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A huge three committee investigation has been launched into the Trump/Giuliani scheme to blackmail Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden.

Chairmen Eliot L. Engel of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Adam B. Schiff of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Elijah E. Cummings of the Committee on Oversight and Reform sent the following letter to the White House and State Department demanding records on Trump’s scheme:

The Chairmen wrote, “A growing public record indicates that, for nearly two years, the President and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, appear to have acted outside legitimate law enforcement and diplomatic channels to coerce the Ukrainian government into pursuing two politically-motivated investigations under the guise of anti-corruption activity. As the 2020 election draws closer, President Trump and his personal attorney appear to have increased pressure on the Ukrainian government and its justice system in service of President Trump’s reelection campaign, and the White House and the State Department may be abetting this scheme.”

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They continued, “President Trump has also threatened to withhold more than $250 million in security assistance that Congress has appropriated, the Pentagon supports, and Ukraine desperately needs. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are under assault from Russia and its proxies in illegally-occupied Ukrainian territory. If the President is trying to pressure Ukraine into choosing between defending itself from Russian aggression without U.S. assistance or leveraging its judicial system to serve the ends of the Trump campaign, this would represent a staggering abuse of power, a boon to Moscow, and a betrayal of the public trust. That the State Department has apparently acted as a broker between President Trump’s personal attorney and Ukrainian officials raises serious concerns that the Department is complicit in a corrupt scheme that undercuts U.S. foreign policy and national security interests in favor of the President’s personal agenda.”

Trunp and Giuliani have been trying to blackmail Ukraine into investigating Biden

Trump is terrified of running against Joe Biden in 2020, so he has been trying to use his presidential powers to blackmail Ukraine into digging up dirt on the former vice president. Trump is trying to withhold aid to Ukraine, even though the Ukranian government has already found no wrongdoing by the former vice president.

The advantage of a Democratic-controlled House is that Democrats can use their oversight powers to check Trump’s abuses of power. If Republicans controlled the House right now, they would already be launching a bogus investigation into Biden and Ukraine. We know this would happen because it is exactly what House Republicans did to Hillary Clinton in 2016 on Benghazi and her emails.

House Democrats aren’t going to allow Trump to use the presidency as a weapon to dig up dirt on his potential 2020 challenger.

The House is stepping up to protect democracy and stop Trump’s international blackmail dead in its tracks.