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White House Tried to ‘Lock Down’ Ukraine Call Records, Whistle-Blower Says White House Tried to ‘Lock Down’ Ukraine Call Records, Whistle-Blower Says
(about 5 hours later)
WASHINGTON — After hearing that President Trump tried to persuade Ukraine to investigate a 2020 campaign rival, senior officials at the White House scrambled to “lock down” records of the call, a whistle-blower alleged in an explosive complaint released Thursday. WASHINGTON — Senior White House officials tried to “lock down” a record of President Trump’s call with the president of Ukraine in an attempted cover-up of the Mr. Trump’s efforts to compel an investigation of a Democratic rival, a whistle-blower alleged in an explosive complaint released Thursday.
In an attempt to “lock down” all records of the call, in particular its “official word-for-word transcript,” White House lawyers told officials to move the transcript into a separate system reserved for classified information that is especially sensitive, actions that the whistle-blower suggested showed that those involved “understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call,” according to the complaint. The whistle-blower — a C.I.A. officer who once worked at the White House — said in the complaint that White House officials moved a transcript of the July 25 call with the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, onto a secure, classified system in order to keep secret actions by Mr. Trump officials in his administration found “deeply disturbing.”
These and other details surrounding the call in which Mr. Trump pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., were so “deeply disturbing” to senior White House officials that an unnamed intelligence official felt compelled to file a formal whistle-blower complaint. In the complaint, the officer added additional details to what a reconstructed transcript of the call revealed about the interaction between the two leaders, asserting that government officials, including some at the White House, believed Mr. Trump had abused his power for personal political gain by pressuring Mr. Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son, Hunter Biden.
“The President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” wrote the whistle-blower, who did not personally witness the actions but had heard accounts from multiple American officials. “The President’s personal lawyer, Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, is a central figure in this effort.” The complaint also added that Attorney General William P. Barr “appears to be involved as well.” The account did not include details about any role Mr. Barr had. And, the whistle-blower said diplomats were outraged by the activities of the president’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, in attempting to persuade Ukrainian officials to open an investigation into the Bidens.
The complaint, grippingly written to detail a pattern of behavior by Mr. Trump and his administration, was particularly damning given Mr. Trump’s long record of dismissing the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit him. House Democrats took steps to impeach Mr. Trump earlier this week, before the contents of the call and complaint were disclosed. The new revelations from the nine-page complaint, submitted to the inspector general of the intelligence community and released Thursday morning by the House Intelligence Committee, added to the political furor over the president’s attempts to influence Mr. Zelensky.
The White House on Thursday dismissed the whistle-blower’s allegations. Stephanie Grisham, the press secretary, described it as “nothing more than a collection of thirdhand accounts of events and cobbled-together press clippings — all of which shows nothing improper.” Mr. Trump lashed out angrily, denouncing the whistle-blower as a treasonous spy and darkly hinting that the unidentified intelligence offer suffer the same punishment the United States “used to do in the old days when we were smart with spies and treason, right?”
Democrats seized on the complaint as a road map to Mr. Trump’s eventual impeachment, saying they had decided its allegations would now be the primary focus of their effort to remove him from office. They described the whistle-blower as a hero whose bravery exposed presidential misconduct and revealed a conspiracy to manipulate the 2020 elections involving the president, Mr. Giuliani, and the attorney general, William P. Barr.
“We are at a different level of lawlessness,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Some House Democrats said it is possible that lawmakers could have articles of impeachment drafted by the end of October.
By the whistle-blower’s gripping account, the highest officials of the United States and Ukraine have been caught for months up in a web of geopolitical intrigue and secrecy involving promises of foreign assistance, demands for political favors, evidence of election interference
The complaint described shadowy diplomacy by Mr. Giuliani, and — in the aftermath of the president’s call with Mr. Zelensky on July 25 — a plot inside the White House to hide evidence, which was “not the first time” that the White House had stowed the transcript of a call on a more secure server because of the political content of the conversation rather than its national security implications.
The accusations leveled — that the president “is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election — engulfed two continents amid growing alarm in the United States diplomatic corps and at the Pentagon about the president’s willingness to use his foreign policy authority for his own personal gain.
The whistle-blower’s complaint was made public just as the House Intelligence Committee gaveled open the first congressional hearing since Ms. Pelosi on Tuesday announced the beginning of the constitutional effort to force Mr. Trump from office.
Democratic lawmakers grilled Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, on why he had refused to deliver the whistle-blower’s complaint to Congress for nearly a month, rejecting the recommendations intelligence community’s inspector general.
Mr. Maguire, a retired Navy vice admiral and former counterterrorism official, bristled at what he called attacks on his integrity. He defended the whistle-blower, who he said “followed the law every step of the way.” But he declined to endorse Democratic suggestions that the president should be investigated or punished for his actions.
“My responsibility was to get you the whistle-blower letter and get the other information released. I have done my duty,” Mr. Maguire said. Whether to investigate further “is on the shoulders of the legislative branch and this committee.”
As the revelations piled up, seemingly by the minute on Thursday, Republicans in Congress largely stood by their embattled president as they have done for almost three years. Representative Devin Nunes of California, the top Republican on the intelligence panel, accused Democrats of launching another “information warfare operation against the president,” just like they fanned the flames of unsubstantiated “Russia hoax.”
“They don’t want answers,” Mr. Nunes said. “They want a public spectacle.”
Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader, complained that the whistle-blower “has no primary sources” while others suggested he had a political agenda.
Stephanie Grisham, the press secretary, described it as “nothing more than a collection of thirdhand accounts of events and cobbled-together press clippings — all of which shows nothing improper.”
