The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, will soon announce, according to the "Washington Post", that the House of Representatives will open an official investigation into the impeachment of the President of the United States of America (USA), Donald Trump.
According to the paper, which cited sources among lawmakers and congressional aides, Pelosi and leading Democrats are privately discussing the formation of a special committee to investigate the impeachment of the American leader.
Pelosi said today that the head of the US intelligence service broke the law when, at the behest of the Trump administration, he did not submit a whistleblower's complaint to Congress in the case of a disputed conversation between the US president and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump allegedly pressured his Ukrainian colleague to open an investigation against of his Democratic rival Joe Biden.
"The director of intelligence is now breaking the law at the behest of the administration," Pelosi said. "It's really sad".
Pelosi, however, declined to say what the House's next steps might be as Democratic lawmakers try to force the administration to hand over the whistleblower's complaint.
The president of the intelligence committee of the House of Representatives, Adam Schif, said that he is in contact with the lawyer who represents the whistleblower, who is otherwise employed in the intelligence service, and that he has received information that he is willing to testify this Sunday.
Trump said today that his administration will publish a "complete and unredacted" transcript of his telephone conversation with Zelenski, which he previously vehemently opposed.
Regarding Trump's announcement about the publication of the transcript of the conversation, Schiff said that it will not be enough and that they need a complaint from the whistleblower.
The "Wall Street Journal" and other American media reported that Trump, in a conversation on July 25, repeatedly asked Zelensky to open an investigation into the unsubstantiated accusations that Biden, while he was vice president of the United States, asked the Ukrainian authorities to remove the prosecutor who was conducting an investigation into the company his son worked for.
In a conversation with Zelensky, Trump allegedly threatened to withhold American military aid to Ukraine if they did not meet his demands.
About a month after the talks between the two leaders, the delivery of military aid to Ukraine, which is fighting pro-Russian separatists, was delayed at Trump's request.
Trump confirmed today that he withheld almost $400 million in US aid to Ukraine, but denied that he did so to influence Zelensky to initiate an investigation that would harm Biden.
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