Trump-Ukraine scandal: Democrats go through whistleblower complaint, call it 'deeply disturbing'
The first document that the Democrats eyed to corner President Donald Trump is out and it is a transcript of his telephonic conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in July. The Democrats have launched a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump after he was accused of putting pressure on Zelensky to probe his domestic political rival Joe Biden who had taken on Kiev during his stint as the vice president over dismissing its prosecutor-general Viktor Shokin.
And now, the focus is on the second document which is a whistleblower complaint that was not revealed for weeks before the scandal took a serious shape. On September 25, a day before acting director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire was set to testify before the Congress about it, Democrats who reviewed it came to call it “deeply disturbing” but felt bolstered in pursuing their mission to impeach the president.
Exposed serious wrongdoing: Adam Schiff
The complaint was made available to members of both the Houses of the Congress and House Democrats, though they did not divulge the details after going through it in a secure room. It was reportedly 'disturbing and urgent', reported the Associated Press. Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff (D-Calif) said it “exposed serious wrongdoing” and “certainly provides information for the committee to follow up with others.”
California’s Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell told CNN that the whistleblower “laid out a lot of other documents and witnesses who were subjects in this matter." The complaint showed that the whistleblower learned about the call in detail from White House officials, said one person who knows about the complaint and was given anonymity to speak on it, AP added.
Another person said the lawmakers did not know the whistleblower’s identity. The unidentified whistleblower gave a complaint to Intelligence Inspector General Michael Atkinson in August. It was, however, blocked by Maguire from getting released to the Congress as he cited presidential privilege and said the complaint did not deal with an “urgent concern." Atkinson disagreed with the viewpoint but said he was helpless.
The Trump administration had earlier refused to turn over the complaint but the president tweeted on September 25 saying he fully supported “transparency on the so-called whistleblower information.
Real troubling, says Nebraska Senator
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who announced the launch of the impeachment campaign on September 24, went through the document along with Chuck Schumer, Senate Democratic leader, who said that he was “more worried” after reading it than he was before. He felt there are a big number of facts that are “crying out for investigation." On the Republican side, an alarming reaction came from Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse who felt the details in the complaint were “real troubling."
It is still not clear whether the content of the complaint will be published for the common people, although both parties have sought its release.