Trump used Mike Pence to tell Ukraine the US would withhold military aid while demanding they investigate corruption

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• President Donald Trump told Vice President Mike Pence to convey to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the US would withhold military aid to Ukraine while demanding they aggressively investigate corruption, the Washington Post reported.
• The Ukrainians likely understood that Trump's demand to investigate "corruption" was linked to his desire for them to look into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.
• The revelation is the latest indication that the US president may have dangled taxpayer dollars in order to get a foreign government to investigate a political rival for personal gain. It also ropes the vice president further into the brewing controversy.
• Trump's direction to Pence came shortly after he spoke to Zelensky in a July 25 phone call in which he repeatedly pressured his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate the Bidens for corruption and help discredit the Russia investigation.
• Pence met with Zelensky during a diplomatic trip on September 1. Afterward, Pence told a reporter the US has "great concerns" about corruption, and that the president wanted to be sure US military aid to Ukraine was going toward "the kind of investments that will contribute to security and stability in Ukraine."
• Katie Waldman, press secretary for the vice president, released a statement in response to The Post's reporting.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump used Vice President Mike Pence to convey to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the US would withhold military aid to the country while demanding that they aggressively investigate corruption, the Washington Post reported.

The Ukrainians likely understood that Trump's demand to investigate "corruption" was connected to his desire for them to look into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son ahead of the 2020 election, The Post said.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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