It is the latest example of Trump’s willingness to seek and embrace domestic political help from foreign powers – even Putin, who is currently overseeing a bloody war against Ukraine.
In an interview with JustTheNews, Trump made an unsubstantiated claim about Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Russia and asked Putin to release any information he may have about the situation. It is not clear whether material exists or whether the Kremlin has access to it.
“I would think Putin would know the answer to that,” Trump said, referring to Hunter Biden’s possible dealings with Russia. “I think he has to release it. I think we need to know that answer.”
It is true that Hunter Biden was paid handsomely for consulting work in foreign countries, including Ukraine and China, while his father – US President Joe Biden – was vice president. The Ministry of Justice has an ongoing criminal investigation into these transactions and possible financial crimes.
However, no evidence has emerged to support Trump’s claims that Biden was involved in corruption or influenced US policy for personal gain, and that the President has not been involved in the investigation. Hunter Biden has denied any wrongdoing and says he will be acquitted when the criminal investigation is over.
Trump’s public appeal to Putin refers to his infamous comment in July 2016 in which he said “Russia, if you listen” and then urged Putin to hack into Hillary Clinton’s personal emails. It was the beginning of a long-running effort by Trump to increase his political prospects with foreign aid.
Trump’s 2016 campaign also embraced and exploited Russia’s involvement in the anti-Clinton election. For example, the campaign regularly played Democrat emails that were violated and leaked by the Russian military, and members of Trump’s inner circle also met during the campaign with a Russian agent who promised Clinton dirt.
In 2019, Trump pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch unfounded corruption investigations against then-candidate Joe Biden and hid nearly $ 400 million in US military aid as part of the program. This incident led to Trump’s first referral.
And during the 2020 campaign, some of Trump’s top allies collaborated with a notorious Russian spy to spread misinformation about Biden and his family, including some of the same allegations of corruption that Trump mentioned in the new interview.
The video of Trump asking for Putin’s help was posted by a news website founded by John Solomon, a pro-Trump journalist whose previous coverage of Biden’s ties to Ukraine has been devalued. He told CNN that the interview was filmed Monday in Mar-a-Lago.
