Trump's impeachment investigation begins.
Nancy Pelosi: "Nobody is above the law"
United States, Democrats attack Trump for Ukraine case and evaluate impeachment
Trump: "The future is not of the globalists, but of the sovereign and independent nations"
Share
25 September 2019
Donald Trump asked Voldymyr Zelensky to contact US Justice Minister William Barr to discuss the possible opening of a corruption investigation into Joe Biden and his son.
This is confirmed by the transcript of the phone call of last July 25 between the tycoon and the Ukrainian president and television magnate, made public by the White House.
According to the Democrats, the US president has lobbied to reopen the investigation into Burisma, the energy company for which the son of the former US vice president and the main candidate in the Democratic primary for next year's presidential elections worked, in exchange for aid.
Precisely these alleged pressures will be at the center of the investigation into a possible impeachment (the impeachment) of Trump, announced by the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
And the first step in the investigation will be to ascertain whether Trump has used a $ 400 million military aid package as leverage.
The US president denies blocking military aid to Ukraine to put pressure on Kiev in an attempt to hit political rival Biden, but the July 25 phone call came just days after Trump ordered the US government to stop military aid to Ukraine.
In the transcript of the call released today, however, no mention is made of that money.
Trump: I assure full transparency of investigations Congress
"I have spoken with the Republican leaders in Congress and I have ensured full transparency on the investigations".
Donald Trump said this during a press conference in New York.
Then he reiterated: "No pressure, nothing, just a big hoax".
The transcript: "Get to the bottom of Biden and son"
"I would like you to do me a favor, because our country has had to face many things and Ukraine knows many things."
Thus begins Donald Trump in the phone call with Volodymir Zelensky, immediately after making a reference to Russiagate.
"As you saw yesterday that whole nonsense ended with a bad figure of a man named Robert Mueller - adds the US president, referring to the testimony of the July 24 at the Congress of the Russiagate prosecutor - an incompetent performance, but they say that much of this started in Ukraine. "
Trump then explicitly asks: "I would like you to do us a favor ... I would like you to find out what happened in this situation related to Ukraine, which they call Crowdstrike ... I would like the Attorney General to call you or someone of yours. and get to the bottom of this story ".
Zelensky replies: "I tell you personally that one of my assistants spoke with Giuliani recently and we are very much counting on Giuliani coming to Ukraine to meet us. I can guarantee you that you only have friends around us regarding the investigation I guarantee as president. of Ukraine that all investigations will be conducted in an open and clear way. That I guarantee you. "
"Well - says Trump - because I heard that a very good prosecutor had been turned away and this is really unfair. Giuliani is a highly respected man, he was the mayor of New York, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I ask to speak with the attorney general. Rudy (Giuliani, ed) is very knowledgeable about what happened and he is a good guy. If I could talk to him it would be great. The former US ambassador was unpleasant, and so were the people with he was dealing in Ukraine, I wanted you to know. One more thing, there is a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the investigation and a lot of people want to know that, so all you can do with the attorney general will be Great. Biden went around saying he blocked the investigation, so if you can take a look. Looks awful to me. "
Now Zelensky is speaking: "I wanted to talk to you about the prosecutor. First of all I understand and I am aware of the situation. After we have won an absolute majority in Parliament, the next attorney general will be one hundred percent my person, my candidate, which will be voted on by Parliament and will start work from September. He or she will take care of the situation, especially the company you mentioned ... By the way, I ask if you have any other information to provide us, it would be very useful for the investigation. On the ambassador I agree one hundred percent. She admired my predecessor, she would not have accepted me as the new president. "
Trump again: "I'll have Giuliani call you and I'll get Attorney General Barr to do it too and we'll get to the bottom of the matter. I heard the DA was treated very badly. So, good luck with everything. your economy will get better and better. It's a great country. I have many Ukrainian friends, amazing people. "
This phone call has already been the subject of attention by the Department of Justice, after the report made by the national director of US intelligence and the inspector general of the intelligence community, based on the complaint made by the 007 witness of the call.
The Department concluded that there are no grounds for opening a criminal investigation into the president's behavior.
The New York Times reports it citing sources from the same Department.
In practice, no violation was found in the transcript of the phone call.
And Trump defends himself from the accusations: "I have not put any pressure on Ukraine", he declared after the publication of the transcript of the phone call.
"The Democrats are waging a political war against me, much of what was said about the conversation is false."
But aspiring Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren describes the transcript on Twitter as follows: "It's a smoking gun" against Trump.
"If this is the version of events that the president's team considers the most favorable, then he is in real danger," the Massachusetts senator wrote.
Immediately the replication of Trump's campaign through his manager, Brad Pascale: that of the tycoon was not a phone call to ask to investigate a political opponent, but the "proof that Trump is fighting corruption in Washington, where the Bidens, the Clintons and other career politicians have abused their power for personal gain, "Pascale said.
In the same minutes, however, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, said that the phone call "presents more convincing evidence than expected".
For Schiff, quoted by the US media, "there is strong evidence that Trump has committed a crime that could lead to his withdrawal".
Zelensky: "Nobody pressed me"
On the Italian evening, the Ukrainian president defends Trump, responding to journalists during a meeting in New York with the tycoon.
"I don't want to be involved in the US elections - he adds - It was a positive, normal call".
The investigation into a possible impeachment has
begun The start of the impeachment of Trump was announced by the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi: "Nobody is above the law. The actions of the Trump administration damage national security ".
At the moment, according to the calculations made by the New York Times, 169 deputies of the House of Representatives are in favor of impeachment, 73 against and 193 undecided.
These numbers, for now, are not sufficient to approve the indictment: an absolute majority, or 218 out of 435, is needed to start the procedure.
The idea of initiating the impeachment of the president by the Democrats had already started in recent days, with Biden who, together with his colleagues who chair the investigative committees of the House, asked to read the transcript of the phone call.
Trump said he would release the transcript of the "complete, original and unedited" phone call to debunk the allegations and clear the cards.
From Russiagate to Ucraianagate
According to Biden & Co., the dialogue between the presidents contains evidence of a crime.
The House of Representatives, controlled by the Democrats after the midterm elections on November 6, 2018, will therefore seek to ascertain whether Trump has sought the help of Ukrainian President Zelensky to tarnish former vice president Joe Biden.
The head of the White House would have asked (according to an American intelligence mole there is talk of eight times) to Zelensky to reopen a judicial investigation against Biden's son, Hunter, adviser to the Burisma gas company.
In return, Trump would have secured the release of US military supplies for 250 million to Ukraine.
Then a new solicitation from a foreign country in view of the vote, as had already happened with Russia for the presidential elections of 2016 (in that case the Russiagate judicial inquiry was opened).
"There are six parliamentary committees that are investigating Trump and their investigations will continue" thunders Pelosi.
Hillary Clinton: Trump has betrayed the country, I support impeachment
Donald Trump, "he has betrayed our country. This is not a political statement, it is a harsh reality and we must act".
So on Twitter Hillary Clinton, former US secretary of state and former Democratic candidate for the White House in the 2016 presidential elections, when she was beaten by Trump.
For her, the tycoon "is a clear danger to the things that make us strong and free".
"I support the impeachment," Hillary Clinton concludes in her tweet.