Donald Trump Authorizes Full Transcript Release Of Ukraine Conversation
With the accusations and hearsay ramping up around Donald Trump’s scandal involving a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the U.S. president has finally agreed to release the full and unedited transcript from the call. Trump took to Twitter to make the announcement, stating that the transcript will be entirely unredacted and fully declassified, CBS News reported. It will be the first time details of the call have been published, as the anonymous whistleblower accusing the president appears not to have first-hand details of the call.
“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!”
Per a recent report from The Inquisitr, Democratic party members pounced on the opportunity to use the now-infamous phone conversation — which has been shrouded in mystery since the news first hit the headlines last week — as being among the more pressing reasons why an impeachment probe against a sitting president was necessary. However, Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, returned fire with accusations against Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who allegedly had $3 million laundered to him from Ukraine after he joined the board of directors of a Ukrainian gas company.
In an interview with the press hosted by C-SPAN yesterday, Trump assured those present that his conscience is clear, describing the phone call as “very innocent” and accusing the media of omitting evidence that might have cleared his name on the matter. Trump went on to accuse Biden of threatening to withhold $1.2 billion in funding unless the Ukraine government removed a prosecutor who was investigating his son and the company he worked for — Ukrainian firm Burisma Holdings.
Q: "You can authorize to release the transcript. Will you do that?"
President Trump: "I can do it very easily, but I'd rather not do it from the standpoint of all of the other conversations I have. I may do it, 'cause it was a very innocent call." pic.twitter.com/PxrFbS3uqZ
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 23, 2019
Despite little initially being made public about the whistleblower’s accusations against Trump, the Intelligence Community’s Inspector General (ICIG) viewed the claims as “urgent” and “credible,” which snowballed pressure on the president to make the conversation public. However, Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire disagreed that the matter was urgent and declined to handle the complaint, especially as it contained “privileged communications.”
Meanwhile, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced on Twitter — just moments after Trump’s tweet regarding the release of the transcription — that the whistleblower would like to testify before his committee. The transcription is due to be published sometime tomorrow.
“We have been informed by the whistleblower’s counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI on how…We’re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this week.”
The news arrives just a few short hours before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is due to make an announcement on the possibility of impeaching Trump, a move now supported by some two-thirds of Democrats, according to US News.
