Ukraine has released a recording of former President Donald Trump’s associate Rudy Giuliani pressuring Ukrainian officials to open investigations into Joe Biden’s family in 2019, TIME Magazine reports.
In the recording, obtained by the news outlet, Giuliani pressures Ukraine officials to “Get someone to investigate” the Biden family and make a public announcement about it.
“The 40-minute call, a transcript of which was obtained by TIME, provides the clearest picture yet of Giuliani’s attempts to pressure the Ukrainians on Trump’s behalf,” the report says. “The President’s personal lawyer toggled between veiled threats — ‘Be careful,’ he warned repeatedly — and promises to help improve Ukraine’s relations with Trump. ‘My only motive — it isn’t to get anybody in trouble who doesn’t deserve to be in trouble,’ Giuliani said. ‘For our country’s sake and your country’s sake, we [need to] get all these facts straight,’ he added. ‘We fix them and we put it behind us.'”
The plot to pressure the government of Ukraine to “investigate” the Biden family’s business dealings in return for foreign military sales led to Trump’s first impeachment. Trump is now in the middle of his second impeachment trial, for inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
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Ukrainian officials have signaled new willingness to reveal details about the Trump administration’s pressure campaign, now that a new administration has taken over.
According to the report, former Ukrainian presidential adviser Igor Novikov “is willing to assist an ongoing federal investigation of Giuliani that is reportedly underway in New York, as well as a separate effort to strip Giuliani of his license to practice law.”
You can read the entire report here.
