Senate

Sasse breaks with Trump’s call for probe: ‘Americans don’t look to Chinese commies for the truth’

by Jordain Carney - 10/03/19 11:03 PM ET

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) pushed back strongly on Thursday night against President Trump’s suggestion that the Chinese government investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

“Hold up: Americans don’t look to Chinese commies for the truth. If the Biden kid broke laws by selling his name to Beijing, that’s a matter for American courts, not communist tyrants running torture camps,” Sasse said in a statement to the Omaha World-Herald.

{mosads}A spokesman for Sasse didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sasse’s remarks mark the strongest pushback from a Senate Republican since Trump on Thursday publicly encouraged Ukraine and China should look into the Bidens.

“China should start an investigation into the Bidens,” Trump said in front of cameras on the South Lawn of the White House.

The president added that he had not explicitly asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to open an investigation, but that it’s “certainly something we can start thinking about.”

Sasse’s Senate GOP colleagues have largely been silent about Trump’s rhetoric as they’ve been scattered across the country as part of a two-week recess.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) separately defended Trump suggesting Democrats should want to know “if there’s some real corruption before you choose Joe Biden.”

Trump’s suggestion to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he investigate the Bidens and a related whistleblower complaint have fueled the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

Sasse, who is up for reelection next year, also knocked House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) handling of the House investigation, comparing it to a “partisan clown show in the House.”

“That’s his right because the Constitution doesn’t prohibit clown shows, but fortunately, in the Senate, we’re working to follow the facts one step at a time,” Sasse said.

The Senate Intelligence Committee, which Sasse is a member of, is running a separate investigation into the whistleblower complaint tied to Trump’s actions toward Ukraine.

Sasse previously said the whistleblower complaint contained “real troubling things” and that Republicans “ought not just circle the wagons.”

Tags Adam Schiff Ben Sasse Donald Trump Joe Biden Ron Johnson