President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday amid the Ukranian controversy where he announced that he has “authorized the release of the fully declassified and unredacted transcript” of this phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The announcement comes as House Democrats are quickly scrambling to open a formal “impeachment inquiry” over allegations that the President pressured Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden.
President Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon, “I am currently at the United Nations representing our Country, but have authorized the release tomorrow of the complete, fully declassified and unredacted transcript of my phone conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine.”
“You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time!” he added.
The phone call, however, prompted a mysterious whistleblower to file a complaint with the ICIG (Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General). (Continued Below)
CNN, however, reported last week, “The whistleblower didn’t have direct knowledge of the communications, an official briefed on the matter told CNN. Instead, the whistleblower’s concerns came in part from learning information that was not obtained during the course of their work, and those details have played a role in the administration’s determination that the complaint didn’t fit the reporting requirements under the intelligence whistleblower law, the official said.”
Inspector General Michael Atkinson of the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) wrote in a Sep. 9 letter to the House Intelligence Committee that the whistleblower complaint “appeared credible” and related to an “urgent” matter. But, the DNI general counsel said days later that, after consulting with the DOJ, the matter did not meet the legal definition of an “urgent concern,” and was not subject to mandatory disclosure to Congress, as reported by Fox News.
Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire is expected to testify before the House Intelligence Committee at an open hearing on Thursday. (Continued Below)
The Democrat House Speaker has long resisted calls to impeach President Trump, but with pressure from within her party, Pelosi specifically said that a whistleblower who reportedly alleged that Trump acted improperly during a July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian President must be allowed to speak to Congress, and the full whistleblower complaint must be provided.
But if Democrats’ demands were not met, Pelosi said, the Trump administration’s “grave new chapter of lawlessness” would necessitate drastic action. “We must be sure that the President and his Administration are always conducting our national security and foreign policy in the best interest of the American people, not the President’s personal or political interest,” Pelosi said, per Fox News.
President Trump’s official statement:
….You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019
The President tweeted on Monday and included a video of Biden. He wrote, “This is the real corruption that the Fake News Media refuses to even acknowledge!”
This is the real corruption that the Fake News Media refuses to even acknowledge! pic.twitter.com/FCvUtWA33j
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2019
(Continued Below)
President Trump pointed out that the whistleblower did not have firsthand knowledge of the phone call.
“@FoxNews bombshell information reports that the so-called Whistleblower did not have firsthand knowledge of that phone conversation with Ukraine’s President.” Wow! @HARRISFAULKNER It is all a Democrat/Adam Schiff Scam! Doing this for 3 years now, and found NOTHING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2019
The President noted on Monday that the Ukrainian government said that they were not pressured during the phone call about Joe Biden.
..Breaking News: The Ukrainian Government just said they weren’t pressured at all during the “nice” call. Sleepy Joe Biden, on the other hand, forced a tough prosecutor out from investigating his son’s company by threat of not giving big dollars to Ukraine. That’s the real story!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2019
