Donald Trump had well linked aid to Ukraine to a political inquiry

(Washington) A surprising White House confession about the freeze on aid to Ukraine and a testimony about the central role entrusted to Donald Trump's personal attorney in diplomacy toward the country nurtured the investigation on Thursday. opened by the Democrats in order to dismiss the president.

Charlotte PLANTIVE
France Media Agency

The White House chief of staff acknowledged at a press conference that Donald Trump had suspended military aid to Ukraine in part to force her to contribute to a US policy investigation.

Mick Mulvaney, however, assured that it "had absolutely nothing to do" with former Vice President Joe Biden, who could wear the colors of democracy in the presidential election of 2020.

The Republican administration froze nearly 400 million dollars destined for Ukraine in July, which was finally released in September. This decision is at the heart of the investigation opened three weeks ago by Democratic parliamentarians in the context of the explosive procedure ofimpeachment.

Opposition politicians want to know if Donald Trump, who asked his Ukrainian counterpart in late July to investigate Joe Biden, suspended the money to force him to cooperate.

The Republican billionaire insists he has not exerted any pressure on Volodymyr Zelensky and that aid has been frozen while assessing the assistance provided to Ukraine by his other Western partners.

On Thursday, for the first time, the White House acknowledged that Donald Trump had other motives.

"Did he mention in passing the corruption related to the computer server of the Democratic Party? Absolutely, there is no doubt about it, that's why we froze the money, "said Mr. Mulvaney, deeming this request to be" appropriate ".

"Disappointed"

The chief of staff was referring to a theory born in conspiracy circles and relayed by Donald Trump and his relatives, that Ukraine allegedly hacked the emails of the Democratic Party in the 2016 US presidential election and not Russia, as the established the US intelligence services.

This argument was put forward to discredit the investigation into suspicions of collusion between Moscow and the Republican candidate's campaign team, which clouded the first two years of his term.

Donald Trump's personal lawyer and strong supporter Rudy Giuliani is one of the main relays of this theory as well as allegations of "corruption" against Joe Biden whose son Hunter did business in Ukraine.

Several months ago, Mr Giuliani started a campaign to try to convince the Ukrainian authorities to open official inquiries on these two subjects.

Trump has "ordered" Ukrainian diplomats to work with him, US Ambassador to the European Union (EU) Gordon Sondland said Thursday at a hearing before representatives room.

"We were disappointed by the president's order to involve Mr. Giuliani," said businessman close to Donald Trump.

"Eight witnesses"

In subsequent exchanges, the former mayor of New York told them that Donald Trump wanted his Ukrainian counterpart to make "a public statement on the fight against corruption," Sondland said.

According to him, Rudy Giuliani "precisely mentioned two important investigative topics for the president": the "computer server Democrat" and the gas group Burisma, for which worked Hunter Biden.

"I only understood much later that one of Mr Giuliani's objectives was perhaps (…) to directly or indirectly involve Ukrainians in the President's re-election campaign for 2020," he said. 'ambassador.

Despite the White House's efforts to block the Democratic inquiry, Sondland is the eighth witness heard by elected officials.

Democrats are showing their willingness to move quickly to indict the president, a prerogative of the House of Representatives they control.

It will then come back, according to the Constitution, to the Senate to decide whether Mr. Trump should be removed. Given the Republican majority in this chamber, this prospect seems unlikely at this stage.