Trump can release the transcript of the Ukraine call, and the whistleblower complaint, if he really wants to prove he did nothing wrong
- A whistleblower complaint that's been linked to a conversation President Donald Trump had with Ukraine's president has sparked renewed calls from congressional Democrats for Trump's impeachment.
- Trump and his administration have stonewalled Congress in its attempts to obtain the complaint and the transcript of the call, even as the president claims he's done nothing wrong.
- The president has flirted with the idea of releasing the transcript, but some former US officials feel this could set a bad precedent. They contend releasing the whistleblower complaint is far more important.
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President Donald Trump has fiercely defended himself as he faces allegations of inappropriately pressuring Ukraine's president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. But thus far he has refused to take a simple path that would bolster his case if he truly did nothing illegal or unethical.
There are two key documents linked to this escalating scandal, which has renewed calls for Trump's impeachment, and the president and his administration refuse to release them.
The first is the transcript of Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky in late July, in which Trump reportedly pushed Zelensky to investigate Biden at least eight times.
As Democrats ramp up impeachment talk, Trump has framed the whistleblower controversy as "just a Democrat witch hunt." He said his conversation with Zelensky was a "perfect phone call with the president of Ukraine."
If he wants to stymie the movement for his impeachment, which is rapidly gaining steam, he could release the transcript of the "perfect" call.
Trump: 'I'd rather not do it'
The second document Trump could release is a mysterious whistleblower complaint from a member of the intelligence community that's reportedly tied to the Zelensky call. Reports on the complaint - and the president's general response to it - have raised questions as to whether Trump dangled military aid over Ukraine in order to coerce it into investigating Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Trump has acknowledged that he moved to withhold close to $400 million in military aid from Ukraine in the days before the call, and also publicly stated that he discussed investigating Biden with Zelensky.
"The conversation I had was largely congratulatory, was largely corruption, all of the corruption taking place, was largely the fact that we don't want our people, like Vice President Biden and his son, creating to the corruption already in the Ukraine," Trump said Sunday. "And Ukraine, Ukraine's got a lot of problems."
The president on Tuesday claimed he withheld the military aid because other countries in Europe have not paid their fair share in terms of helping Ukraine, which is locked in an ongoing conflict with pro-Russian rebels in the eastern portion of the country.
But as he faced questions on the call with Zelensky the day before, Trump referenced concerns over giving money to countries with histories of corruption.
"It's very important to talk about corruption. If you don't talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country you think is corrupt? One of the reasons [Zelensky] got elected is he was going to stop corruption, so it's very important that on occasion you speak to somebody about corruption," Trump told reporters as he arrived at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Later in the day, Trump discussed the prospect of releasing the transcript, but stopped short of committing to release it. He said, "I can do it very easily, but I'd rather not do it from the standpoint of all of the other conversations I have. I may do it, 'cause it was a very innocent call."
Trump and his administration are locked in yet another battle with Democrats in Congress
Trump also has the power to release the whistleblower complaint, but is sitting back as members of his administration stonewall Congress on the matter.
The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) Michael Atkinson, whom Trump appointed, determined the complaint to be credible and of "urgent concern." Two weeks after receiving the complaint on August 12, Atkinson submitted it to acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Joseph Maguire.
By law, the DNI is required to communicate or transmit complaints of "urgent concern" to Congress within seven days, but Maguire did not do this.
Atkinson, who was uncomfortable with the fact Maguire did not take action, went ahead and reported the complaint to Congress. But he did not provide the substance of the complaint, and the details surrounding it are still murky.
Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, on September 10 requested a full, unredacted copy of the complaint, the ICIG's findings related to the matter, and all records connected to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI) involvement, "including any and all correspondence with other Executive Branch actors including the White House."
Maguire officially rejected this request several days later, which prompted Schiff to subpoena him to turn over the complaint. But the ODNI has continued to rebuff any attempts by Congress to access the complaint.
We don't know if the complaint contains classified information. But even if it does, President Trump has total power to declassify anything he wants or keep it sealed.
'Clearly, they're afraid. We must see both.'
The whistleblower complaint is also viewed by some former officials as more important than the transcript of Trump's call with Zelensky because it reportedly goes beyond a single conversation.
Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, for example, in a tweet on Monday said, "Members of US Congress, please focus on obtaining the whistleblower's complaint instead of the Trump-Zelensky phone call transcript, first because its release is the law (release of transcript is not) & second because the transcript might not reveal everything involved here."
McFaul has also expressed concerns about the "bad precedent" that could be set by releasing the phone call transcript in terms of the impact it could have on future conversations between US presidents and foreign leaders.
But as Trump tries to shift attention to Biden and his son's ties to a Ukraine gas company, as well as baseless allegations the whistleblower (whose identity is unknown) is partisan, his critics are questioning what he has to hide.
"If there's nothing wrong with Trump's call with the Ukrainian President, as he claims, why won't he release the transcript? If there's nothing to implicate Trump in the whistleblower complaint, why won't they release it to Congress? Clearly, they're afraid. We must see both," Schiff tweeted on Sunday.