A formal impeachment inquiry has been launched: Here's everything we know about the whistleblower complaint and Trump's phone call with Ukraine's president
- On Tuesday evening, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House will launch a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.
- One hundred sixty-nine out of 235 House Democrats support impeaching Trump.
- The impeachment inquiry is linked to a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25.
- Two weeks after the call, on August 12, an unnamed intelligence official lodged a formal whistleblower complaint and said they were deeply troubled by a phone call Trump had with a foreign leader, particularly "a promise" Trump made.
- The White House eventually released summary notes from the phone call confirming reports that Trump pressed Zelensky to open an investigation into corruption allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
- We still don't know the precise details of the complaint or why it was of "urgent concern."
- From impeachment proceedings to the phone call between Trump and Zelensky, to details on the whistleblower to Rudy Giuliani's connection to the scandal, here's everything Business Insider has learned.
On September 24, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House will launch a formal impeachment inquiry against Trump.
"I'm directing our six committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella of an impeachment inquiry," Pelosi said at press conference. "The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law."
A majority of House members - 218 out of 435 - support some form of impeachment inquiry.
The move is linked to a July 25 phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. An intelligence official lodged a whistleblower complaint two weeks after the call, on August 12. The Intelligence Community Inspector General, Michael Atkinson, deemed it "credible" and of "urgent concern," and passed the complaint on to acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Joseph Maguire.
Maguire did not transmit the complaint to Congress within the required seven day timeframe.
The White House released a summary of the phone call on September 25, confirming reports that Trump pressed Zelensky to open an investigation into corruption allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
According to the memo, the Ukrainian leader asked Trump about military aid to Ukraine, which Trump had frozen in the days leading up to the call. Trump then pressed Zelensky to work with US Attorney General William Barr to probe the Bidens.
Trump has denied that he said anything inappropriate during the phone call.
The complaint has been declassified and is set to be released to public on Thursday, CNN reported.
Here's what we learned so far about impeachment proceedings, the whistleblower complaint, and Rudy Giuliani's involvement. Each bullet point links to a full article on the subject.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces impeachment inquiry
- Trump is facing impeachment over a whistleblower complaint and a phone call with Ukraine's president. Here's what we know.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just announced the House will launch a formal impeachment inquiry against Trump amid whistleblower scandal
- Trump tried to negotiate with Pelosi on the whistleblower complaint after she announced an impeachment inquiry. Pelosi told him to take a hike.
- A majority of the House now supports some form of impeachment inquiry, reaching the magic number that could be decisive in impeaching Trump
- Democrats and Republicans have such opposite spins on Trump's call with the Ukrainian president it's like they read 2 different transcripts
- Nancy Pelosi brought a combative attitude to a phone call with Trump before launching an impeachment inquiry
- Trump just released a memo of his call with the Ukrainian president that led to an impeachment inquiry
- Trump impeachment odds skyrocket to 62% on popular betting website
- Republicans come out swinging in defense of Trump after House Democrats launch impeachment inquiry
- Nancy Pelosi said there's one key reason why she finally moved forward on impeachment
- 'A total Witch Hunt!' Trump lashes out at House Democrats opening an impeachment inquiry against him
- Biden calls for Trump's impeachment if he doesn't give Congress the whistleblower complaint
- This time it's different: Trump's antics with Ukraine are moving Democrats closer to impeachment
- Elizabeth Warren just issued the most scathing call for impeachment yet
- A majority of the House now supports some form of impeachment inquiry, reaching the magic number that could be decisive in impeaching Trump
What we know about the whistleblower complaint
- The Trump whistleblower raised concerns about the 'unusual' way the White House handled records of his call with Ukraine's president
- GOP Sen. Ben Sasse calls whistleblower complaint 'troubling' and says Republicans should not rush to 'circle the wagons' and protect Trump
- The US's top spy agency referred the Trump whistleblower complaint to the DOJ for criminal investigation. The DOJ decided not to investigate.
- In rare bipartisan moment, Senate unanimously votes for Trump to release whistleblower complaint to intelligence committees
- 'DEFCON 1': US officials are rocked by a whistleblower complaint involving Trump's talks with a foreign leader
- Trump releasing the transcript of his Ukraine call is a distraction from him withholding the whistleblower complaint from Congress
- Trump can release the transcript of the Ukraine call, and the whistleblower complaint, if he really wants to prove he did nothing wrong
- Trump admits he doesn't know who the US spy agency whistleblower is after dismissing them as 'partisan.' He also defended his 'beautiful conversation' with a foreign leader.
- The US's spy chief reportedly threatened to resign if the White House blocked him from testifying before Congress
- Trump and his allies believe the Ukraine phone call was a nothingburger, and led some people to describe it as 'one of his better' calls with a foreign leader
What's going on with Ukraine?
- Here's the truth about the allegations involving Joe Biden's son and Ukraine drummed up by Trump and Rudy Giuliani
- Trump pushed Ukraine's new president to work with Giuliani and investigate Biden's son 8 times during a July phone call
- Secretary of State Pompeo said he approves of Giuliani's push for Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden
- Mysterious conversations between Trump and a foreign leader that set off a panic in the intelligence community appear to involve Ukraine
- Trump aides were so afraid he'd pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden that they tried to derail his call with the Ukrainian president
- 'I stayed at the Trump Tower': Ukrainian president's call with Trump shows how far world leaders can go to massage his ego
- The life of Hunter Biden: How Joe Biden's son went from controversy to landing in Trump's latest scandal
- Trump mentioned a wild conspiracy theory about the DNC and the Russia probe in his phone call with Ukraine's president
- Ukrainian officials say Trump would only talk to Zelensky 'if they would discuss the Biden case' in their July phone call
What is Rudy Giuliani's involvement?
- Chris Cuomo and Rudy Giuliani had a 28-minute shouting match over the whistleblower complaint, and Giuliani acknowledged telling Ukraine to investigate Biden
- 'Keep your lying mouth shut': Rudy Giuliani loses his cool and trades insults with a Democratic operative on Fox News
- Rudy Giuliani says he was read aloud the transcript of Trump's call with the Ukrainian president before it was released
- Giuliani claims he got involved in Ukraine only after the State Department asked him to, because he would be better at it than the FBI
- Trump rails against CNN and 'fake news' during a meeting with Singapore's prime minister at the UN