Former US Vice President Joe Biden on Friday demanded that President Donald Trump release the transcript of his July phone call where he reportedly pressured his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden's son.
"If these reports are true, then there is truly no bottom to President Trump's willingness to abuse his power and abase our country. This behaviour is particularly abhorrent because it exploits the foreign policy of our country and undermines our national security for political purposes," Biden said in the statement, as cited by the Hill.
CNN cited a report by the Wall Street Journal as saying that Trump pressured Zelensky during the July phone call to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Biden's son Hunter. The call took place on July 25, just one day after former special counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress about Russian interference in US elections, and was also part of a whistleblower complaint submitted to the Intelligence Community Inspector General.
While Trump has downplayed the significance of whistleblower's complaint, he did not deny discussing Biden with Zelensky during the phone call.
"It's a partisan whistleblower. They shouldn't even have information. I've had conversations with many leaders. They're always appropriate," Trump told reporters.