Donald Trump hits out at Hunter Biden after he gives first TV interview amid Ukraine controversy

Hunter Biden has lamented his “poor judgment” as Donald Trump declared his interview would be the end of Joe Biden’s presidential hopes.

Donald Trump has continued his attacks on the Biden family after Hunter Biden rejected assertions by the US President and his Republican allies that he did anything wrong in engaging in foreign work in Ukraine and China.

Mr Trump took to Twitter to slam Hunter Biden (and old foe, Hillary Clinton, in the process) after he gave an interview to Good Morning America in the US to defend his dealings in the Ukraine.

“Hunter Biden was really bad on [Good Morning America],” Mr Trump tweeted.

“Now Sleepy Joe has real problems! Reminds me of Crooked Hillary and her 33,000 deleted Emails, not recoverable!”

Earlier, Hunter Biden, who recently said he would step down from the board of directors of a Chinese-backed private equity firm, blamed his father’s political opponents for creating a firestorm over his work.

Hunter Biden, with his father, Joe, and Barack Obama in 2010. Picture: Getty Images

He also said he failed to take into account potential implications for his father’s political career. The former vice president is a frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic presidential contest.

“In retrospect, look, I think that it was poor judgment on my part. Is that I think that it was poor judgment because I don’t believe now, when I look back on it [I] did nothing wrong at all,” he said in an interview that aired in the US.

“However, was it poor judgment to be in the middle of something that is … a swamp, in many ways.

“I gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father. That’s where I made the mistake,” he said. “So I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever.”

Nothing to see here. Donald Trump maintains he did nothing wrong during a phone call with the Ukrainian president. Picture: AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Donald Trump did not ask him to do anything illegal. Picture: Getty Images

He added: “What I regret is not taking into account that there would be a Rudy Giuliani” — Mr Trump’s personal lawyer — “and a president of the United States that would be listening to this ridiculous conspiracy idea.”

Mr Trump has denied doing anything wrong and has defended his phone call with Ukraine’s president, calling it “perfect” and “beautiful.”

Hunter Biden was really bad on @GMA. Now Sleepy Joe has real problems! Reminds me of Crooked Hillary and her 33,000 deleted Emails, not recoverable!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2019

Hunter Biden concedes he may have made a mistake “in the grand scheme of things” for failing to see the political repercussions for his father. But he adds, “Did I make a mistake based on some ethical lapse? Absolutely not.”

Hunter Biden also acknowledged that he likely would not have been named to the board of a foreign company if his last name weren’t Biden.

“I don’t think there’s a lot of things that would have happened in my life if my last name wasn’t Biden,” he said.

Joe Biden’s campaign has been weighed down by corruption allegations involving his son. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump and Republicans have targeted Hunter Biden for his work in Ukraine and China, making baseless claims of corruption.

In a July 25 phone call, Mr Trump pressured Ukraine’s leader to investigate the Bidens. Hunter Biden was on the board of an energy company in Ukraine. That phone call is the focus of a whistleblower complaint that triggered the formal House impeachment inquiry into Mr Trump.

Hunter Biden said he never discussed his business dealings with his father. His interview aired hours before the former vice president and other Democratic presidential candidates were set to appear at their fourth debate Tuesday night in Ohio.

GIULIANI ADMITS MASSIVE PAYMENT

Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has admitted he was paid $US500,000 ($740,000) for work he did for a company co-founded by the Ukrainian-American businessman arrested last week on campaign finance charges.

One of the businessmen, Lev Parnas, is said to be a close associate of Mr Giuliani and was involved in his effort to investigate Joe Biden, who is a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination.

Speaking with Reuters on Monday, Mr Giuliani said Parnas’ company, Florida-based Fraud Guarantee engaged Giuliani Partners, a management and security consulting firm, around August 2018.

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Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton called Rudy Giuliani a “hand grenade”. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is under fire for his association with two businessmen on campaign finance charges. Picture: AP

Mr Giuliani claims he was hired to consult on Fraud Guarantee’s technologies and provide legal advice on regulatory issues. Fraud Guarantee advertises itself as a business which aims to help clients “reduce and mitigate fraud”.

Federal prosecutors are “examining Mr Giuliani’s interactions” with Mr Parnas and another Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, who was also indicted on campaign finance charges, a law enforcement source told Reuters.

It comes as former National security adviser John Bolton was so alarmed by Mr Giuliani’s back-channel activities in Ukraine that he described him as a “hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up,” according to a former White House aide.

Lev Parnas (L) and Igor Fruman (R) were arrested on campaign finance violations. Picture: AFP

The aide, Fiona Hill, testified for more than 10 hours on Monday as part of the Democrats’ impeachment probe into Mr Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. She detailed Mr Bolton’s concerns to politicians and told them that she had at least two meetings with National Security Council lawyer John Eisenberg about the matter at Mr Bolton’s request, according to a person familiar with the testimony who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential interview.

Those meetings took place in early July, weeks before a July 25 phone call between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Mr Trump urged that Mr Zelensky investigate Joe Biden’s family and Ukraine’s own involvement in the 2016 presidential election.