U.S. lawmakers to question U.S. intel chief about whistleblower report

2019-09-26 86

The transcript of a controversial phone call between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart is released by the White House.
Another key document,... a whistleblower complaint on his communications with Ukraine, is also set to be declassified soon.
The reports have been central to the Democrat's move to impeach Trump.
Oh Soo-young has the full story.
U.S. President Donald Trump's acting intelligence chief will be questioned by lawmakers on Thursday over how the administration dealt with a whistleblower complaint about Trump's communications with Ukraine.
Joseph Maguire is expected to testify to the House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee,... on why the complaint was not shared with Congress as required by law and when it was deemed "urgent" and "credible."
The whistleblower report has been central to the Democrats' call to impeach Trump over presidential misconduct,... and is expected to be declassified as early as Thursday morning,... according to U.S. media.
This comes after a White House log of a phone call in July was released on Wednesday,... in which Trump asked President Volodymyr Zelensky to "look into" former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter's involvement with Burisma Holdings,... a private Ukrainian gas firm.
Democrats claim Trump's call was to solicit a foreign leader to dig up dirt on a potential rival in the 2020 presidential election.
They have also expressed concerns about why Trump reportedly decided to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine,... a week before he spoke with Zelensky.
Trump, however, maintains that the call was "perfect" and there was no "quid pro quo".
With the latest allegations against President Trump,... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday that the Democrats were launching an official inquiry into impeaching the president.
"And this week, the president has admitted to asking the president of Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically. The action of the Trump, the actions of the Trump presidency revealed the dishonorable fact of the president's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections. Therefore today, I'm announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry."
Following Pelosi's move,... Trump said the Democrats' latest efforts amount to nothing more than a 'hoax'.
Speaking to reporters alongside Trump in New York,... Zelensky said "nobody can put pressure" on him,... because he's "the president of an independent state".
Zelensky also added that he didn't pressure any prosecutors or other officials in Ukraine about looking into the Bidens.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.