The White House is preparing to release to Congress its internal records related to the United States president’s recent call with his Ukrainian counterpart whose leak sparked the opening of an impeachment inquiry.
According to Politico and The New York Times, who cited senior officials, the Trump administration has now reversed its earlier decision to withhold the whistleblower complaint, the Inspector General report and the call’s transcript and will hand them over to lawmakers on Capitol Hill before the week is over.
The White House had previously refused to disclose the key documents, but the announcement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Democrats were launching a formal impeachment inquiry appears to have prompted a change in the administration’s legal strategy.
Apart from the crucial whistleblower complaint, the report compiled by Michael Atkinson, the current Inspector General of the Intelligence Community who received the complaint, is also expected to shed light on Trump’s controversial phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that took place on July 25 of this year.
According to the NYT, the White House was still deliberating whether to allow the whistleblower “whose identity remains unknown” to meet with congressional investigators at some point.
On Wednesday, the administration is expected to release the transcript of the call between the two leaders that ignited this political flare-up.
The still-anonymous whistleblower revealed that Trump called Zelensky to allegedly urge him to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden “who is currently in the running for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2020 presidential race” and Biden’s son Hunter, for alleged corrupt acts linked to the Ukraine.
Trump also allegedly blocked nearly $400 million in military aid as a way to pressure Kiev to open said investigation. The funds were eventually transferred on September 11.
Following these revelations, Pelosi on Tuesday accused Trump of betraying his oath of office, endangering the US’ national security and violating the Constitution.
They never even saw the transcript of the call. A total Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019
Trump immediately dismissed the inquiry as “Witch Hunt garbage”.
Later in the day, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham released a statement in which she accused House Democrats of destroying “any chances of legislative progress for the people of this country by continuing to focus all their energy on partisan political attacks”.
“Their attacks on the president and his agenda are not only partisan and pathetic, they are in dereliction of their constitutional duty,” she added.
-AAP
The post White House to release Ukraine documents appeared first on The New Daily.
**Business and Marketing support on best price; Hit the link now----> http://bit.ly/2HsQmSi