Trump asked Ukraine’s leader for a ‘favor’ — help investigating Joe Biden and a California company

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with President Trump during a meeting in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. President Trump directly asked Ukraine’s president for a “favor” while discussing U.S. military aid to the besieged country, according to a White House memo of their July 25 phone call, suggesting a link that could be crucial to the Democrats’ fast-moving impeachment inquiry. “I’m sure you will figure it out.” On Wednesday, a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the start of a formal House impeachment inquiry, the White House released what it called a non-verbatim transcript, five pages compiled by note takers in the White House Situation Room, of the call between Trump and Zelensky. He added: “Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible.” Trump also told Zelensky that “the United States has been very good to Ukraine” but complained that it had not been “reciprocal.” The White House memo shows that in addition to his interest in the Bidens, Trump was eager to find evidence that could tarnish the special counsel investigation. Barr’s spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, said the intelligence community’s inspector general had cited the president’s phone call with Zelensky “as a potential violation of federal campaign finance law, while acknowledging that neither the inspector general nor the complainant had firsthand knowledge of the conversation.” Kupec said the 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 that no further action was warranted.” The whistleblower’s complaint is believed to go beyond the single phone call to include other actions undertaken by the president.