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White House Releases ‘Transcript’ of Phone Call with Ukrainian President; DOJ Refused to Pursue Criminal Whistleblower Referral
The White House has released a memorandum of the transcript of Donald Trump’s phone conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine. The White House has also noted that the memorandum is not a verbatim transcript but a recording of notes and recollections of Situation Room Duty Officers. Read it HERE.
In the memorandum, Donald Trump requests a “favor” from the Ukrainian President Zelensky shortly after Zelensky brings up U.S. military aid.
Trump tells Zelensky it “would be great” if he could look into unsubstantiated allegations against his political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Trump references CrowdStrike, the company hired to investigate the hack of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election, urging the Ukrainian president to influence the Mueller investigation.
Trump urges Zelensky to speak to his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr.
The NYT reports: “Mr. Trump’s suggestion that American law enforcement be directly involved and in contact with Ukraine’s government marks the first evidence that the president personally sought to harness the power of the United States government to further a politically motivated investigation. … The president’s mentions of Mr. Barr and Mr. Giuliani were the most striking part of a half-hour conversation in which the two men discussed a series of issues. But several times, Mr. Trump steered the conversation back to Mr. Barr, Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Biden.”
According to a whistleblower complaint that came to light earlier this week, Trump allegedly used U.S. military aid as leverage to pressure Ukraine to dig up dirt on his political rival, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. That whistleblower complaint has not yet been released.
Talking Points Memo reported this morning: “A whistleblower’s complaint about President Trump’s conduct towards Ukraine prompted the Justice Department’s inspector general to send a criminal referral to the Justice Department, a DOJ spokesperson revealed on Wednesday. However, the Department decided not to act on the referral. The referral suggested that Trump’s comments to Ukraine President Zelensky potentially violated campaign finance law, the Justice Department said.”
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