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| Whistle-Blower’s Complaint Says White House Tried to ‘Lock Down’ Ukraine Call Records | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| WASHINGTON — President Trump used the power of his office to try to get Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election to investigate a political rival “for personal gain,” according to an explosive whistle-blower complaint released on Thursday after days of damning revelations about Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. | |
| Attorney General William P. Barr and the president’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani were central to the effort, the complaint said. | Attorney General William P. Barr and the president’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani were central to the effort, the complaint said. |
| In addition, the complaint says that whistle-blower, an unidentified intelligence officer, learned from multiple American 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 as is customary by the White House Situation Room.” | |
| “This set of actions underscored to me that White House officials understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call,” the complaint said. | |
| The whistle-blower’s complaint was based on accounts from multiple White House officials who were “deeply disturbed” by what they heard on the call, the complaint said. | |
| “They told me that there was already a discussion ongoing with White House lawyers about how to treat the call because of the likelihood, in the officials’ retelling, that they had witnessed the President abuse his office for personal gain,” the whistle-blower wrote in the complaint. | |
| The complainant asserted that multiple officials said a subsequent meeting or phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky would depend on whether the Ukrainian president was willing to “play ball” on investigating former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son, Hunter Biden, and other matters. | |
| The whistle-blower said the White House officials who relayed the details of the call to the whistle-blower were “deeply disturbed.” | |
| Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees and a group of senior lawmakers from both parties, including Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, were permitted to review the classified complaint on Wednesday, just hours after the White House released a reconstructed transcript of a July 25 call between Mr. Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. During the call, about the country’s need for more American financial aid, Mr. Trump urged Mr. Zelensky to pursue an investigation into Mr. Biden. | |
| The unclassified version was released ahead of a House Intelligence Committee hearing where the acting director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire is scheduled to testify. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence provided lawmakers with an unclassified version of the whistle-blower complaint so that it could be discussed in the open hearing. | The unclassified version was released ahead of a House Intelligence Committee hearing where the acting director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire is scheduled to testify. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence provided lawmakers with an unclassified version of the whistle-blower complaint so that it could be discussed in the open hearing. |
| Though the reconstructed transcript of the call has been released, the complaint, filed in August by an intelligence official, contains more details than the phone call, including the details about White House officials who may have witnessed presidential misconduct and other actions. | |
| “Namely, he sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President’s 2020 reelection bid,” the complaint said. | |
| House Democrats have said that Mr. Trump violated his oath of office when he pressured a foreign leader to investigate one of his political rivals. The White House initially refused to provide Congress with the complaint or to reveal what was said on the call. After Democrats took the first steps to impeach Mr. Trump, the administration disclosed details of the call and shared the classified complaint with lawmakers. | House Democrats have said that Mr. Trump violated his oath of office when he pressured a foreign leader to investigate one of his political rivals. The White House initially refused to provide Congress with the complaint or to reveal what was said on the call. After Democrats took the first steps to impeach Mr. Trump, the administration disclosed details of the call and shared the classified complaint with lawmakers. |
| The allegations it contained were “deeply disturbing” and “very credible,” Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday after reviewing the complaint. | The allegations it contained were “deeply disturbing” and “very credible,” Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday after reviewing the complaint. |
| Mr. Trump has dismissed the allegations that he acted improperly. Early Thursday morning, the president was busy sharing on Twitter praise from some of his allies and issued his own view: | Mr. Trump has dismissed the allegations that he acted improperly. Early Thursday morning, the president was busy sharing on Twitter praise from some of his allies and issued his own view: |
| Most Republican lawmakers and allies of the president did not break with Mr. Trump after the contents of the July 25 phone conversation were made public. | Most Republican lawmakers and allies of the president did not break with Mr. Trump after the contents of the July 25 phone conversation were made public. |
| “If you are underwhelmed by this transcript, you are not alone or ‘crazy,’” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday. Mr. Graham served as a House prosecutor during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999. “Those willing to impeach the president over this transcript have shown their hatred for @realDonaldTrump overrides reason.” | “If you are underwhelmed by this transcript, you are not alone or ‘crazy,’” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday. Mr. Graham served as a House prosecutor during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999. “Those willing to impeach the president over this transcript have shown their hatred for @realDonaldTrump overrides reason.” |
| Mr. Graham is not a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and would not have been among the lawmakers permitted to see the full classified complaint on Wednesday. | Mr. Graham is not a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and would not have been among the lawmakers permitted to see the full classified complaint on Wednesday. |
| Nicholas Fandos contributed reporting. | Nicholas Fandos contributed reporting. |