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Impeachment ‘only remedy' if Trump’s Ukraine call proved: House committee

US House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff speaks to members of the media at the US Capitol on September 19, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

The chairman of US House intelligence committee has threatened President Donald Trump with impeachment amid controversy over his phone call with Ukraine's president.

Adam Schiff said on Sunday that impeachment would be the “only remedy” if an investigation revealed that the US president had pressured his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate possible corruption involving former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

"If the president is essentially withholding military aid at the same time that he is trying to browbeat a foreign leader to do something illicit, to provide dirt on his opponent during a presidential campaign, then that may be the only remedy that is co-equal to the evil that conduct represents," Schiff told the CNN.

Schiff, who has so far been reluctant to push for presidential impeachment, said it "may be that we do have to move forward with that extraordinary remedy" if Trump sought information on Biden and his son.

"[I] want the country to understand this is the last resort," Schiff added. "The president is pushing us down this road."

News outlets reported last week that Trump urged Zelensky about eight times during a phone call to work with his lawyer Rudy Giuliani on a probe that could hamper the US president's potential 2020 opponent.

Biden said there should be an investigation into Trump's call, denouncing the action as "an overwhelming abuse of power."

Trump on Saturday dismissed the Ukraine allegations as another witch-hunt attempting to smear his already tarnished reputation and damage his popularity as the Americans get closer to the 2020 presidential election.

In an interview with local media on Saturday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko insisted that his country was independent and that Kiev would never take sides with either party in US politics.

Addressing a July phone conversation between Trump and Zelensky, the Ukrainian minister said there was no coercion and the conversation was friendly.

Biden is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 election.

Since launching his bid for 2020 presidency, Biden has been referred to as "Sleepy Joe" by Trump, among other cases of name-calling.

The 76-year-old politician has also been lambasted for what his opponents and others have deemed inappropriate touching, hugging and sniffing of women and children. Biden has dismissed such allegations.


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