Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that allegations that President Trump elicited dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 White House hopeful, during a phone call with Ukraine’s leader are merely speculation.
“I think things are being implied that just don’t exist,” Mnuchin said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”{mosads}
Mnuchin also told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he wasn’t personally on the call but that other people were.
“I wasn’t on the call, but I have no reason to believe the president pressured … a foreign leader. I think this is a lot being made up about one person’s speculation,” he said.
A whistleblower complaint filed last week reportedly includes information that Trump asked Ukrainian officials to investigate his political rival, but Trump denies that happened.
Although Trump and his administration officials deny any wrongdoing or pressuring of Ukraine, they refuse to release a copy of the complaint or a transcript of the call.
Tapper on Sunday pressed Mnuchin on why the White House is withholding information.
“Conversations with foreign leaders are supposed to be confidential,” he said, adding that it would be a “terrible” precedent to release the details.
No evidence has emerged to suggest Biden acted with his son’s interests in mind with regard to his dealings with Ukraine.