In the days following the phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, senior White House officials intervened to "lock down" all records of the call, according to a redacted, declassified whistleblower complaint released Thursday by the House Intelligence Committee.
The complaint says that the whistleblower learned about the effort from "multiple U.S. officials."
The whistleblower's identity has not been made public.
Committee members are hearing testimony Thursday on the complaint, which is at the center of Democrats' impeachment probe, and details of the July 25 call on which Trump talked to Ukraine's leader abour working with Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and the U.S. attorney general to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden.
Trump has said he's done nothing wrong. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry.
Lawmakers began reviewing a classified version of the complaint Wednesday evening ahead of testimony Thursday morning by acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire. House Democrats who have read the document say it's "deeply disturbing."
The complaint raises concerns about Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani's role in seeking assistance from Ukraine to benefit the president's 2020 reelection campaign.
It suggests that Ukrainian leadership was "led to believe" that the phone call was conditioned on whether Zelenskiy "showed willingness to 'play ball'" on issues raised by Giuliani.
Giuliani had publicly stated his intention to secure from Ukraine derogatory information about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The complaint also details concerns from U.S. officials about "Giuliani's circumvention of national security decisionmaking processes."
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