democrats look to narrow impeachment focus to Trump-Ukraine scandalLawmakers were outraged after seeing a White House readout of Trump's call, in which he urged the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden.
Read more »
Democrats look to narrow impeachment focus to Trump-Ukraine scandalLawmakers were outraged after seeing a White House readout of Trump&39;s call, in which he urged the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden.
Read more »
Fact check: Trump falsely claims Democrats' letter made threat to UkraineUnder fire for asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate potential 2020 opponent Joe Biden, President Donald Trump argued at a Wednesday press conference that Democratic senators were the actual guilty parties.
Read more »
Whistleblower complaint describes White House cover-up on Trump-Ukraine scandal'I will not divulge privileged conversations with the president,' testified Joseph Maguire, acting intelligence director, when asked if he ever spoke to President Trump about the Ukraine whistleblower complaint
Read more »
White House acted to 'lock down' Trump-Ukraine call records: whistleblower'The horse has left the barn,' acting Director of National Intelligence Maguire testifies during the House Intelligence Committee hearing on a whistleblower's memorandum. More:
Read more »
Late-Night Hosts Compare Trump to Tony Soprano After Release of Ukraine Phone Call Transcript'Trump is the only person who will do something so bad right out in the open that it makes you question whether it's actually bad,' said Trevor Noah.
Read more »