Whistleblower report complains of White House cover-up on Trump-Ukraine scandal

'DEEPLY CONCERNED'

The call occurred after Trump had ordered a freeze of nearly $400 million in American aid to Ukraine, which was only later released. Before the call, Ukraine's government was told that interaction between Zelenskiy and Trump depended on whether the Ukrainian leader would "play ball," the whistleblower said.

The report said Trump acted to advance his personal political interests, risking national security.

"I am deeply concerned that the actions described below constitute 'a serious or flagrant problem, abuse, or violation of law or executive order,'" the whistleblower complaint, dated Aug. 12, said.

Pelosi said the fact that White House officials moved records of the call to another electronic system was evidence of a cover-up. "The president has been engaged in a cover-up all along," she said.

The Trump administration released the summary of the call after media reports about it surfaced.

The Ukraine controversy follows US intelligence conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 US election with a campaign of hacking and propaganda to boost Trump's candidacy.

The whistleblower's concerns did not end with Trump's conversation with Zelenskiy. The next day, the report said, a US special envoy for Ukraine negotiations and the US ambassador to the European Union met with Zelenskiy and other Ukrainians and advised them "about how to 'navigate' the demands that the president had made of Mr Zelenskiy."

Trump has repeatedly suggested wrongdoing by Biden and his son but has offered no evidence to back up the assertion. There has been no evidence that Biden used his position to help his son in the Ukraine matter.

Some of Trump's fellow Republicans criticized the report.

"Clearly a coordinated effort to take second-hand information to create a narrative damaging to the President," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said in a statement.

Trump has denied wrongdoing.

In the report, the whistleblower said that "I was not a direct witness to most of the events described" and based the account on information from colleagues.

During a House Intelligence Committee hearing, the top US intelligence official, acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, said the whistleblower had acted in good faith and followed the law in bringing the complaint.

Maguire frustrated committee Democrats when he declined to say whether he had discussed the whistleblower complaint with Trump. Maguire said it would not be "appropriate" for him to publicly rebuke Trump's attacks on the whistleblower.

Maguire testified about the document after refusing for weeks to share it with Congress. Democrats said federal law required that the report be sent to lawmakers.

Schiff, the Democratic committee chairman, grilled Maguire about why the whistleblower report was withheld. Trump, Schiff said, "has betrayed his oath of office, betrayed his oath to defend our national security and betrayed his oath to defend the Constitution."

Under the US Constitution, the House has the power to impeach a president for "high crimes and misdemeanors." No president has ever been removed through impeachment.

Reuters