Lighthizer denies Bolton claim that Trump asked Xi for election help
By Niv Elis - 06/17/20 04:33 PM EDT
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Wednesday denied a claim by former National Security Advisor John Bolton that President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for help winning the 2020 election.
"Absolutely untrue, never happened. I was there, I have no recollection of that ever happening. I don't believe it's true, I don't believe it ever happened," Lighthizer said at a Senate Finance Committee Hearing.
Less than an hour earlier, The Washington Post ran an excerpt from Bolton's upcoming book, in which the former Trump administration official claims that Trump made the request for electoral help from Xi during a one-on-one meeting at the Group of 20 summit in Japan in June 2019.
Trump, Bolton wrote, turned the conversation to "China’s economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win.â€
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https://thehill.com/policy/international/503262-lighthizer-denies-bolton-claim-that-trump-asked-xi-for-election-help