Trump's Ukrainian Investigation: What Laws Were Broken?

In 2019, a whistleblower complaint revealed that then-US President Donald Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden, Trump's political opponent in the 2020 presidential election, and his son, Hunter Biden. Trump was accused of breaking the law by pressuring Ukraine's leader to dig up damaging information on a political rival. This was significant as soliciting opposition research from a foreign government is illegal. Trump was impeached on charges of abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress, but was acquitted by the Senate.

Trump's request for a $500bn payback from Ukraine

In February 2025, it was revealed that former US President Donald Trump had demanded a $500bn "payback" from Ukraine in exchange for continued US support against the Russian invasion. This was to be in the form of a share of Ukraine's natural resources, including rare earth metals, oil, gas, and other critical minerals.

Trump's demand went far beyond US control over Ukraine's critical minerals, covering ports, infrastructure, and the larger resource base of the country. The terms of the contract amounted to the economic colonisation of Ukraine and implied a burden of reparations that could not be achieved.

Trump's actions led to a formal impeachment inquiry and charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. However, he was ultimately acquitted by the Senate.

Trump's withholding of military aid to Ukraine

In July 2019, Trump withheld $400 million in military aid to Ukraine, which had been approved by Congress. The aid was withheld at least a week before a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the call, Trump urged Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who was a board member of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. Trump also asked Zelenskyy to investigate a conspiracy theory involving a Democratic National Committee server.

Trump's request was an attempt to obtain quid pro quo cooperation from Zelenskyy. The aid was released after a whistleblower complaint was made in August 2019, before it was known by Congress or the public.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that the Trump administration broke the law by withholding the military aid. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was violated because Congress's legislated policy had been supplanted by Trump's own policy. The GAO also concluded that the withholding "was not a programmatic delay".

Trump's request for Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden

In July 2019, a phone call between then-US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sparked a political scandal that would come to be known as the Trump-Ukraine scandal. The scandal centred around Trump's attempts to coerce Zelenskyy into investigating his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden, in an effort to damage Biden's campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

During the call, Trump urged Zelenskyy to investigate the Bidens, suggesting that Biden had stopped a prosecution that involved a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings, that employed Hunter Biden. Trump also asked Zelenskyy to work with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and US Attorney General William Barr, on the issue.

Trump's request was seen as an attempt to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 US presidential election, which is illegal. The scandal ultimately led to Trump's impeachment on charges of abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress. However, he was later acquitted by the Senate.

Trump's request for Ukraine to investigate his political rival

In July 2019, Donald Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. Trump also asked Zelenskyy to investigate a conspiracy theory involving a Democratic National Committee server.

Trump's request was part of a wider campaign by Trump, his administration, and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to pressure Ukraine into investigating the Bidens. This may have included Trump cancelling a scheduled trip to Ukraine by Vice President Mike Pence, and Trump withholding $400 million in military aid from Ukraine.

The scandal came to light when a whistleblower report revealed that Trump had asked Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden, his political opponent in the 2020 presidential election, his son, Hunter Biden, and company CrowdStrike.

The scandal led to Trump's impeachment on charges of abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress. However, he was later acquitted by the Senate.

Trump's alleged abuse of power

The Trump–Ukraine scandal was a political scandal that arose from the discovery of US President Donald Trump's attempts to coerce Ukraine into investigating his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. Trump enlisted the help of surrogates in and outside his administration, including personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, to pressure Ukraine and other governments to support and legitimise the Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory and other conspiracy theories concerning US politics.

In July 2019, Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden, who was a frontrunner to take on Trump in the 2020 presidential election. This was illegal, as it is forbidden to ask foreign entities for help in winning a US election. Trump also blocked the release of military aid to Ukraine, which a senior official later testified was conditional on Biden being investigated.

Trump and his supporters alleged that Biden abused his power to pressure Ukraine to back away from a criminal investigation that could implicate his son, Hunter, who worked for a Ukrainian energy company. However, these allegations were widely discredited, and there is no evidence that Biden took any action to intentionally benefit his son, nor is there any evidence of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden.

In August 2019, an anonymous whistleblower, reported to be a CIA official, filed a formal complaint expressing concern over Trump's phone conversation with Zelenskyy. The whistleblower alleged that the president had used "the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country" in the 2020 election.

The Justice Department initially blocked the transmission of the whistleblower complaint to Congressional intelligence committees, based on the department's determination that "there was no campaign finance violation and that no further action was warranted". However, this conclusion is incorrect. Trump's direct request that Zelenskyy work with his personal lawyer and use Ukraine's government resources to investigate his political opponent served no apparent purpose other than to benefit his reelection efforts. In other words, Trump solicited a campaign contribution from Zelenskyy.

In the campaign finance world, a "contribution" is any "thing of value" given to affect an election. There is no doubt that a foreign government's search for damaging information about a candidate's political opponent would be valuable to that candidate. As Special Counsel Mueller noted, " [a] foreign entity that engaged in such research and provided resulting information to a campaign could exert a greater effect on an election, and a greater tendency to ingratiate the donor to the candidate, than a gift of money or tangible things of value."

By directly requesting or suggesting that Zelenskyy use Ukraine's resources to help his reelection efforts, Trump violated campaign finance law.

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