President Donald Trump involved Vice President Mike Pence in his efforts to pressure Ukraine’s president to investigate Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, for corruption, though officials close to Pence insist that he was not aware of Trump’s efforts, The Washington Post reports.
Trump had Pence skip new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s inauguration this past Spring to send a measure of displeasure. Months later, Trump used Pence to tell Zelenskiy that the White House withheld $391 million in military aid because Ukraine had been dragging its feet on combatting corruption.
Officials close to Pence say the VP was not aware of Trump’s attempt to press Ukraine for damaging information about Biden’s family.
But the Post reported that Pence’s own national security adviser, Lt. Gen Keith Kellogg, was in on the phone call with Trump and Zelenskiy.
Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, in a statement rejected allegations the vice president was conveying an inappropriate message from Trump during Pence’s meeting with Zelensiky on Sept. 1 in Warsaw.
“The president consistently raised concerns about corruption and the lack of burden-sharing by European partners, so having run on an anti-corruption campaign, Zelenskiy was receptive to those messages,” Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, said. “The vice president, as your reporting says, reported back to the president after the meeting and the aid was released.”
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