WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats lined up in ever greater numbers Tuesday urging an impeachment probe of President Donald Trump, pushed to action by his phone call with Ukraine’s new leader and what Trump may or may not have said about corruption, frozen U.S. millions and Democratic rival Joe Biden.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was gathering her chamber’s majority caucus behind closed doors to consider next steps amid a political uprising that’s drawing deep support from frontline freshmen lawmakers and seasoned veterans.
Trump, meanwhile, insisted anew that he did nothing wrong in freezing funding for the Eastern European ally before talking with the Ukraine president about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. That phone call is part of a complaint by a government whistleblower against Trump.
The president Trump acknowledged Tuesday that he personally ordered his staff to freeze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine a few days before the phone call to Volodymyr Zelenskiy. In remarks to reporters at the United Nations, Trump said he held up the aid to fight corruption and urge European nations to share in helping out Ukraine.
“I’d withhold again,” Trump said. “And I’ll continue to withhold until such time as Europe and other nations contribute to Ukraine.” He named Germany and France as among the countries that should “put up money.”