Ms. Grisham said the president had been open and transparent about the July 25 call. A day earlier, the White House released a reconstructed transcript. “That is because he has nothing to hide,” she said.Ms. Grisham said the president had been open and transparent about the July 25 call. A day earlier, the White House released a reconstructed transcript. “That is because he has nothing to hide,” she said.
Mr. Trump himself also dismissed the allegations that he acted improperly. The House Judiciary Committee, which has been the front edge of an impeachment push for months, is now expected to temporarily suspend its investigation of obstruction of justice and abuse of power by Mr. Trump based on the findings of Robert S. Mueller III’s report on Russian election interference in 2016 and the president’s attempts to thwart it.
“It’s a disgrace to our country. It’s another witch hunt, here we go again,” Mr. Trump told reporters after he returned to Washington. “My call was perfect.” Ms. Pelosi did not offer a specific timeline for that work, which could slow as lawmakers leave Washington this weekend for a two-week recess.
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 late Wednesday, just hours after the White House released a reconstructed transcript of a July 25 call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky. Representative Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, pledged to have his committee work through Congress’s recess. At the top of his agenda, he said, is interviewing the whistle-blower and examining the roles of Rudolph Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, and Attorney General William Barr.
The unclassified version of the complaint was released ahead of a House Intelligence Committee hearing where the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, testified Thursday morning, saying, “I believe everything here in this matter is totally unprecedented.” “We want to know what role Rudy Giuliani had in all of this. We want to know what role Bill Barr had in any of this,” Mr. Schiff said. “We want to know what Ukraine understood was expected of them before they even had this July phone call with the president of the United States.”
C.I.A. officials on Thursday declined to answer questions about the whistle-blower’s identity and his lawyer who said he is representing the whistle-blower declined to confirm the affiliation with the C.I.A. But the complaint suggested that the whistle-blower is an analyst with expertise in European affairs and knowledge about Ukraine and its politics.
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 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. That experience is likely bolster his credibility as lawmakers weigh the allegations against the president documented in his complaint.
“There is nothing the president says here that is in America’s interest,” Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said at the start of Thursday’s hearing. “It is instead the most consequential form of tragedy, for it forces us to confront the remedy the founders provided for such a flagrant abuse of office, impeachment.”
The United States is a critical partner for Ukraine, which has faced years of Russian aggression that in 2014 culminated in the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea, an action that was condemned internationally. Having a good relationship with Mr. Trump and his administration was a top objective for Mr. Zelensky, Ukraine’s new president who campaigned on rooting out corruption in the country. And American funding is key to Ukraine’s success.
After a congratulatory call from Mr. Trump to Mr. Zelensky in the spring, multiple officials said a subsequent meeting or phone call between the two would depend on whether the Ukrainian president was willing to “play ball” on investigating Mr. Biden, his younger son, Hunter Biden, and other matters, according to the complaint. Mr. Biden is a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In the days leading up to the July 25 phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky, the president blocked a $391 million military aid package to Ukraine — a decision that caught officials from Office of Management and Budget and the National Security Council by surprise.
During the phone call, Mr. Zelensky thanked Mr. Trump for the United States support. And Mr. Trump asked Mr. Zelensky to pursue investigations into Mr. Biden and the origins of the American inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Mr. Trump was referring to two unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that Mr. Giuliani had been pushing.
“Namely, he sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President’s 2020 re-election bid,” the whistle-blower wrote.
In the complaint, the whistle-blower wrote that the unusual handling of the call by White House officials was deliberate. And it was not the first time one of the president’s transcripts had been placed into the secret system “solely for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive — rather than national security sensitive — information.”
“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.
The whistle-blower said that in addition to the White House officials who heard the call, the State Department counselor, T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, was listening in on the call as well. Mr. Brechbuhl is a longtime friend and former business partner of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.The whistle-blower said that in addition to the White House officials who heard the call, the State Department counselor, T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, was listening in on the call as well. Mr. Brechbuhl is a longtime friend and former business partner of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
As details of the whistle-blower complaint have trickled out over the past week, Mr. Pompeo has dodged questions on whether he, too, encouraged Ukrainians to honor Mr. Trump’s wish that they pursue investigations that could benefit him politically. In a television interview on Sunday, Mr. Pompeo said he supported Mr. Giuliani’s efforts with the Ukrainians. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr. Pompeo said that to the best of his knowledge, “each of the actions that were taken by State Department officials was entirely appropriate.” A former White House official said it was extremely unusual for a State Department official to be on what was supposed to be a standard congratulatory call from the president to another world leader, and Mr. Brechbuhl’s participation was a sign of the intimate working relationship between Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, and Mr. Trump.
Most Republicans have continued to support the president, though cracks in the party line were starting to appear by midday Thursday. As details of the whistle-blower complaint have trickled out over the past week, Mr. Pompeo has dodged questions on whether he, too, encouraged Ukrainians to honor Mr. Trump’s wish that they pursue investigations that could benefit him politically.
Representative Will Hurd, a moderate Texas Republican, said some of the details in the complaint were “concerning.” In a television interview on Sunday, Mr. Pompeo said he supported Mr. Giuliani’s efforts with the Ukrainians. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr. Pompeo said that to the best of his knowledge, “each of the actions that were taken by State Department officials was entirely appropriate.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday accused the White House of a “cover-up” for its handling of the July 25 call records, a choice word that invoked memories of the Richard Nixon era. Mr. Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment. At least four Democratic presidential candidates called the situation described in the whistle-blower complaint as a “cover-up” as well.
“Every day the sadness grows,” Ms. Pelosi said. “The disregard for our Constitution that our president has becomes more clear.”
Reporting was contributed by Nicholas Fandos, Maggie Haberman, Michael D. Shear and Edward Wong.