\u201cCrucially, I was also told, this is second- and third-hand, that the president was not incredibly shy in saying he was holding up these funds because he wanted the Ukrainians to do these investigations,\u201d Smith, D-Wash., said, acknowledging, \u201cI do not have direct evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The House\u2019s impeachment inquiry centers on a July 25 call in which Trump discussed the aid with Ukraine\u2019s newly elected President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and asked him to probe Biden and his son. Trump acknowledged publicly that he made the request but denied wrongdoing, calling the call, \u201cperfect.\u201d On Thursday, Trump went further, publicly calling on China to probe the Bidens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith\u2019s remarks came hours before the revelation<\/a> that top U.S. diplomats encouraged Zelenskiy to conduct an investigation linked to Biden\u2019s family in return for a high-profile visit to Washington with Trump. It soon escalated into what one feared was a \u201ccrazy\u201d swap that risked vital U.S. military aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s according to a cache of text messages released late Thursday by House investigators which lay out the raw contours of a potential quid-pro-quo exchange \u2014 Trump gets his political investigation of a top Democratic rival in return for some price to be paid by the new Ukraine leader \u2014 now at the heart of the House impeachment investigation<\/a> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawmakers said that for past administrations, delaying security assistance funds would trigger a formal briefing to Congress, but even top lawmakers and allies of the president said the administration was playing their cards so closely that they were forced to reach out to the State Department or Defense Department themselves. In the case of more than a dozen lawmakers and aides, the timeline and process for the hold was not made entirely clear, though lawmakers did determine the decision came directly from the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were not notified by the Pentagon or the executive branch that this decision had been made,\u201d Smith said, adding that this was \u201cvery unusual. We found out in a backhanded sort of way … We called the Pentagon, and when we asked why, they didn\u2019t have an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Congress orders Pentagon, White House probes<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19092541401561.jpg.jpg\")