Trump news: Intel chief admits Ukraine whistleblower complaint ‘unprecedented’ as details reveal White House tried to hide phone call record
Follow latest updates on Washington, as they happened
Your support helps us to tell the story
My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
A whistleblower complaint alleging Donald Trump sought to pressure the president of Ukraine in an official government call to investigate a key political rival has been made public, just days after the House opened a formal impeachment hearing against the president over those claims.
A redacted version of the document – which Democrats have described as “explosive” and “deeply disturbing” – was made public Thursday morning, and claims that the White House may have regularly moved records of the president’s calls into a keyword classified database for political reasons, instead of serious national security concerns.
Acting national intelligence director Joseph Maguire has testified to the House Intelligence Committee about his handling of the complaint, and has called the situation “unprecedented”.
As the impeachment calls have grown, polls show that the American people are hearing the message, with a significant growth in the number of Americans who say they support the measure since this weekend, according to Morning Consult.
Mr Trump has maintained that the whole thing is a witch hunt intended to undermine his presidency, and it appears as though the president can rely on his Republican colleagues in the Senate to thwart any effort to remove him from office — at least for now.
Elsewhere, the offices of Bernie Sanders were evacuated on Thursday afternoon after a suspicious package was found in Vermont. It was not immediately clear what the package was.
Follow live updates
Please allow a moment for the liveblog to load
Mr Maguire says that he does not have first hand knowledge of the phone call between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky.
All of the information he has, he says, came through the whistleblower complaint. So, he has refused to comment further.
"I believe that the whistleblower like all employees who come forward ... to raise concerns about fraud based abuse are doing what they believe to be the right thing," Mr Maguire says when asked about Mr Trump's comments suggesting the whistleblower is working against American interests.
"I can tell you emphatically, no," Mr Maguire says when asked if Mr Trump asked him to determine the identity of the whistleblower.
"I respectfully refer you to the White House," Mr Maguire says when asked what he believes is Rudy Giuliani's official role related to the White House.
He then also says "personal lawyer".
"No one. None of us is above the law in this country," Mr Maguire says.
Happening right now: In addition to the hearing with Mr Maguire — which is being broadcast live on cable news channels in the US — Nancy Pelosi is conducting her weekly press conference.
Ms Pelosi, during her weekly press briefing, has responded to allegations in the whistleblower complaint that the White House sought to place the transcript of the phone call in question on a highly classified server.
"This is a cover up. This is a cover up," Ms Pelosi says.
Ms Pelosi says that the director of national intelligence "broke the law" by not handing over the whistleblower report immediately.
Mr Maguire, earlier today, called his decision not to hand the report over immediately "unprecedented".
"The very idea that the subject of the complaint is who he went to ... is wrong," she says, noting Mr Maguire apparently discussed the whistleblower report.
"My understanding is it may have happened before," Ms Pelosi says, after calling White House efforts to keep the call records secret.
"The president has been engaged in a cover up all along. Why else would he be obstructing the courts as they have ruled in our favour to release the information" from Deutsche Bank, she says, while also mentioning tax records and other documents sought by Democrats.
"It is not the role of the president to shake down" foreign leaders for political purposes, Ms Pelosi says.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments