Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Tuesday urged the House Judiciary Committee to wage immediate action in light of President Donald Trump confirming that he suggested Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky look into the business dealings of former vice president Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in the eastern European country.
“Yes, this is an emergency. We don’t have the luxury of time w/ another committee,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on social media. “Judiciary has been investigating& putting the pieces together for months. Impeachment belongs there.”
“We must honor jurisdiction, historical precedent,& work done + allow Judiciary to move forward,” she added.
The far-left “Squad” member’s tweet came in response to staunch anti-Trump commentator Bill Kristol, who said “people who know the Hill well” have advised him that assembling a “select committee” to probe the president’s call with Zelensky could bring “complexity and delay.”
Earlier Tuesday, President Trump said he ordered White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to withhold tens of millions of dollars in military aid from Ukraine a week before he telephoned Kiev’s leader in a call that has led to widespread Democratic calls for his impeachment.
Before making his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City Tuesday, the president told reporters he gave the order because he felt other allied nations weren’t providing enough.
“As far as withholding funds, those funds were paid,” President Trump said. “They were fully paid.”
“I want other countries to put up money. I think it’s unfair that we put up the money,” he added. “Then other people call me. They said, ‘Oh, let it go.’ And I let it go. But we paid the money, the money was paid.”
Many congressional Democrats are calling for an impeachment investigation against President Trump, based on news reports that the president pressured Zelensky to investigate the Biden family, though it is unclear if he broke the law by asking for a new inquiry to be made. Further, The alleged “whistleblower” who reportedly claims to have knowledge of the president pressuring Zelensky, did not hear the pair’s conversation first hand.
As Breitbart News reported earlier this year, Biden forced out former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin as he was investigating an energy company called Burisma Holdings, which was paying Biden handsomely as a member of its board. The former vice president even boasted to the Council of Foreign Relations last year that he had threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid unless the prosecutor was fired. (He did not tell the audience about his son’s role.) Conservatives claim Biden obstructed justice to protect his son — who enriched himself using his father’s prestige.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Tuesday that she will make an announcement this afternoon after she meets with House chairmen and members of the Democrat caucus. According to NBC analyst Howard Fineman, the speaker will announce a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump and suggest that she herself supports Congress removing the president.
The UPI contributed to this report.
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