WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump repeatedly pressed the president of Ukraine to reopen an investigation into a Ukrainian energy company to focus on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, according to a summary of a telephone call July 25 between the two leaders.

In the 30-minute call, recounted in a five-page memo released by the administration Wednesday, Trump told President Volodymyr Zelensky that he was directing his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr to assist in the inquiry “to get to the bottom of it.”

Trump told Zelensky there was "a lot of talk" about Biden's son's activities in Ukraine.

"A lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great,” Trump said.

The memo was released the day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry.

Trump first acknowledged bringing up Biden in the Zelensky phone call Sunday. Democrats said asking a foreign government to investigate a political rival is an egregious abuse of power. They questioned whether Trump used congressionally approved military aid intended for Ukraine as leverage to push for an investigation of Biden.

Trump insisted there was no pressure nor any "quid pro quo."

Impeachment inquiry:'No one is above the law': Pelosi announces inquiry

Trump referred to Barr at least four times during the call, suggesting the attorney general and Giuliani could help restart an inquiry into Burisma, a gas company where Hunter Biden served on the board in 2014 while his father, as Barack Obama's vice president, worked closely with the Ukrainian government. The Obama White House denied that there was any conflict of interest.

Trump told Zelensky of the Biden matter: "If you can look into it ... it sounds horrible to me."

Officials said ellipses were used when the conversation was inaudible and not picked up by voice recognition software.

It is the first time another administration official has emerged in Trump’s effort to a solicit a foreign power’s help in investigating a political rival.

Despite the repeated references to Barr in Trump’s call, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said that the attorney general learned of the president’s conversation “several weeks” after it took place and that Barr has not communicated with Ukrainian officials.

Justice officials acknowledged Wednesday that the intelligence community’s inspector general referred Trump’s call to the Justice Department and the FBI for possible criminal investigation related to a possible violation of campaign finance law after the president’s contact with Ukraine became the subject of a whistleblower’s complaint last month.

Read the transcript: President Trump's call with Ukraine president about Biden

“The inspector general’s letter cited a conversation between the president and Ukrainian President Zelensky as a potential violation of federal campaign finance law,” Kupec said. “Relying on established procedures set forth … the department’s Criminal Division reviewed the official record of the call and determined, based on the facts and applicable law, that there was no campaign finance violation and no further action was warranted.”

Justice officials said Barr was aware of the inspector general’s referral but did not make the final decision to reject the opening of a criminal investigation of the president.

The officials acknowledged that the Justice Department review did not include interviews of potential witnesses to Trump’s call or others with potential knowledge of it.

“All relevant components of the department agreed with these legal conclusions, and the department has concluded the matter,” Kupec said.

The decision not to open a criminal investigation was made last week, Justice officials said.

Trump seemed eager to offer Barr’s help to Zelensky on both the Burisma inquiry and another longtime obsession of the president’s: missing emails and the hack of a computer server at the Democratic National Committee.

“The server, they say Ukraine has it,” Trump told his counterpart. “There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation. … I would like to have the attorney general call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it.”

Justice officials maintained Wednesday that the attorney general had not spoken with the president about Trump’s interest in targeting Biden or his son.

"The president has not asked the attorney general to contact Ukraine – on this or any other matter,” Kupec said. “The attorney general has not communicated with Ukraine – on this or any other subject. Nor has the attorney general discussed this matter, or anything related to Ukraine, with Rudy Giuliani.”

Democrats open impeachment inquiry

Hillary Clinton, Trump's opponent in the 2016 election, called for his impeachment shortly after the release.

"The president of the United States has betrayed our country," she tweeted. "That’s not a political statement – it’s a harsh reality, and we must act. He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment."

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., tweeted that the call sounded like a shakedown for favors in exchange for investigating Trump's opponents.

"The transcript of the call reads like a classic mob shakedown," Schiff said.

Trump, who described the investigation in a tweet as the "most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time," demanded an apology from Democrats after the transcript was released.

“The way you had that built up, that call was going to be the call from hell," Trump told reporters Wednesday at the United Nations in New York. “It turned out to be a nothing call.”

Trump argued that the transcript did not demonstrate that he leaned on Ukraine to open an investigation into Biden.

“There’s no pressure whatsoever,” Trump said.

Trump remained in New York on Wednesday for the U.N. General Assembly – and one of his meetings was with Ukrainian President Zelensky.

The Aug. 12 whistleblower complaint arrived on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

Thursday, the acting director of national security is scheduled to appear before lawmakers.

Schiff said the whistleblower asked to speak with the Intelligence Committee, and attorneys are negotiating the ground rules for such an appearance.

"We‘re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this week," Schiff tweeted.

What's changed:Here's what led to Pelosi's call for an impeachment inquiry

Some legal analysts said Trump's casual talk about assistance to Ukraine in a conversation that touched on investigating Biden looks like bribery.

"Even as summarized by this White House, and what we know about the freeze on Ukraine aid before the call, any competent federal prosecutor would charge this as a quid pro quo," said Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor in New York. "This is bribery."

Explain it:What's going on with Trump, Ukraine and Biden?

Biden, delays in aid lead to inquiry

Acknowledging he discussed Biden on the call, Trump said he only wanted to make sure Ukraine was thoroughly investigating claims of corruption.

Trump said he held up U.S. assistance to Ukraine before his phone call with Zelensky because allies such as France and Germany weren't contributing enough foreign aid to the country.

'We do a lot for Ukraine'

At the time Trump and Zelensky spoke, the Trump administration was holding up hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid approved by Congress.

The memo did not lay out a specific threat to withhold military aid, but during the call, the president played up U.S. commitment to support Ukraine while bashing much of Europe.

“I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine,” Trump said. “We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than they are. Germany does almost nothing for you.”

Zelensky assured Trump that a prosecutor would look into the Burisma matter and broached the country’s need for defense assistance.

“I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense,” Zelensky said. “We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps; specifically we are almost ready to buy more (anti-tank missiles) from the United States for defense purposes.”

Contributing: John Fritze in New York and Steve Reilly