Bronx, NY—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement:

“Last year, President Trump was impeached for tying U.S. security assistance for Ukraine to Kyiv’s willingness to manufacture dirt on Joe Biden, Trump’s opponent. As one of the Chairs leading the impeachment inquiry, I was disgusted by the President’s brazen willingness to use the tools of government for his personal and political benefit.

“Today, we’ve learned Ambassador Bolton’s accusation that Trump also directly tethered U.S. policy toward China to his reelection. If accurate, this was another extraordinary abuse of American foreign and national security policy. It undercut our strategic interests in the face of a growing threat from China, it undermined our allies across the Indo-Pacific region, and it harmed the American taxpayer who had to pay for Trump’s poorly targeted tariffs and trade policy to the tune of $28 billion taxpayer dollars over two years—plus the cost and lost business associated with China’s retaliatory tariffs.

“What we’ve just learned makes it even more difficult to understand why Ambassador Bolton did not testify during the House’s impeachment inquiry. If President Trump urged the Chinese leader to help with his reelection, just as he pressed the Ukrainian leader to do, the American people deserved to know that information. The House will continue to look for answers wherever we may find them about the President’s abuses and corruption. I will be consulting with the Speaker and my fellow chairs on next steps in this matter.”

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