Ukraine drama will impact Biden’s 2020 bid, one way or another

Washington: Joe Biden may have inadvertently triggered the scandal now threatening Donald Trump’s presidency, but it has also impacted his own White House bid and the Democrat could soon learn whether it dooms his candidacy or bolsters it.
The two septuagenarians are at the center of a Washington maelstrom featuring an impeachment inquiry, intense partisan feuding and repeated attacks on Biden by a president apparently eager to create a fog of confusion over his potential 2020 election rival.
Trump has admitted seeking help from Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden on a phone call at the heart of a whistleblower complaint which has prompted House Democratic leadership to launch a formal impeachment probe against Trump.
He has also darkly insinuated that the former vice-president used his influence to help son Hunter Biden in his private-sector dealings in Ukraine, where he served on the board of an energy company.
Claims of Biden corruption have been fact-checked and largely debunked, but Trump has hammered away with his accusations in a thinly-veiled effort to cripple the Democratic frontrunner.
“Joe Biden and his son are corrupt,” Trump bellowed Tuesday.