Trump national security adviser Robert O'Brien on Wednesday told a blatant lie about President Donald Trump's efforts to shake down the Ukrainian government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.
As reported by Politico's Natasha Bertrand, O'Brien was asked by a reporter if the Trump administration would continue pressing the Ukrainian government to investigate Biden.
The national security adviser responded by denying the president had ever made such a request.
"I'm not aware of any requests the president made to investigate the Bidens per se," he replied. "He wanted the Ukrainians to investigate corruption in Ukraine."
But the transcript of Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shows that the president specifically asked his Ukrainian counterpart to look into Biden, and he even mentioned the former vice president by name.
Additionally, as CBS News political analyst John Dickerson points out, Trump would subsequently go on a public tirade saying that Ukraine and other foreign countries should investigate Biden and his family.
"They should investigate the Bidens," Trump said last year. "Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens."