Politics
- President Donald Trump is at the center of an impeachment inquiry over his efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate his political rival, and possibly using military aid as a bargaining chip.
- A whistleblower complaint filed against Trump in August claimed the president was "using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election" in a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
- Trump had ordered his administration to withhold a nearly $400 million military-aid package to Ukraine days before the phone call.
- The White House's notes of the call do not show Trump bringing up military aid explicitly, but they confirm Trump brought up how the US does "a lot for Ukraine" right before asking Zelensky to do him a "favor, though" by investigating Biden and discrediting the former special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
- And last week, Trump admitted to reporters that he pressured another foreign leader - Chinese president Xi Jinping - to also investigate Hunter Biden's business dealings in China.
- On Sunday, the attorneys representing the original intelligence whistleblower announced they are now representing "multiple" whistleblowers with knowledge of Trump's conduct with Ukraine.
- Scroll down to read more about all the major players in the Trump-Ukraine scandal.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump is at the center of an impeachment inquiry over his efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate his political rival, and possibly using military aid as a bargaining chip.
An explosive whistleblower complaint filed by an anonymous intelligence community official in August claimed Trump was "using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election" in a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump ordered his administration to withhold a nearly $400 million military-aid package to Ukraine days before the phone call.
While the White House's notes of the call show the US president made no direct mention of offering aid in exchange for Zelensky's assistance in probing former Vice President Joe Biden, they confirm Trump brought up how the US does "a lot for Ukraine" right before asking Zelensky to do him a "favor, though" by investigating Biden and discrediting the former special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
Read more: Trump is dragging down Biden with him as the Ukraine scandal threatens to upend his presidency
A series of text messages that were traded between Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, former US Special Representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker, US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, and the US chargé d'affaires in Ukraine Bill Taylor, reveal that the men explicitly and repeatedly discussed the possibility that Trump wanted to dangle US military aid to Ukraine in exchange for politically beneficial investigations.
The messages were recently turned over to Congress as part of its impeachment inquiry.
In early October, Trump doubled down and publicly called on both China and Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.
The impeachment inquiry is moving fast. The intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson and Volker have already testified in closed-door sessions to the House Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs Committees. The panels have also issued subpoenas to the White House, Giuliani, and Secretary of State and Mike Pompeo, among others.
On October 6, the attorneys representing the first intelligence community whistleblower announced they are also representing a second intelligence official who wants to come forward, and who has firsthand knowledge of Trump's alleged misconduct connected to Ukraine.