Trump announces he'll release the full transcript of his call with Ukraine's president
President Trump says the transcript of his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to be released tomorrow amid growing Democratic calls for impeachment.
On Tuesday, Trump tweeted that he has "authorized the release tomorrow of the complete, fully declassified and unredacted transcript" of his phone conversation with Zelensky, on which The Wall Street Journal reports he pushed for Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son about eight times.
Trump has admitted he did bring up Biden's son on this call, but in his tweet, he insisted the call was "totally appropriate" and that there was "NO quid pro quo!" About a week before the call, Trump had ordered military aid to Ukraine be withheld, and Democrats have accused Trump of doing so in order to a secure an investigation that would damage his potential 2020 election opponent.
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Democrats had called for the release of the transcript of Trump's call, but they've also been looking to see the full complaint filed by a whistleblower about Trump's foreign communications. This complaint has been withheld from Congress, and Trump made no mention of its potential release Wednesday. The Washington Post's Phillip Bump notes that "reporting suggests that the call was only part of the pattern cited by the whistleblower" and so "releasing just this doesn't give a full picture."
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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