Suspected Trump, Zelensky deal source of latest Trump-Congress conflict

A promise allegedly made by U.S. President Trump to a
top Ukrainian official, likely President Zelensky, is at the source of a
brewing conflict between the White House and the U.S. House Democrats, who are
trying to gain access to the information, the washingtonpost.com news site
reported on Sept. 20. A whistleblower at a U.S. intelligence agency filed the
complaint in mid-August about Trump’s remarks during a series of phone calls
with a foreign leader, which two anonymous sources have identified to be in the
Ukrainian government. In particular, U.S. President Trump spoke with Zelensky
during a July 25 phone call, the contents of which U.S. House Intelligence
Committee members are interested in reviewing.

U.S. Inspector General Michael Atkinson sought to
report the complaint to the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, characterizing
it as an “urgent concern,” but this effort was blocked by Joseph Maguire, the
acting director of National Intelligence who was appointed by Trump on Aug. 16,
2019. Atkinson testified before the committee on Sept. 19 without disclosing
the content of the complaint. U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, the committee’s chairman,
said Maguire’s decision to block the complaint’s disclosure to the U.S.
Congress is unprecedented.

Though news reports didn’t identify what Trump might
have promised Zelensky, they did point out that the U.S. president had been
withholding USD 250 mln in military aid just as a new prosecutor general,
Ruslan Riaboshapka, had been appointed on Aug. 29. It had been speculated that
the White House might have withheld the aid to block the sale of Ukrainian
aeronautics engine producer Motor Sich to a Chinese holding company. However,
recent news reports, including from the independent.co.uk news site, suggest
the White House may have withheld the funds to ensure Riaboshapka would
continue to investigate allegations that former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden
pressured Ukrainian authorities to drop an investigation into Burisma, a
Ukrainian natural gas company in which his son, Hunter, serves as a board
member. 

Since the report broke, Trump has tweeted that he
hasn’t said anything inappropriate with a foreign leader. His attorney, former
New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, reported that he learned that Joe Biden “bribed
the president of Ukraine in order to fire a prosecutor who was investigating
his son” in a Sept. 19 interview with CNN. “That is an astounding scandal of
major proportions,” he said. In the same interview, Giuliani denied ever
asking Ukrainian prosecutors to investigate the business dealing of the Bidens,
but instead requested investigations of “allegations related to my client
(Trump) which tangentially are related to Joe Biden and a massive bribery
scheme.” News reports characterized this as a contradiction.