WASHINGTON, Sept 27 — The White House scrambled to “lock down” records of President Donald Trump’s phone call pressing for Ukraine’s interference in next year’s US election, an incendiary whistleblower complaint released yesterday alleged, in the latest episode of an intensifying impeachment drama.
The complaint caps a stunning week of revelations that have put Trump’s presidency in jeopardy, with his administration, the Justice Department and State Department all engulfed in the mushrooming scandal.
It alleges that White House officials said they had likely “witnessed the president abuse his office for personal gain” in the July call with Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
The alleged misconduct centres on Trump urging Zelensky to investigate the US leader’s political rival Joe Biden — prompting the complaint and triggering a congressional impeachment probe.
The whistleblower, who says he spoke to at least six US government officials, concluded that Trump was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election”.
“I learned from multiple US officials that senior White House officials had intervened to ‘lock down’ all records of the phone call, especially the official word-for-word transcript of the call that was produced,” he wrote.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a chorus of Democratic condemnation of Trump and those alleged to have hidden the call’s full transcript on a limited-access electronics record system.
“This is a cover up,” she told reporters, in language echoed by several 2020 presidential hopefuls including senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Obama-era cabinet member Julian Castro.
Trump has “betrayed his oath of office, our national security, and the integrity of our elections,” Pelosi said.
‘Urgent concern’
The speaker launched an official impeachment inquiry Tuesday. As of Thursday, a majority of the 435-seat House of Representatives, 218 Democrats and one independent, say they support the probe.
With Washington gripped by the developments, Trump fumed over the whistleblower’s complaint and branded it a “Democrat Scam”.
In private remarks to staff at the US mission to the United Nations, he attacked the intelligence officer as “almost a spy” and likened the whistleblower complaint to treason.
The Los Angeles Times released audio of Trump’s remarks.
The whistleblower presented the nine-page complaint on August 12 to the inspector general of the intelligence community.
That official, a Trump appointee, found it a credible and “urgent concern” and forwarded it to the acting Director of National Intelligence.
But DNI Joseph Maguire initially refused to deliver the complaint to Congress, raising alarm among Democrats that members of Trump’s administration were improperly protecting the president.
Ultimately it was declassified, and Congress released it yesterday.
Trump acknowledges he urged Ukraine to launch an anti-corruption probe against Biden — a frontrunner in the race to take on the president in the 2020 election — and Biden’s son.
On the call Trump said he was enlisting US Attorney General Bill Barr and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani — a private citizen — to coordinate with Ukraine officials on the investigation.
Democrats are demanding congressional testimony from Barr, who is the nation’s top law enforcement official, and Giuliani, who says he was directed to deal with Ukraine by the State Department.
Trump has said he exerted “no pressure” on Kiev, a claim echoed by Zelensky.
But critics maintain that the president held up US$400 million (RM1.67 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, to be released only if it investigated the Bidens.
‘Nothing improper’
The non-verbatim record of the call did not show Trump explicitly tying aid to Zelensky probing Biden, and the White House said the complaint showed Trump did “nothing improper”.
“The White House will continue to push back on the hysteria and false narratives being peddled by Democrats,” Trump’s press secretary Stephanie Grisham said.
The issue of whether Trump dangled cash may end up being tangential to any impeachment decision, however, as soliciting foreign help in a US election is illegal, whether or not inducements are offered.
As Washington digested the latest bombshell allegations, Maguire testified before the House Intelligence Committee that he earlier withheld the complaint because Trump’s call was subject to executive privilege.
But Maguire voiced support for the anonymous official following the law, saying “I think the whistleblower did the right thing.”
While several Republicans including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy defended Trump and condemned the whistleblower complaint, some said they are deeply troubled by the burgeoning scandal.
“There is a lot in the whistleblower complaint that is concerning,” House Republican Will Hurd tweeted yesterday. “We need to fully investigate all of the allegations.”
Maguire insisted he does not know the whistleblower’s identity.
Yesterday, The New York Times reported that he is a male CIA officer who was detailed to the White House.
That prompted a terse statement from his lawyer, who did not confirm his client’s employer and warned that any decision to report his identifying information would be “reckless, as it can place the individual in harm’s way.” — AFP
