Biden ‘to call for Trump impeachment’ if he refuses to co-operate with Congress over Ukraine call

Momentum for action is growing on Capitol Hill

Joe Biden is reportedly set to throw his weight behind calls for the impeachment of Donald Trump, if the president fails to cooperate with Congress over his controversial phone call to the leader of Ukraine.

Amid growing numbers of Democrats on Capitol Hill announcing they supported censuring the president, and as House speaker Nancy Pelosi let it be known she was planning to table a resolution relating to the Ukraine issue on the floor on Wednesday, reports said Mr Biden was also now on board.

Mr Biden, the frontrunner among Democrats seeking to challenge Mr Trump in 2020 is set to deliver a statement where he will say ‘Trump’s latest abuses are on top of all of his prior abuses”, a campaign spokesman said.

“He’s going to call on Trump to comply with all of Congress’ outstanding lawful requests for information — in the Ukraine matter, and in the other investigations – and if Trump doesn’t comply, Congress has no choice but to impeach,” the spokesman said.

Mr Trump last week triggered a furore after it was reported a member of the US intelligence services had blown the whistle on a conversation the president had with a world leader.

It quickly emerged, the call was to Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky, and reports said Mr Trump had asked the newly elected president eight times during their conversation to push ahead with an investigation into claims Mr Biden misused his position as vice president to push for the ousting of an allegedly corrupt prosecutor. The prosecutor was said to be looking into an energy company that employed Mr Biden’s son, Hunter.

While Mr Biden has previously been cleared of wrongdoing, Mr Trump and his supporters have seized on the episode, seeking to undermine the campaign of the frontrunner among Democrats seeking to challenge him in 2020.

Mr Trump on Monday said he did not try to coerce Mr Zelenskiy in the July 25 phone call to launch a corruption investigation into Mr Biden and his son in return for the US military aid.

At the United Nations before his speech to the annual General Assembly, Mr Trump said he had wanted the money for Ukraine frozen, saying European countries should provide assistance to Kiev, but changed his mind after “people called me”.

Mr Biden has said before that impeachment might be necessary if Mr Trump refused to cooperate with ongoing investigations.

But the statement on Tuesday will be the first time he has made the call since the controversy over Ukraine surfaced last week.

Most Democratic presidential contenders support an impeachment inquiry, including senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar; former congressman Beto O’Rourke; Pete Buttigieg, and Julian Castro.

”The House must impeach,“ Ms Warren, the first major contender to call for impeachment in the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian interference in the 2016 election, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Additional reporting by Reuters