Trump accused of breaching oath after asking China for dirt on Bidens

US President Donald Trump has come under fire for openly asking China and Ukraine to help dig up dirt on a possible 2020 Democratic rival, Former Vice President Joe Biden, over his son's business dealings, with top Democrat Representative Adam Schiff saying the move is tantamount to breaching the oath of office.

Speaking in Florida on Thursday, Trump lashed out at Democrats who have already launched an impeachment inquiry to see whether the president committed a high crime by asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden and his father.

"I would say that President Zelensky, if it were me, I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Bidens," Trump told reporters outside the White House.

"Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens, because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine."

He also attacked "maniacs" pursuing "impeachment crap."

Schiff, the US House Intelligence Committee's chairman, said on Thursday that Trump broke his oath of office in asking China to probe Biden.

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"The president of the United States encouraging a foreign nation to interfere again to help his campaign by investigating a rival is a fundamental breach of a president's oath of office," he said.

"It endangers our elections. It endangers our national security. It ought to be condemned by every member of this body, Democrats and Republicans alike," Schiff told reporters.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump's call for China to investigate the Bidens was the "latest example of him putting his personal political gain ahead of defending the integrity of our elections."

Pelosi earlier in the day dismissed calls by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to suspend the impeachment inquiry.

"As you know, our Founders were specifically intent on ensuring that foreign entities did not undermine the integrity of our elections," Pelosi said, adding that she received McCarthy's letter "shortly after the world witnessed President Trump on national television asking yet another foreign power to interfere in the upcoming 2020 elections."

She called the impeachment probe on Wednesday "a very sad time" for the US.

Trump has called the the inquiry "bullshit," accusing Democrats of triggering the process only because he defeated them in 2016.

"Get a better candidate this time, you’ll need it!" he tweeted Wednesday, taunting the Democrats to confront him.

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