After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her endorsement of the impeachment proceeding being pushed forth by 158 House Democrats, it is now official that the House of Representatives will move forward with an impeachment inquiry.
On the same day, Trump approved the release of the transcript containing the conversation he had with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in July 25, 2019. The same telephone conversation to which an intelligence office filed a whistleblower complaint assessed as urgent by the Inspector General.
However, rather than bring the “urgent matter” to Congress as required by the procedures described under the Whistlerblower Protection Act of 1980, the Inspector General brought the matter to White House. That is notwithstanding that the subject matter of the complaint is the current White House official sitting as president of the United States.
As a result, Trump ordered the suppression of the whistleblower complaint document for obvious reasons.
According to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-California), failure of the Inspector General to submit the complaint to Congress is already a violation of the law, and constitutes a breach in the fulfillment of his duties.
In ways similar to the findings of the Mueller Report, in which Donald Trump barred White House officials and staff from cooperating with Mueller’s investigating team, Trump ordered the Inspector General not to bring the matter to Congress, another demonstration of Trump’s abuse of authority as a means to “obstruct justice.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff ,therefore, ordered Joseph Maguire, the acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to hand over to Congress the official document containing the whistleblower’s complaint. Maguire has also been instructed to answer questions at the House Intelligence Committee hearing scheduled on Thursday. The main purpose of which is to explain why he defied legal procedures prescribed by the Whistleblower Protection Act.
What is the Significance of the Transcript Released by the White House
At the time the whistleblower complaint became a news item, the nature of the complaint was still unknown. News media outlets began piecing facts and information, starting from the time (May 2019) Trump’s attorney, Rudy Guillani, made it known that he will be working with the Ukraine government to look into a potential controversy involving Joe Biden and his son. Guillani even brazenly and openly boasted that the information he is about to acquire regarding Joe Biden and his son will help his client (Trump).
Take note that Rudy Guillani openly talked about this matter even before Trump placed a congratulatory call on July 25, 2019, to the newly elected Ukraine president. Apparently, the call transcript gave details on how Trump asked the President of Ukraine to investigate CrowdStrike, the American cybersecurity firm being retained professionally by Democrats and Republicans.
Trump also wanted to make sure President Zelensky will replace the prosecutor handling the alleged corruption case involving Joe Biden’s youngest son Hunter. He also gave Zelensky instructions to coordinate with Rudy Guillani and Justice Secretary William Barr, about matters related to possible coverup carried out by Joe Biden himself as means of quash the Ukrainian investigation.
In all requests, Trump specifically asked the Ukraine president to do it for them (Trump administration) AS A FAVOR. That is, after giving emphasis to the fact that the U.S. is the only country generous enough to provide Ukraine with military aid
The disturbing behavior cited by the whistleblower in this conversation became even more disturbing when in August, 2019, Trump ordered the suspension of the release of the Congress-approved military aid to Ukraine.
It was only after questions were being raised by Congress, and a few days before news of the suppressed whistleblower complaint came around that Trump ordered the release of the delayed military aid to Ukraine.
Thus, the official transcript of that particular conversation also became a critical piece of evidence on which to base the articles of impeachment that will be filed against Trump.