A senior Trump administration official told Fox News
late Tuesday that the administration will release a document showing
the intelligence community inspector general found the whistleblower who
leveled an explosive accusation against President Trump concerning his talks with Ukraine had “political bias” in favor of “a rival candidate” of the president.
The
official did not identify the name of the rival candidate. Separately, a
senior administration official told Fox News the White House has been
working as quickly as it can to release to Congress the whistleblower
complaint involving President Trump's conversations with the leader of
Ukraine, as long as it's legally possible.
The news came just hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry by alleging that the administration was hiding the complaint. Other top Democrats had previously said such an inquiry was already underway.
The
senior administration official told Fox News that the White House had
nothing to hide, that there has been no wrongdoing, and that the White
House's general position has been that it will make everything possible
available to Congress or the public regarding Trump's conversations with
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the complaint to the
intelligence community's inspector general.
A source familiar with the matter told Fox News this week that the whistleblower had no firsthand knowledge of Trump's July call with Zelensky. Trump vowed earlier Tuesday to release a "complete" transcript of the call by Wednesday.
A
senior administration official told Fox News there are a “few words” in
the transcript that will raise eyebrows, but it is nowhere near as
inflammatory as Democrats have suggested.
The contents of the
call, as well as the whistleblower complaint, could throw cold water on
Democrats' explosive suggestions that the president improperly
threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine unless it investigated Joe Biden
and his son Hunter. Republicans had predicted over the weekend that such an impeachment inquiry could backfire on Pelosi, and administration officials have said Trump was concerned only with broader corruption in Ukraine.
Joe Biden has acknowledged on camera that,
when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire
its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, while Shokin was investigating the
natural gas firm Burisma Holdings — where Hunter Biden was on the board. Shokin himself had separately been accused of corruption.
Just
after midnight Wednesday, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani -- who has long
publicly called for Ukraine to investigate Biden's dealings in Ukraine
-- posted a series of messages on Twitter suggesting Democrats have a
bigger problem on their hands.
"Democrat party is covering up a
pattern of corruption involving high level members of the Obama
cabinet," Giuliani wrote. "The multi-million and billion dollar
pay-for-play is mind boggling. Biden Family sale of office to Ukraine
was not the only one or the most egregious. Slimy Joe is not alone."
Giuliani
added: "We know corrupt Ukrainian oligarch laundered $3 million to the
Biden Family. But $3 to $4m more was laundered to Biden. So release all
the financial records of all businesses involving Biden, Kerry’s stepson
and notorious mobster Whitey Bulger’s nephew. ... Biden should agree to
release records to see if he flew Hunter to China in Dec. 2013 on AF 2
to facilitate Hunter’s sale of his office to China for a total of $1.5
billion. Is there any doubt that China paid it to compromise VP. But
they bought another pol as well. Guess?"
In her televised
remarks, Pelosi specifically charged that the administration had
violated the law by failing to turn over the whistleblower
complaint. Citing testimony that the director of national intelligence
was blocking the release of that complaint, she said: "This is a
violation of law. The law is unequivocal."
Meanwhile,
attention focused anew Tuesday night on previous apparent efforts by
Democrats to pressure Ukraine on its investigations. The Washington
Post's Marc Thiessen pointed out that CNN reported in
May that Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez, Dick Durbin, and
Patrick Leahy pushed Ukraine’s top prosecutor not to close four
investigations perceived as critical to then-Special Counsel Robert
Mueller's Russia probe -- and seemingly threatened that their support
for U.S. aid to Ukraine was at stake.
The senators wrote: "In
four short years, Ukraine has made significant progress in building
[democratic] institutions despite ongoing military, economic, and
political pressure from Moscow. We have supported [the]
capacity-building process and are disappointed that some in Kyiv appear
to have cast aside these [democratic] principles to avoid the ire of
President Trump." The senators called for the top prosecutor to “reverse
course and halt any efforts to impede cooperation with this important
investigation.”
It remained unclear late Tuesday exactly what the
president said on his call with Ukraine's leader. Fox News is was told
the White House has taken steps to alleviate concerns about the
precedential nature of releasing a transcript of the phone call with
Zelensky. With the upcoming planned release of the transcript on
Wednesday, the White House has put in place protections to preserve the
confidential nature of conversations between the president and world
leaders.
Also in the evening, The New York Times reported
that the White House had dropped its objection to the whistleblower
speaking to Congress. That came after the GOP-controlled Senate passed a
unanimous resolution seeking access to the whistleblower's complaint.
US Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the House
Judiciary Committee, and US Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chairman
of the House Intelligence Committee, will lead the review -- with Schiff
in charge. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL
LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
DNI Inspector General Michael Atkinson said in a Sep.
9 letter to the House Intelligence Committee that the whistleblower
complaint "appeared credible" and related to an "urgent" matter. But
the DNI general counsel said days later that, after consulting with the
DOJ, the matter did not meet the legal definition of an “urgent
concern," and was not subject to mandatory disclosure to Congress.
“Furthermore,
because the complaint involves confidential and potentially privileged
communications by persons outside the Intelligence Community, the DNI
lacks unilateral authority to transmit such materials to the
intelligence committees,” Jason Klitenic, the DNI general counsel,
wrote.
Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire
will testify before the House Intelligence Committee at an open hearing
on Thursday, and is expected to face a series of questions about these
and other issues.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam
Schiff, D-Calif., said earlier Tuesday afternoon that testimony from the
whistleblower might also be imminent.
"We have been informed by
the whistleblower’s counsel that their client would like to speak to our
committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI [Director of
National Intelligence] as to how to do so," Schiff said in a tweet.
"We‘re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s
testimony as soon as this week."
Despite the apparent progress in releasing the relevant information, Pelosi,
D-Calif., told the nation that "the president must be held accountable"
for his "betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national
security, and the betrayal of the integrity of our elections."
"This
week, the president has admitted to asking the president of Ukraine to
take actions which would benefit him politically," Pelosi said.
"Therefore, today, I'm announcing the House of Representatives is moving
forward with an official impeachment inquiry. I'm directing our six
committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella.
"The president must be held accountable," she continued. "No one is above the law."
The
House committees then would gather evidence and president it to Pelosi
and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who would
make the ultimate determination on whether to hold an impeachment vote.
A
Democratic source told Fox News that the House Intelligence Committee,
led by Schiff, would take the lead in the impeachment investigation
-- and that Nadler might not be pleased with the arrangement.
"I
don’t think he’s happy that he has less influence here, but everybody is
on the same page and has the same role," the source said of Nadler.
Schiff
"will have a heavy role here because the foundation of the Ukraine
allegations is thorough his committee," the source said.
The speaker effectively endorsed the process, which to some degree has already been underway, after facing fresh pressure from inside the caucus to act. The move could help Democrats' disputed arguments in court that impeachment proceedings were in fact in progress, which could entitle Congress to obtain additional documents.
At the same time, at an event Tuesday,
Pelosi intimated that impeachment would remain on the table, regardless
of what the transcript showed. Many conservatives charged that she was moving the goalposts and lowering expectations.
"We
have many other, shall we say, candidates for impeachable offenses in
terms of the Constitution, but this one is the most understandable by
the public," Pelosi said, referring to the Ukraine phone call
allegation. "It's really important to know this: There is no requirement
that there be a quid-pro-quo in the conversation."
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, left, shakes hands with
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, Sept. 1,
2019. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Other prominent Democrats also seemingly said Trump should be impeached no matter what.
"The
president has committed several impeachable offenses," Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told reporters after Pelosi's remarks on
impeachment. In another indication that Democrats were apparently
hedging their bets on the Ukraine matter, Ocasio-Cortez said alleged
Emoluments Clause violations by the president could be included in
prospective articles of impeachment.
Republicans said the move would prove to be a major political mistake.
"It
is a colossal error," Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn told Fox News
just prior to Pelosi's comments. "And, I’m kind of surprised that
Speaker Pelosi, as shrewd as she is, would let it get to this point."
Swing
district Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., acknowledged to Fox News that
supporting the impeachment inquiry "could" affect her electorally, but
she maintained that Trump voters in her district "understand," and that
Trump crossed a red line.
Trump, for his part, ripped into Democrats in a series of tweets immediately after Pelosi's comments, writing that "PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT" was in progress again.
In
remarks to reporters at the United Nations on Monday, Trump denied
linking the aid money to Ukraine's investigative actions. “No, I didn’t —
I didn’t do it,” Trump said. But, he also repeatedly called the Bidens'
actions in Ukraine a "disgrace," acknowledged
that Biden had come up during the call and added: "It's very important
to talk about corruption. ... Why would you give money to a country that
you think is corrupt?"
"It is a colossal error."
— Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn
House
Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called
Democrats' efforts predictable and destructive in his own fiery
statement.
"Democrats have been trying to impeach the President
since the beginning of this Congress," Jordan said. "Michael Cohen's
testimony was a bust. John Dean's testimony was a waste of time. The
Mueller report did not live up to the hype.
"Speaker Pelosi's
decision to pursue impeachment now - on the basis of unsubstantiated,
indirect, and anonymous allegations - only shows that the Speaker has
finally succumbed to unrelenting pressure from the socialist wing of the
Democrat Party," Jordan added. "This was never about Russian collusion
or Ukrainian prosecutions. It is all about undoing the 2016 election and
the will of the American people."
Trump is set to meet with
Zelensky in New York on Wednesday. The visit was previously
scheduled, unrelated to the whistleblower allegation, although the two
leaders are expected to face questions about the matter from reporters.
A
total of 172 House Democrats have now signaled strong support for an
impeachment inquiry -- 235 Democrats and 198 Republicans are in the
House, with one pro-impeachment independent.
A majority would be required to successfully impeach the president. A
highly unlikely two-thirds vote in the GOP-controlled Senate would be
needed to convict and remove the president.
Vice President Mike Pence would then take office in that scenario.
"The
ironic thing is is that everything that our critics in the media are
leveling at the president from this phone call, and leveling at our
administration, everything that Democrats on Capitol Hill are running
off and describing -- Vice President Joe Biden bragged about -- which
was a quid-pro-quo -- withholding American aid in exchange for a
specific action," Pence told Fox News' "Hannity" on Monday.
Fox News' Chad Pergram, Brooke Singman, Ronn Blitzer and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.