Gaetz defends Ukraine call: Trump acted on ‘sincere’ concerns of corruption

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Sunday said President Trump was acting on “sincere” concerns of corruption during his July 25 phone call with Ukraine.

He also said on ABC’s “This Week” that having White House officials testify in the impeachment inquiry would benefit Trump but could set a dangerous precedent.

The Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he believed Trump acted on his long-held skepticism about foreign aid and worries about corruption in Ukraine as well as about the connection between former Vice President Joe Biden’s son and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

“I think the president was acting on a sincere, longly held view and skepticism of foreign aid,” he said. “I think he was acting on concern about Ukraine being the third-most corrupt country in the world.”

.@GStephanopoulos: Can you explain to the American people why you think it’s OK for the president to ask a foreign nation to investigate a political opponent?

Rep. Matt Gaetz says he believes Trump was acting based on a “sincere” skepticism of foreign aid https://t.co/lSQPivZCSF pic.twitter.com/Hyxskedm8m

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 8, 2019

Gaetz added that he thought having Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testify in the impeachment inquiry would help the president’s defense but expressed concerns about the precedent the testimony would set.  

“I think it would inure to the president’s advantage to have people testify who could exculpate him, but they — we want to preserve an executive branch where there are out-of-the-box strategy sessions where people come up with crazy ideas and reject those ideas and hone them,” he said. 

The House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into the president after a whistleblower complained Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden and his son days after military aid was withheld from the country.

{mosads}Republicans have maintained the president’s request reflected Trump’s goals of combating corruption and preventing U.S. funds from going to corrupt countries.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced last week that the House will move forward and draft articles of impeachment.