Impeachment push over Trump call
President ordered aid freeze ahead of Ukraine conversation
President Donald Trump ordered his staff to freeze nearly US$400 million ($635m) in aid to Ukraine a few days before a phone call in which he pressured the Eastern European nation’s leader to investigate the family of political rival Joe Biden, a new revelation that comes as more Democrats move toward impeachment proceedings.
Trump’s order was first reported by the Washington Post and was confirmed to the Associated Press by two people familiar with but not authorised to discuss private conversations. They spoke on condition of anonymity.
Yesterday, an influential group of freshmen Democrats who served in the military and national security before winning office said Trump’s actions cut to the core of the country’s defences. Their views, as centrist lawmakers from previously Republican-held districts where Trump has been popular, hold sway with party leadership.
At issue is a summer phone call with Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump is said to have pushed for investigations into Biden. In the days before that call, Trump ordered the aid to Ukraine frozen.
Trump has insisted he did nothing wrong and has denied that any requests for help in procuring damaging information about Biden were tied to the aid freeze.
Democrats, and some Republicans, urged the White House to be open about his actions, which are the centre of a whistleblower complaint. But with no new information from the Administration forthcoming, more than a dozen Democrats, including some in House leadership, added their names to those calling for impeachment proceedings.
The sudden rush of activity shows the extent to which Trump’s call to the foreign leader, and his subsequent comments about the conversation, are raising further questions about whether the President improperly used his office to pressure another country as a way of helping his own re-election prospects.
“These allegations are stunning, both in the national security threat they pose and the potential corruption they represent,” wrote the seven freshmen, who include a former Navy pilot, soldiers, officers and intelligence analysts. “We do not arrive at this conclusion lightly,” they wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. “These new allegations are a threat to all we have sworn to protect.”
Congress yesterday pressed for full disclosure of a whistleblower’s complaint about Trump and pushed the White House to release a transcript of Trump’s call with the Ukraine President.
Trump has acknowledged the phone call. He said yesterday that he didn’t want to give money to Ukraine — if there were corruption issues.
“It’s very important to talk about corruption,” Trump told reporters as he opened meetings at the United Nations.
“If you don’t talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country that you think is, is corrupt?”
Trump later denied telling the Ukraine President that his country would only get US aid if it investigated Biden’s son.
“I didn’t do it,” he said.
The fresh calls for impeachment proceedings come as House Democrats are heading into a closed-door meeting today with Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi and her leadership team on the various oversight committees were said to be considering bringing forward a resolution that will put the House on record on this matter.
Still, Democrats themselves remained divided on moving forward with an effort to impeach Trump.
Pelosi has resisted calls for impeachment and is sticking with her position that Congress must not start formal proceedings unless the American public demands it.