Invitation to an investigation

RealClearPolitics has posted video of President Trump’s invitation to the Ukrainian and Chinese governments to investigate the Bidens for corruption here. Trump spoke to reporters gathered on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for a Florida rally. Asked what he had wanted Ukraine President Zelensky to do about the Biden and son, Trump responded that he thinks Ukraine and China should both look into their business deals. RCP’s transcript reads as follows:

Referring to Ukraine, Trump stated: “Well, I would think that if they were honest about it, they’d start a major investigation into the Bidens. It’s a very simple answer. They should investigate the Bidens.”

Then he turned to China: “Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.”

Back to Ukraine, Trump added. “So, I would say that President Zelensky, if it were me, I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Bidens because nobody has any doubt that they weren’t crooked. That was a crooked deal, 100%….And they got rid of a very tough prosecutor….So if I were the president of Ukraine I would certainly recommend that.”

Trump said he hadn’t yet asked Chinese President Xi to do so, “but it’s certainly something we could start thinking about because I’m sure that President Xi does not like being under that kind of scrutiny where billions of dollars is taken out of his country by a guy who just got kicked out of the Navy…You know what they call that? They call that a payoff.”

China, however, must have one of the most corrupt governments in the world. It is also, coincidentally, an enemy of the United States. Its law enforcement and judicial system are opaque, arbitrary, and short in the due process department. The system is the handmaiden of a cruel tyranny. Inviting the Chinese government to investigate any American citizen is indefensibly wrong.

Yesterday Trump convened a press gaggle on the South Lawn of the White House lawn. He responded to questions for 20 minutes over the din of Marine One as it waited to take him to Walter Reed Hospital (White House video below).

Trump explained that his comments the day before about Ukraine and China investigating the Bidens referred to “corruption,” not politics. We are to understand that the political angle is just a coincidence.

That isn’t the only problem with this explanation. China’s law enforcement and judicial system are notoriously corrupt as well. After 70 years, the Communist regime should investigate itself and step aside.

Trump made some good points in the exchange (at 14:00-17:00 or so). He is rightly angry about the surveillance of his 2016 campaign. So am I.

Trump avoided answering the question whether he would enlist Putin to conduct an investigation as well. Good question! The man and his regime ran an impressive disinformation operation through the 2016 Clinton presidential campaign, the Obama administration, and the media. Putin is himself a perpetrator. With respect to the Bidens, the same goes for Xi’s regime. As Peter Schweizer explains, it is a perp.

Unfortunately, this quotable Trump quote was lost in the ozone: “I was investigated. Okay? Me. Me, in my campaign, I ran, I won, I was investigated. You won’t say that, will you? I was investigated, I was investigated, and they think it could have been by U.K. They think it could have been by Australia. They think it could have been by Italy. So when you get down to it, I was investigated by the Obama administration. By the Obama administration, I was investigated. So when these people talk … But as far as I’m concerned, what I want to look at and what we want to investigate, anything having to do with corruption.”

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