WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A whistleblower complaint that sparked a new impeachment threat against President Donald Trump was released to the public on Thursday and includes claims the president abused the power of his office.
The complaint from the unidentified whistleblower says they received information from multiple U.S. officials revealing Trump was 'using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.'
'This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President's main domestic political rivals,' the complaint reads.
The complaint largely stems from Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which he urged the Ukrainian leader to investigate corruption allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The whistleblower claims White House officials were 'deeply disturbed' by what had transpired in the phone call between Trump and Zelensky.
'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 whistleblower wrote.
The White House has subsequently released a rough transcript of the call, although the whistleblower suggests there were initially efforts to cover up the content of the conversation.
White House officials purportedly told the whistleblower they were 'directed' to remove the transcript from the usual computer system and transfer it to a separate system used to store and handle classified information of an especially sensitive nature.
'This set of actions underscored to me that White House officials understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call,' the whistleblower wrote.
The rough transcript of the call released by the White House on Wednesday confirms that Trump discussed a possible investigation of Biden with Zelensky.
Trump has been accused of threatening to withhold military aid from Ukraine unless Zelensky conducted an investigation of Biden, although the president's supporters argue there was no explicit demand made during the call.
Meanwhile, critics have suggested Trump was behaving like a 'mobster,' making his intentions understood without saying it out loud.
The complaint also highlights the involvement of Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who the whistleblower claims was used to relay messages back and forth between Kyiv and the president.
Multiple U.S. officials purportedly told the whistleblower they were 'deeply concerned' by what they viewed as Giuliani's circumvention of national security decisionmaking
The whistleblower said multiple U.S. officials told them the Ukrainian leadership was led to believe that a meeting or phone call between Trump and Zelensky would depend on whether the Ukrainian president showed willingness to 'play ball' on the issues raised by Giuliani.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham claims 'nothing has changed' following the release of whistleblower complaint, calling the document 'nothing more than a collection of third-hand accounts of events and cobbled-together press clippings.'
Grisham declared Trump has 'nothing to hide' and said the White House will 'continue to push back on the hysteria and false narratives being peddled by Democrats and many in the mainstream media.'
Even before the release of the transcript and the whistleblower complaint, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Tuesday that the Democrat-controlled House is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry of Trump.
Pelosi said she is directing six House committees to proceed with their investigations under the umbrella of the impeachment inquiry, saying Trump 'must be held accountable' and 'no one is above the law.'
The speaker accused Trump of a breach of his constitutional responsibilities by calling upon a foreign power to intervene in the upcoming election.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the whistleblower complaint will be the 'roadmap for our investigation.'
The unclassified whistleblower complaint can be read here.
(Photo: Gage Skidmore)
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