Giuliani: 'I can't tell you if it's 100%' false Trump offered Ukraine aid for Biden investigation
WASHINGTON – Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, said he could not completely dispute stories that Trump conditioned the granting of military aid to Ukraine on an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden in a Monday morning television interview.
Appearing on the Fox Business show "Mondays with Maria," Giuliani was asked about Trump's discussions with the Ukranian president that, according to reports, included talks of an investigation into Biden and the administration's alleged threat to withhold military aid.
"Did the president threaten to cut off aid to Ukraine?" asked host Maria Bartiromo.
"No, that was a false story," Giuliani said.
Bartiromo pressed Giuliani and asked, "100%?"
"Well, I can't tell you if it's 100%," Giuliani replied.
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Giuliani added later in the interview, "Now there’s no quid pro quo, no money, proper action by a president, they might say improper, but certainly not grounds for impeachment," of a whistleblower's complaint about the communications between Trump and Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump has ignited a political firestorm by revealing that he discussed an investigation into Biden with Zelensky, though Ukraine's current prosecutor, Yuriy Lutsenko, told Bloomberg News Service in May that he had no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or his son.
"Hunter Biden did not violate any Ukrainian laws — at least as of now, we do not see any wrongdoing," Lutsenko told Bloomberg at the time. "A company can pay however much it wants to its board."
Arriving at the United Nations on Monday, Trump appeared to confirm more details of the call, telling reporters, "It's very important to talk about corruption. If you don't talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country that you think is corrupt."
Congressional Democrats have called for further investigation into the whistleblower complaint and Trump's communications.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Monday morning urging him to take action to secure the release of the whistleblower complaint.
To @SenateMajLdr McConnell@SenateGOP must take action now to stop @realDonaldTrump from withholding an Intelligence Community whistleblower complaint@SenateGOP’s 'see no evil, hear no evil' attitude toward such a serious national security concern is unacceptable & must change pic.twitter.com/BQaQMck40I
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 23, 2019
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has taken a harsher tone, suggesting she could change her mind on impeachment if the administration refuses to provide the complaint.
"They will be entering a grave new chapter of lawlessness which will take us into a whole new stage of investigation," Pelosi wrote in a letter to members of Congress on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rudy Giuliani: Not '100%' false Trump threatened Ukraine aid
