President Donald Trump did not exert pressure or offer any repayment when he asked Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to probe the dealings of former vice president Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, according to a transcript (pdf) of a call between the two leaders released by the White House on Sept. 25.

During the call, Zelensky was the first to bring up Rudy Giuliani, the Trump attorney who had looked into the Ukrainian business dealings of Hunter Biden. In response, Trump noted that Giuliani is a “respected man” and told Zelensky that he would like to have Giuliani call him. Trump then refers to videotaped comments in which Joe Biden describes how he forced the termination of a top Ukrainian prosecutor by withholding loans. The prosecutor was allegedly investigating Burisma, the gas company where Hunter Biden served on the board of directors.

Against the State: An ... Rockwell Jr., Llewelly... Best Price: $5.02 Buy New $5.52 (as of 11:35 UTC - Details) “The other thing, there’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great,” Trump said.

“Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it … It sounds horrible to me.”

The White House released the transcript the morning after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced the formal impeachment inquiry into Trump, triggered largely by allegations surrounding the content of the president’s call with the Ukrainian leader. According to Pelosi and other Democrats, Trump’s request for an investigation is inappropriate since Biden was officially running for president at the time of the call. Pelosi noted that the request did not need to feature a quid pro quo in order to be inappropriate.

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