Trump: Biden discussed in Ukraine call

President Trump confirmed Sunday that he spoke about former Vice President Joseph R. Biden in a midsummer call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky but said he did nothing wrong, as Democrats warned these latest charges may have “crossed the Rubicon” and into impeachment territory.

Leaving the White House on Sunday, Mr. Trump insisted the conversation that has consumed Washington for several days was “largely congratulatory.”

But, he added, “it was largely corruption — all of the corruption taking place. It was largely the fact that we don’t want our people, like Vice President Biden and his son, creating to the corruption already in the Ukraine.”

Mr. Trump didn’t say whether he pressed Mr. Zelensky to investigate Mr. Biden, the front-runner to become his Democratic rival in the 2020 election, or other members of the Biden family during the July 25 call.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Mr. Trump urged Mr. Zelensky “about eight times” to cooperate with his personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani on investigating Mr. Biden’s son Hunter Biden over a possible nexus between the son’s business interests and the vice president’s push in 2016 to oust a Ukrainian prosecutor.

The conversation is believed to be at the heart of a whistleblower complaint that the Trump administration is keeping out of the hands of Congress, sparking yet another investigation into whether Mr. Trump used foreign actors for political gain.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff, California Democrat and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Sunday that Congress needs to know whether Mr. Trump held up $250 million in aid to Ukraine as part of an attempt to extract dirt on Mr. Biden. The aid was released Sept. 12, but an unusual delay coincided with Mr. Trump’s interest in Mr. Biden’s activities.

If Mr. Trump demanded such a quid pro quo, then impeachment “may be the only remedy that is coequal to the evil that conduct represents,” said Mr. Schiff, who long has pushed impeachment investigations against Mr. Trump.