Politics

Mike Pence Says Trump ‘Did Nothing Wrong,’ Describes His Own Conversations With Ukraine’s President

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Vice President Mike Pence said that President Donald Trump “did nothing wrong” during his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

During a wide-ranging interview with Fox Business anchor Trish Regan on Wednesday night’s “Trish Regan Primetime,” the vice president also described his own conversations with the Ukrainian president and flatly denied the existence of a quid pro quo regarding the release of foreign aid.

“Did you say to him, the money is contingent upon you offering something up in the way of a statement, whatever it may be, on how you are handling corruption?” Regan asked, referring to Pence’s September 1 meeting with Zelensky.

“Oh, of course not, no,” Pence responded. “Our focus entirely in the meeting I took with President Zelensky … was entirely focused on our support for the integrity and security of Ukraine.

Pence added that the purpose of the meeting was to “see President Zelensky succeed in his agenda of moving anti-corruption legislation.”

“You never said, ‘listen, if you want to get this nearly $400 million, you have got to do something on corruption?'” Regan pressed.

“Of course not. Of course not,” Pence said. “Other than to say we wanted to support his efforts to deal with corruption in Ukraine.”

“President Zelensky had an extraordinary victory in his campaign because he ran on an anti-corruption theme,” the vice president added. “President Trump made it clear we wanted to see him make progress on that effort.”

Pence also denied that former Vice President Joe Biden or his son, Hunter, came up in his conversations, adding that he would be happy to release the transcripts of his own phone calls with Ukraine’s president. (RELATED: ‘This Whole Hearing Is Out Of Order!’ — Chip Roy Clashes With Adam Schiff During Bill Taylor Testimony)

“The whistleblower was all about a telephone call, and maybe some of the president’s critics didn’t expect him to release the transcript,” Pence said. “But he did, and he did readily. And now the American people can read the transcript and see for themselves there was no quid pro quo. The president did nothing wrong, and the American people want to see this Congress start to focus on what’s important.”