White House tried to cover up Trump’s Ukraine report, whistle-blower alleges
- Whistle-blower report released by congressional panel says Trump used office to solicit foreign meddling over election to advance his political interests
- The complaint was released as acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire testified before the House intelligence committee
The nine-page document released on Thursday fleshes out the circumstances of a summertime phone call in which Trump encouraged Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to help investigate a political rival, alleges a central role for one of the president’s personal lawyers and a suggests a concerted White House effort to suppress the exact transcript, including by relocating it to a separate computer system.
“In the days following the phone call, I learned from multiple US officials that senior White House officials had intervened to ‘lock down’ all the records of the phone call, especially the official word-for-word transcript of the call that was produced as is customary by the White House situation room,” the complaint said.
With its precise detail and clear narrative, the document is likely to accelerate the impeachment process and put more pressure on Trump to rebut its core contentions and on his fellow Republicans to defend him.
The complaint provides a road map for corroborating witnesses and evidence, which will complicate the president’s efforts to characterise the findings as those of a lone partisan out to undermine him.
Trump insisted anew that it is all political. After the complaint was released, he immediately tweeted: “The Democrats are trying to destroy the Republican Party and all that it stands for. Stick together, play their game and fight hard Republicans. Our country is at stake.” The tweet was in all capital letters.