| An explosive impeachment investigation intensified on Thursday with the release of a whistleblower’s assertions that President Trump used the leverage of his office to enlist his Ukrainian counterpart to help him dig up dirt on a political rival while the White House later tried to hide the president’s actions. The detailed, unclassified version of the complaint made public on Thursday left a complicated trail of new questions and a long list of potential witnesses. The whistleblower, later identified by The New York Times as a CIA employee, asserted that Trump may have abused his authority with Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to bolster his reelection by trying to establish that former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden had exploited their positions in Ukraine for personal gain. Within the allegations are detailed accounts of executive branch discussions questioning why Trump this summer held up the release of $400 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine. ABC News: Ukrainians understood Biden probe was a condition for Trump-Zelensky talks, according to former Ukrainian adviser. The Washington Post: Former Ukrainian prosecutor says Hunter Biden “did not violate anything.” Additional officials mentioned in the complaint, whose roles were of interest to House Democrats on Thursday, are Attorney General William Barr, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who served as Trump’s private liaison to Ukrainian officials, and White House advisers, including acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a veteran former member of the House Intelligence Committee who helped revise the Whistleblower Protection Act, said information brought to Congress by the unnamed intelligence official described “a cover-up” by the White House and an effort to “lock down” a verbatim transcript of Trump’s conversation with Zelensky in July when West Wing advisers recognized the jeopardy the president put himself in. The Hill: Whistleblower complaint says Trump sought to enlist Ukraine’s help in 2020 election. The Hill: Some House Democrats view the whistleblower complaint as a smoking gun against the president. The New York Times: House Democrats aim for a fast, focused impeachment process. The New York Times: Phone call showed only a slice of Trump’s intense interest in Ukraine. The Washington Post: White House effort to shield contents of Trump’s conversation with Ukraine’s president was part of a broader secrecy effort. Joseph Maguire, the acting director of National Intelligence, told the House Intelligence Committee — which has now seized the reins of the impeachment inquiry — that he had no information to back up the whistleblower’s nine-page complaint, but believed the intelligence official “did the right thing and followed the law every step of the way.” Trump, who has bristled at the independence of previous intelligence and national security chiefs, reacted to his accuser far differently than did Maguire, likening the case presented against him to “treason.” Maguire, who has been the nation’s spy chief since mid-August, attempted to persuade lawmakers that while it took him a month rather than a week to provide the whistleblower’s information to Congress, as required by law, the delay was created by the “unprecedented” nature of the allegations rather than an intention to stonewall. “It may have taken more time than I would have liked, or you would have liked, but you have the information,” Maguire said. The New York Times: Maguire holds his ground during Capitol Hill testimony. The Hill: Five takeaways from the hearing. Trump on Thursday fumed that the whistleblower’s information was secondhand and false. The New York Times reported that the White House learned of the whistleblower’s concerns during the summer — soon after Trump’s call with Zelensky — from the CIA’s general counsel, Courtney Simmons Elwood. Before leaving New York on Thursday to return to Washington, the president suggested the officials and witnesses from whom the whistleblower derived information were like government moles, and deserving of punishment. “This is war,” the president said (Bloomberg video of Trump’s comments). The Hill: Trump: Official who furnished information to the whistleblower is “close to a spy.” The New York Times: Trump attacks the whistleblower and alludes to punishment for spies (transcript of the president’s remarks). Reuters: White House scrambles to prepare for impeachment fight. The Associated Press: Short-staffed White House dusts off Mueller playbook as pressure mounts. Giuliani defended his actions and those of the president, but without refuting any specifics: “The complaint of the so-called whistleblower, tells you on the first page his information is questionable. He says `I was not a direct witness…’ and additionally states over 20 times `I was told’, `I am concerned’, `I learned’, and not once did he say `I know,’” the former New York mayor and prosecturor tweeted. “Under Anglo-American law, that is described as hearsay. Inadmissible because it is inherently unreliable. The definitive conclusion that this is somehow credible is impossible to make unless you’re entirely prejudiced.” The Hill: Five most serious charges in the complaint. The Hill: Senate Republicans batten down the hatches. Reuters: Republicans see impeachment backfiring. Democrats fear they may be right. 
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