President Donald Trump called openly Thursday for the leaders of Ukraine and China to investigate Trump’s campaign rival Joe Biden and Biden’s son Hunter for corruption. Trump’s explicit remarks came as leaders of the Democratic-led House pushed ahead rapidly with their impeachment investigation, which is centered around Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Shouting to reporters over the roar of the presidential helicopter from the White House lawn, Trump responded to a question about what he hoped to gain when he asked Zelensky to investigate the Bidens during that call.

President Donald Trump: “Well, I would think that if they were honest about it, they’d start a major investigation into the Bidens. It’s a very simple answer. They should investigate the Bidens, because how does a company that’s newly formed, and all these companies, if you look at — and by the way, likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens, because what happened to China is just about as bad as what happened with — with Ukraine.”