Withheld Ukraine Aid To Root Out Corruption, Says US President Donald Trump

A day after former White House security adviser called it a “fictional narrative”, US President Donald Trump continues promoting a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election. Trump called in to “Fox & Friends” on Friday and said he was trying to root out corruption in the Eastern European nation when he withheld aid over the summer. Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine’s president is at the centre of the House impeachment probe, which is looking into Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate political rivals as he held back nearly USD 400 million.

On Thursday, a former White House Russia analyst said the debunked theory that Ukraine was behind election interference played into Russia’s hands.

Last week, Donald Trump dubbed the impeachment proceedings against him as a "double standard never seen" in US history. This came after US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch deposed before the Congressional panel on the second day of impeachment hearings. “A double standard like never seen before in the history of our Country,” Trump tweeted as Yovanovitch was grilled on president's interaction with Ukrainians.

Asserting that he has done no wrong, Trump released transcripts of his first phone to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his electoral victory.

According to the ABC News-Ipsos poll released on Monday, slim majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump should be impeached and removed from office. Fifty-one per cent of those asked said they think Trump should be tried and convicted in the US Senate, while another six per cent favour impeachment but not removal, according to the poll. The ABC-Ipsos poll suggested as well a drop in the number of people opposing impeachment, to 38 per cent, compared to the FiveThirtyEight average of about 46 per cent.