It’s a disgraceful thing.” Zelensky treaded lightly with Trump by his side. Trump blamed “corrupt reporting” and said that Democrats should be impeached for actions they took related to Ukraine, calling the inquiry “the single greatest witch hunt in American history - probably in history, but in American history. It turned out to be a nothing call, other than a lot of people said, ‘I never knew you could be so nice,’” he said during a brief encounter with reporters in New York City as he attended a meeting of Latin American leaders to discuss Venezuela. Let’s impeach him.”Įarlier in the day, Trump defended his call to reporters during a brief encounter, saying “there was no pressure whatsoever.” He also said the Democrats’ new mantra was, “We can’t beat him. Trump asked as he again insisted that he did nothing wrong on the call. He read from a letter to Ukraine officials written by Democratic senators warning that support for Ukraine could suffer if the country does not confront corruption. Maguire is set to testify before the intelligence panel on Thursday.)īut he also insisted that the media cover what he said were similar accusations against Democrats. Sharing the complaint with Congress was already required by law, Democrats assert, but Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, had previously declined to produce it, under instructions from the White House and the Department of Justice. Two Republicans, Louie Gohmert of Texas and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, voted “present.”ĭemocratic leaders wanted to put lawmakers in both parties on record to highlight their case.
The measure demanded that the complaint be given to Congress, that the whistle-blower be instructed on how to contact the congressional intelligence committees, and that President Trump and his team “cease their public efforts to discredit the whistleblower.”
All but two Republicans joined House Democrats in voting Wednesday in favor of the resolution. It was delivered just hours before a planned House vote on a non-binding resolution to condemn the Trump administration’s handling of the complaint.
The acting director of national intelligence, under pressure from Congress to release the full complaint of a whistle-blower who touched off the Ukraine impeachment furor, handed over the document to the House Intelligence Committee. The complaint goes to Congress and the House demands Trump cease “public efforts to discredit” the whistle-blower.