Spy whistleblower complaint about Trump relates to Ukraine

Details about the substance of what these conversations entailed have emerged, piece by piece, through reports over the past few days. The latest report from the Washington Post cited sources who asserted the discussions related to Ukraine.

Trump spoke to new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky two and a half weeks before the complaint was given to Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson on Aug. 12.

The Democrat-led House Intelligence Committee was already investigating this call as part of an inquiry into whether Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani attempted to improperly pressure the Ukrainian government to assist the president’s reelection campaign by investigating the ties of former vice president and 2020 front-runner Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden to an energy company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch.

The panel is additionally looking into whether Trump and Giuliani sought the “prosecution of Ukrainians who provided key evidence against Mr. Trump’s convicted campaign manager Paul Manafort,” who is in prison for illegal lobbying on behalf of Ukrainian interests and financial fraud.

“As the 2020 election draws closer, President Trump and his personal attorney appear to have increased pressure on the Ukrainian government and its justice system in service of President Trump’s reelection campaign, and the White House and the State Department may be abetting this scheme,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, and House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings wrote in a letters to the White House and State Department in early September.

Giuliani said he was “not even aware of the fact” that Trump had such a call with a foreign leader. “If I’m not worried about it, he’s not worried about it,” he said Thursday.

Trump also dismissed reports about the nature of the complaint.

“Virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there may be many people listening from various U.S. agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself,” Trump tweeted Thursday. “Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially ‘heavily populated’ call.”

The House intelligence panel’s chairman, Adam Schiff, has sought the transcript and list of participants on the call. He is also leading the charge in pursuing information about the complaint deemed to be of “urgent concern” by Atkinson.

The California Democrat has experienced pushback from acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, whom he subpoenaed last week. Schiff argued that Maguire, who is only a month on the job, defied a statute requiring that such a complaint and the inspector general’s analysis be delivered to the intelligence committees within seven days.

But Maguire has resisted the demand after consulting the Justice Department. His general counsel, Jason Klitenic, said the complaint “involves confidential and potentially privileged matters” and lies outside Maguire’s jurisdiction because it involved an individual outside the Intelligence Community.

During an appearance before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door setting on Thursday, Atkinson said he disagreed with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence lawyer. However, Democrats said they failed to learn new details about the complaint.

In suggesting Trump or top aides are stonewalling the Intelligence Community, Schiff threatened to take the matter to court. “We will look at whatever remedies we have,” Schiff told reporters on Thursday.

Maguire has agreed to testify before the House Intelligence Committee in an open setting next Thursday. The Senate Intelligence Committee also expects to hear from him.