Democrats denounced a plan by President Donald Trump’s personal attorney to push Ukraine to open investigations that he hopes could benefit Trump politically …
NEW YORK — Democrats denounced a plan by President Donald Trump’s personal attorney to push Ukraine to open investigations that he hopes could benefit Trump politically, decrying it as an overt attempt to recruit foreign help to influence a U. S. election.
But Rudy Giuliani late Friday said he does not plan to go to the Ukraine because of concerns about who he would be dealing with there.
«I’ve decided… I’m not going to go to the Ukraine,» Giuliani told Fox News Friday night. «I’m not going to go because I think I’m walking into a group of people that are enemies of the president… in some cases enemies of the United States, and in one case an already convicted person who has been found to be involved in assisting the Democrats with the 2016 election.»
His statement left many unanswered questions about what Giuliani might do about his
Ukraine concerns.
Earlier, Giuliani had said he would to travel to Kiev in the coming days to urge the Ukrainian government to conduct a pair of investigations: one on the origins of special counsel Robert Mueller’s recently concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the other on the involvement of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son in a gas company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch.
Giuliani’s plan had seemed poised to create an unprecedented moment, that of the lawyer of the president of the United States seeking foreign assistance in damaging his political rivals. To Democrats, it was a blatant evocation of Russia’s meddling on behalf of Trump when he defeated Hillary Clinton.
«It’s stunning that the Trump administration is going down the same tragic path they did in 2016 seeking help from a foreign government again to influence an American presidential election. It’s appalling,» said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who chairs the House intelligence committee.
