Three House committees have opened an investigation into President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani amid reports the two pressured Ukraine to "assist" the president's reelection campaign.
The chairmen of the Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees wrote joint letters to the White House and State Department demanding documents and records related to a phone call between President Trump and Ukraine's president on July 25, among other information.
The chairmen wrote in a statement: "As the 2020 election draws closer, President Trump and his personal attorney appear to have increased pressure on the Ukrainian government and its justice system in service of President Trump's reelection campaign, and the White House and the State Department may be abetting this scheme."
The investigation follows reports that Giuliani pressed a representative of Ukraine's president to investigate whether Kiev had tried to hurt the 2016 Trump campaign and whether Joe Biden's diplomatic work in the country was improperly connected with his son's role at a gas company there.
In a statement, Biden's campaign spokesman said President Trump is "putting himself before his country." He said President Trump is "abusing" his office "and jeopardizing national security aid to a key ally in order to pressure them to prop-up a comprehensively discredited conspiracy theory that The Washington Post editorial board has labeled 'bogus on its face'."
The Post's editorial board recently reported the president is trying to leverage U.S. military aid to coerce Ukraine to investigate Biden. The former VP is the current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
