Trump Used Office to Pressure Ukraine to Meddle in 2020 Election, Says Whistleblower

Washington: The White House claimed the intelligence whistleblower's complaint about President Donald Trump's efforts to seek dirt from Ukraine on former Vice President Joe Biden "shows nothing improper."

Press secretary Stephanie Grisham argued the complaint "is nothing more than a collection of third-hand accounts of events and cobbled-together press clippings."

The redacted and anonymous complaint was released on Thursday by the House intelligence committee.

The complaint suggests that Ukrainian leadership was "led to believe" that a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was conditioned on whether Zelenskiy "showed willingness to 'play ball'" on issues raised by Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer.

Giuliani had publicly stated his intention to secure from Ukraine derogatory information about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

The complaint also details concerns from US officials about "Giuliani's circumvention of national security decisionmaking processes."

In the days following the phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukraine's new president, senior White House officials intervened to "lock down" all records of the call. That's according to a declassified whistleblower complaint released Thursday by the House Intelligence Committee.

The complaint says that the whistleblower learned about the effort from "multiple U.S. officials." Committee members are hearing testimony Thursday on the complaint and details of the July 25 call on which Trump prodded Ukraine's leader to work with Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and the U.S. attorney general to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden.

Trump has said he's done nothing wrong. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry.

The House Intelligence Committee has released a redacted version of a whistleblower complaint at the centre of Democrats' impeachment probe of President Donald Trump.

Lawmakers began reviewing a classified version of the complaint Wednesday evening ahead of testimony Thursday morning by acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire. House Democrats who have read the document say it's "deeply disturbing."

The whistleblower's identity has not been made public.

The complaint is at least in part related to a July phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which Trump prodded Zelenskiy to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden.

The White House released a rough transcript of that call Wednesday morning.

Members of Congress have a redacted, declassified version of an intelligence whistleblower complaint that is at the centre of House Democrats' impeachment probe into President Donald Trump.

Lawmakers began reviewing a classified version of the complaint Wednesday evening ahead of testimony Thursday morning by acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.

The complaint is at least in part related to a July phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which Trump prodded Zelenskiy to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden. The White House released a rough transcript of that call Wednesday morning.

Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire is set to speak publicly for the first time about a secret whistleblower complaint involving President Donald Trump as House Democrats who have read the document say it is "deeply disturbing."

Maguire is not expected to reveal many details about the substance of the complaint when he testifies before the House intelligence committee Thursday morning, but House Democrats who are now mulling Trump's impeachment are hoping he will explain why he withheld it from Congress for weeks.

The complaint from an intelligence community whistleblower, the document at the centre of a firestorm about Trump's handling of Ukraine, was made available to members of House and Senate intelligence committees Wednesday after Maguire had initially determined they couldn't see it.

In his defence of Trump, Grisham said that the US president released a rough transcript of his call with Ukranian President on Wednesday "because he has nothing to hide."

Grisham said, "The White House will continue to push back on the hysteria and false narratives being peddled by Democrats and many in the mainstream media."

The intelligence whistleblower's complaint at the centre of House Democrats' impeachment probe into President Donald Trump raises concerns about Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani's role in seeking assistance from Ukraine to benefit the president's 2020 re-election campaign.