Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) defended President Donald Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a Sunday interview with NBC News' Chuck Todd. According to Cruz, any president has the "authority" to investigate corruption.
"Do you believe that what the president did with Ukraine was somehow tough on Russia?" Todd asked. "Or didn't the president, just by introducing all of this delayed aid, play into the hands of Russia?"
"You know, Chuck, substance matters," Cruz replied. "By any measure, the president's policy, this administration's policy, has been tougher on Russia, and actually, better for Ukraine than Obama's was."
Cruz cited the Trump administration providing Ukraine with military aid as one example of how the president's policy is far superior than the Obama administration's and better for Ukraine.
"The Donald Trump administration gave lethal defense aid to Ukraine, javelin missiles to take out Russia tanks," the Texas senator explained. "During the Obama administration I repeatedly pressed President Obama to give lethal aid to Ukraine. I traveled to Ukraine. I went to the Maidan Square in Kiev and they needed lethal aid but the Obama administration, they sent teddy bears and MREs. They wouldn't actually give weapons."
Cruz said the Democrats have proven they have no evidence to prove Trump committed a crime or an impeachable offense.
"Let's be clear, about the president, since this is about impeachment of the president. Yesterday, House Democrats released a 55-page report – they called it a scholarly report – that reports to say you don't have to prove a crime, you don't have to prove a law was violated, to impeach a president," he said. "What garbage. What nonsense."
According to the Texas senator, Democrats are now admitting "they can't prove a crime, they can't prove a law was violated."
"Here's why: any president, any administration is justified in investigating corruption and there was serious evidence of real corruption concerning Hunter Biden, on the board of Burisma, the largest natural gas company in Ukraine," Cruz explained. "You know how much money Hunter Biden was paid every month? $83,000 and that's more than a million dollars a year."
Todd pressed the senator about whether or not he agreed with Trump's call for an investigation into the Bidens.
"I believe any president, any Justice Department, has the authority to investigate corruption. In this case, there was serious evidence on the face of corruption," he said. "The reason Hunter Biden got that position is because his daddy was Vice President of the United States. If he was Hunter Smith they wouldn't pay him a million dollars a year to serve on the board."
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