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White House accused of cover-up over Trump-Ukraine call
WASHINGTON, Sept 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – 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, according to an incendiary
whistleblower complaint released Thursday, 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 Ukrainian
leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
The alleged misconduct centers 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 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.
Trump has “betrayed his oath of office, our national security, and the
integrity of our elections,” Pelosi added.
– ‘Urgent concern’ –
The speaker launched an official impeachment inquiry on Tuesday. As of
Thursday, a majority of the 435-seat House of Representatives, 218 Democrats
and one independent, said they supported the probe.
In private remarks to staff at the US mission to the United Nations, Trump
attacked the intelligence officer as “almost a spy” and likened the
whistleblower complaint to treason.
Democrats suggested such attacks broke the law.
“The president’s comments today constitute reprehensible witness
intimidation and an attempt to obstruct Congress’ impeachment inquiry,” the
chairmen of three House committees investigating the whistleblower complaint
said in a joint statement.
The whistleblower presented the nine-page complaint on August 12 to the
inspector general of the intelligence community.
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That official, a Trump appointee, found it credible and of “urgent concern”
and forwarded it to Joseph Maguire, the acting Director of National
Intelligence.
Maguire initially refused to deliver the complaint to Congress, but it was
ultimately declassified, and Congress released it Thursday.
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
Ukrainian officials on the investigation.
Trump has said he exerted “no pressure” on Kiev, a claim echoed by
Zelensky.
But critics maintain that the president held up $400 million in military
aid to Ukraine, to be released only if it investigated the Bidens.
At a fundraiser in California on Thursday, Biden said Trump would “like to
get foreign help to win elections.”
Biden added there’s not been “one shred of evidence” showing wrongdoing by
his family.
– ‘Nothing improper’ –
The non-verbatim record of the call did not show Trump explicitly tying
aid to Zelensky’s probing Biden, and the White House said the complaint
showed Trump did “nothing improper.”
Soliciting foreign help in a US election is illegal, whether or not
inducements are offered.
Maguire testified before the House Intelligence Committee that he earlier
withheld the complaint because Trump’s call was subject to executive
privilege. But Maguire also said he thought 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 were
deeply troubled. “There is a lot in the whistleblower complaint that is
concerning,” House Republican Will Hurd tweeted Thursday. “We need to fully
investigate all of the allegations.”
Maguire insisted he does not know the whistleblower’s identity.
On Thursday The New York Times reported that he is a male CIA officer who
was detailed to the White House.
That prompted his lawyer to warn that any decision to report identifying
information would be “reckless, as it can place the individual in harm’s
way.”
The Times defended its decision to publish limited details about the
whistleblower’s identity, citing the need to establish his credibility.
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