A memo allegedly authored by the whistleblower whose action instigated US President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry was published on Wednesday by CBS.
In its publication, the US news website indicates that it does not have proof of authorship of the memo, which supposedly dates from 26 July, the day after the infamous phone conversation between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the publication, the memo details the whistleblower’s conversation with an unnamed White House official who allegedly listened in to the phone call.
The memo covers the actual transcript of the call released earlier in September, but adds some assertions and subjective assessments.
According to the whistleblower, the White House official was “visibly shaken by what had transpired” and described the call as "crazy," "frightening" and "completely lacking in substance related to national security."
The official asserted that Trump had “committed a criminal act by urging a foreign power to investigate a US person for the purposes of advancing his own reelection bid in 2020.”
The memo says Trump asked Zelensky to locate the “Crowdstrike server” and turn it over to the US – a reference to a cyber security company hired by the DNC to do forensic analysis into emails hacked and subsequently leaked in 2016. According to Trump, the server in question was located in Ukraine. Trump also asked that Kiev investigate the Bidens and Burisma Holdings, a Cyprus-based Ukrainian gas company that has Hunter Biden as a member of its board of directors.
According to the memo, Zelensky “demurred in response to most of the president’s requests” and “reluctantly agreed” to meet with Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, if the latter traveled to Ukraine.
“The president did not raise security assistance,” the memo says, referring to military funding that Trump withheld earlier in May.
The military funding is the key issue the Democrats are using to justify their impeachment inquiry. According to the Dems, Trump used the threat of the funds’ withdrawal to force Zelensky to comply with his request – an allegation denied by both presidents.
According to the White House official, a transcript of the call was made, but only in “hard copy” and was treated “very sensitively.”
The official informed the whistleblower that they were only one of several officials who listened to the entire call and presumably took written notes.
“The official did not know whether the president was aware that other people were listening and that the call was being transcribed,” the memo says.
The memo in question was reportedly “among the factors” that led the intelligence community inspector general to determine that the whistleblower’s formal complaint, filed on 12 August, was credible. Last Friday, the inspector general testified behind closed doors before the House committee tasked with the impeachment proceedings, CBS News writes.
