President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani on Thursday called for an investigation into Joe Biden, alleging the former vice president and 2020 candidate has conflicts of interest from previous dealings with Ukraine.
“Biden conflicts are too apparent to be ignored and should be investigated quickly and expeditiously. But the more important question is how deep and how high did the alleged Ukraine conspiracy go?” Giuliani tweeted.
The tweet comes in response to a New York Times article published Wednesday that detailed Biden’s work as vice president to pressure Ukraine to dismiss its top prosecutor.
{mosads}Biden in March 2016 threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees unless the government in Kiev dismissed the prosecutor, who was dogged by accusations of ignoring corruption among politicians and in his own office. The Ukrainian Parliament voted the prosecutor out shortly after the threat.
The Times revealed that Biden’s younger son, Hunter, served on the board of an energy company that the prosecutor was investigating before he was dismissed.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill regarding Giuliani’s remarks.
But his campaign told the Times that Biden carried out U.S. policy in Ukraine without regard to his son’s work, that he never discussed the matter with his son and learned of his son’s role with the energy company through news reports.
Giuliani’s call for an investigation comes a week after Biden’s presidential campaign launch in which he framed his third White House bid as a bulwark against President Trump. The president has since excoriated Biden, dubbing him “Sleepy Joe,” suggesting Trump sees him as a major threat in 2020 if the former vice president wins the the Democratic nomination.