Trump-Ukraine whistleblower could testify before Congress ‘very soon’

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Trump-Ukraine whistleblower could testify before Congress 'very soon'

U.S. lawmakers could soon hear directly from the person, who filed a whistleblower complaint about a phone call between the Presidents of the U.S. and Ukraine.


It’s that complaint that’s led to an impeachment inquiry.  The probe focuses on whether Donald Trump abused his power by asking for an investigation of a political rival.

CGTN’s Toby Muse explains.

Congressman Adam Schiff, chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee taking the lead in the new impeachment inquiry – says the whistleblower behind it – will appear before his committee, quote, “very soon.”

Widely reported to be a CIA official once assigned to White House duty, the whistleblower kicked off this investigation by lodging a complaint accusing President Donald Trump of using his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in next year’s presidential election. It largely centers around a July phone call Trump made to the President of Ukraine. In the call, Trump asks his counterpart to investigate Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who once worked for a Ukrainian gas company.

Whistleblower-Complaint

Trump has said he did nothing wrong and is demanding authorities look into Joe Biden’s efforts to remove a former prosecutor in Ukraine during the time he was vice president – though there is no evidence of wrong-doing by Biden.

Also in the whistleblower’s complaint: Assertions that the rough transcript of the July phone call, along with records of other phone-calls between Trump and foreign leaders, including the leaders of Russia and Saudi Arabia, have been restricted, and moved to a highly classified computer system.

Memorandum of telephone conversation Trump-Zelenskyy

Opposition Democrats say this shows the White House is trying to cover up what may be inappropriate communications between Trump and foreign leaders. The White House says this was to protect the calls from being leaked to the press.

If the House of Representatives, led by Democrats, does decide to impeach the president, the case would then move on to the Senate where the Republicans majority is seen as unlikely to remove Trump from office.