US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s
has released a “fact sheet” laying out the most compelling evidence against
President Trump in their investigation of the president’s efforts to pressure
the Ukrainian government to investigate the Bidens.
“President Trump has
betrayed his oath of office, betrayed our national security and betrayed the
integrity of our elections for his own personal political gain,” the document
states in laying out how Democrats are likely to try to make their case in the
impeachment inquiry.
The four-page document
divides the narrative into three categories: the “shakedown,” “the pressure
campaign” and “the cover up.”
The document first cites
the rough transcript released by the White House last month of the July 25 call
between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In that call, Trump
told Zelensky that he would have his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney
General William Barr reach out to “get to the bottom” of “a lot of talk” about
the business dealings of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.
The fact sheet then cites
text messages that former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker provided to the House
committees leading the impeachment inquiry that show discussion between
diplomats about the Trump administration’s efforts to push for the
investigation as evidence of a “pressure campaign.”
In one of those exchanges,
William Taylor, the chargĂ© d’affaires for Ukraine, said “I think it’s crazy to
withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”
Taylor is slated to appear
for testimony before the House committees on Tuesday.
The document from Pelosi
then concludes that the intelligence community whistleblower complaint that
sparked the impeachment inquiry details evidence of a “cover up” by White House
officials to “lock down” records of the July 25 call between Trump and Zelensky
by transferring the transcript to a separate electronic system used to handle
particularly sensitive classified information.
Pelosi initially balked for
months at an impeachment inquiry in the House, but formally announced the
investigation following the whistleblower complaint about Trump’s dealings with
Zelensky and the White House’s release of the partial transcript of the call.
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