Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said it was “against the law” for President Donald Trump to suggest for China to investigate allegations of corruption against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
In an interview set to air Sunday on Axios on HBO, Romney made the remark as part of a broader discussion on the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry and the state of the Republican Party.
“Going on TV and saying, ‘China, will you investigate my political opponent’ is wrong, it’s a mistake; it was shocking, in my opinion, for the president to do so,” Romney contended, adding, “I can’t imagine coming to a different point of view.
“We certainly can’t have presidents asking foreign countries to provide something of political value, that is, after wall, against the law,” he said.
Earlier this month, President Trump floated the idea of China looking into the Biden family’s dealings in country, telling reporters: “China should start an investigation into the Bidens because what happened in China is just about as bad as Ukraine.”
As Breitbart News extensively reported, Hunter Biden’s investment firm scored a $1.5 billion investment deal with the Bank of China after traveling with his father on Air Force Two to the country in 2013.
A day after the president’s comments, Romney took to social media to call the suggestion “wrong and appalling.”
“When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China’s investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated,” Romney wrote on Twitter. “By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) joined Romney in condemning President Trump’s suggestion, calling it “completely inappropriate.”
“I thought the president made a big mistake by asking China to get involved in investigating a political opponent. … It’s completely inappropriate,” the senator told the Bangor Daily News.