Biden Accuses Trump Of Trying To 'Hijack' 2020 Election

SAN MARINO, CA — Wrapping up a two-day fundraising visit to the Southland, former Vice President Joe Biden insisted again Thursday he did nothing wrong in his dealings with Ukraine, the country at the center of an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

"There's nothing anybody in my family did wrong ... at all," the Democratic presidential hopeful told about 130 guests at a fundraiser at the San Marino home of Amy and Jules Buenabenta Thursday.

Jules Buenabenta has been the CEO and president of Jules and Associates Inc. since 1989, and has been the manager and majority owner of Vendor Direct Solutions LLC since 2006. Jules and Associates is an equipment financing company. Vendor Direct Solutions is an information management adviser.

Trump has blasted Biden in recent days over his dealings with Ukraine during his time as vice president, accusing him of threatening to withhold U.S. money from the country unless it fired a prosecutor investigating Biden's son, who was serving on the board of a private Ukraine gas company at the time.

There has been no evidence that Hunter Biden was ever being directly investigated by the prosecutor, who was believed to have been probing the dealings of the gas company's owner, starting before Biden joined the board.

Trump has come under fire for a telephone conversation he had with the president of Ukraine in which Trump brought up Biden — prompting allegations he may have pressured Ukraine's leader to investigate actions of Biden and his son between 2014 and 201, and that Trump may have threatened to withhold financial aid unless such an investigation was conducted.

The call generated a whistleblower complaint that is now being dissected in Congress. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the phone call.

Biden, however, told attendees at the San Marino fundraiser that Trump was trying to "hijack an election" by trying to get Ukraine to investigate his family.

"He'd like to get foreign help to win elections," Biden told the crowd.

Later Thursday in Pasadena, Biden attended a fundraiser on the campus of Pasadena City College hosted by Lena L. Kennedy, founder of Women in Leadership Vital Voices, described as a women's empowerment group.

Biden spoke for about an hour to a crowd of roughly 200 people at the event, the fourth fundraiser attended by Biden in two days. On Wednesday, he attended a luncheon fundraiser at the Manhattan Beach home of surgeon Dr. Sanjay Khurana and his wife, software engineer Mona Khurana. It was attended by about 150 people.

Biden taped an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Wednesday afternoon, then attended an evening event in Bel Air at the home of Sean Burton, head of the investment firm Cityview and a member of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners. That event drew 130 people, including actress Alyssa Milano, actor Zach Braff and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who was labor secretary in Barack Obama's administration.

During his appearance Thursday in San Marino, Biden hit on some of his usual campaign talking points, but also spoke in support of gun control, praising features such as biometric locks that would prevent guns from being used by anyone but their owner.

"Folks, you realize we can do the James Bond stuff now," he said.

On Wednesday, Biden issued a statement saying a White House summary of Trump's phone call with the Ukraine president it makes clear that Trump first withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to Ukraine and then "implored" the Ukrainian president to investigate a political opponent.

"It is a tragedy for this country that our president put personal politics above his sacred oath," Biden said. "He has put his own political interests over our national security interest, which is bolstering Ukraine against Russian pressure. It is an affront to every single American and the founding values of our country."

When he appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," Biden said the president had engaged in "a blatant abuse of power" but that "I can't let this distract me" because "we have to restore the soul of this country" and he wants to make the United States "the envy of the world again."

The Trump Victory campaign issued a statement Wednesday saying Biden can "fundraise like it's business as usual, but Americans demand explanations for the corruption surrounding Biden, his son Hunter, and their dealings with Ukraine."

"Biden must answer as to why, as vice president, he pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor general who was investigating the company paying Hunter Biden $50,000 per month — and why he lied about it just this year," according to Trump Victory spokeswoman Samantha Zager. "Americans deserve to see the transcripts of Joe Biden's calls from his time as vice president."

According to the latest UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, conducted for the Los Angeles Times, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, has jumped to a significant lead in the Democratic presidential race in California, solidifying her position as a front-runner for the party's nomination,

The poll released Wednesday showed a clear shift from the last Berkeley IGS poll in June, when there was no clear front-runner. The new poll showed Warren separating herself from the rest of the field and becoming the top choice of 29 percent of likely Democratic primary voters.

Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, showed little movement in the poll. The poll found the two essentially tied for second, with Biden at 20 percent and Sanders at 19 percent, followed by California Sen. Kamala Harris at 8 percent.

The poll surveyed 4,527 registered voters statewide, including 2,272 deemed likely to cast ballots in the Democratic primary. It was administered online in English and Spanish from Sept. 13 to 18. The results for the full Democratic sample have an estimated sampling error of roughly 3 percentage points in either direction.

Biden is scheduled to travel to Nevada on Friday.

City News Service