NPR BREAKING NEWS: READ: House Intel Releases Whistleblower Complaint On Trump-Ukraine Call.

President Trump speaks during a meeting at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday in New York City.

Evan Vucci/AP

Updated at 9:24 a.m. ET

A whistleblower filed a complaint on Aug. 12 about President Trump's conversation with a foreign leader, ultimately setting off a formal impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives.

The complaint cites "more than half a dozen officials" who gave an account of Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on July 25. The whistleblower, who admits not having been directly involved with the call, says the person was "deeply concerned" about a potential abuse of the law.

Read the complaint here. The intelligence community inspector general alerted acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire on Aug. 26. Read that letter here. Maguire is testifying before the House intelligence committee on Thursday.

BODY OF THE COMPLAINT IS BELOW:

August 12, 2019

The Honorable Richard Burr
Chairman

Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate

The Honorable Adam Schiff

Chairman

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
United States House of Representatives

Dear Chairman Burr and Chairman Schiff:

I am reporting an ?urgent concern? in accordance with the procedures outlined in 50 U.S.C.
This letter is UNCLASSIFIED when separated from the attachment.

In the course of my of?cial duties, I have received information from multiple U.S.

Government of?cials that the President of the United States is using the power of his of?ce to
solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election. This interference includes,
among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President?s main
domestic political rivals. The President?s personal lawyer, Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, is a central
?gure in this effort. Attorney General Barr appears to be involved as well.

0 Over the past four months, more than half a dozen U.S. of?cials have informed me of
various facts related to this effort. The information provided herein was relayed to me in
the course of of?cial interagency business. It is routine for U.S. officials with
responsibility for a particular regional or functional portfolio to share such information
with one another in order to inform policymaking and analysis.

0 I was not a direct witness to most of the events described. However, I found my
colleagues" accounts of these events to be credible because, in almost all cases, multiple
of?cials recounted fact patterns that were consistent with one another. In addition, a
variety of information consistent with these private accounts has been reported publicly.

I am deeply concerned that the actions described below constitute ?a serious or ?agrant
problem, abuse, or violation of law or Executive Order? that ?does not include differences of
opinions concerning public policy matters,? consistent with the de?nition of an ?urgent concern?
in 50 U.S.C. I am therefore ful?lling my duty to report this information,
through proper legal channels, to the relevant authorities.

0 I am also concerned that these actions pose risks to U.S. national security and undermine
the U.S. Government?s efforts to deter and counter foreign interference in U.S. elections.

1
UNCLASSIFIED

NPR BREAKING NEWS: Pentagon Letter Undercuts Trump Assertion On Delaying Aid To Ukraine Over Corruption.

Heard on All Things Considered

DAVID WELNA

Twitter

Earlier this week, President Trump cited concerns about corruption as his rationale for blocking security assistance to Ukraine. But in a letter sent to four congressional committees in May of this year and obtained by NPR, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood informs lawmakers that he has "certified that the Government of Ukraine has taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption [and] increasing accountability."

The certification was required by law for the release of $250 million in security assistance for Ukraine. That aid was blocked by the White House until Sept. 11 and has since been released. It must be spent before Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

(CLICK ON LINE BELOW TO READ THE LETTER.- DAVID.)

Read the letter here.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARNING: Earth's Oceans Are Getting Hotter And Higher, And It's Accelerating.

Earth's Oceans Are Getting Hotter And Higher, And It's Accelerating. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released its latest report on the oceans, and it's not good. Ocean surface temperatures have been warming steadily since 1970, and for the past 25 years or so, they've been warming twice as fast. The report also notes a relatively new phenomenon in the oceans: marine heat waves. In recent years they've driven a cascade of changes in marine life off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, which in turn led to disastrous seasons for commercial fishermen. Read More

NPR NEWS: Trump Asked Ukrainian President For 'A Favor' On Biden; DOJ Says No Charges.

YOU THOUGHT A DOJ UNDER TRUMP WOULD DO THEIR JOB? REALLY?(DAVID.)
POLITICS

Trump Asked Ukrainian President For 'A Favor' On Biden; DOJ Says No Charges

September 25, 201910:01 AM ET

RYAN LUCAS

Twitter

PHILIP EWING

President Trump speaks to the media at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday in New York City.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Updated at 11:02 a.m. ET

President Trump told Ukraine's president that "a lot of people want to find out" about former Vice President Joe Biden family's activities in Ukraine and asked him to be in touch with Trump attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General Bill Barr.

That's according to a briefing for correspondents about the contents of the July 25 phone call, on Wednesday at the Justice Department.

Read the partial White House transcript about the conversation here.

The conversation raised concerns by a whistleblower that Trump may have broken the law by asking for foreign help against a potential election rival. But the Justice Department concluded that based on the evidence that's available, prosecutors "did not and could not make out a criminal campaign finance violation."

Under the law, a "thing of value" under discussion has to be in some way quantifiable, and the Justice Department couldn't find that here, officials said.

POLITICS

Pelosi Announces Formal Impeachment Inquiry Into President Trump

Even so, the official account of the phone conversation confirms the kernel of the story that has brought Washington to a fever pitch over an impeachment inquiry into Trump: The American president asked the Ukrainian president for help with political ammunition against his potential 2020 election rival.

"I would like you to do us a favor," Trump asked President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to the official account released on Wednesday.

Continued Trump, according to the memo:

"I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation in Ukraine ... There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that. So whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it ... it sounds horrible to me."

POLITICS

READ: Transcript Of President Trump's Call With Ukraine's Leader

Zelenskiy told Trump that he would appoint the next top prosecutor who might be responsible for prosecuting corruption and that "he or she will look into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue."

Trump then told the Ukrainian president that he would have Giuliani and Barr make contact with him and that "we will get to the bottom of it. I'm sure you will figure it out."

Trump, on his visit to the United Nations on Wednesday, scoffed that the Ukraine affair is a "witch hunt" and that Democrats are worried about being defeated in the 2020 election.

Trump pointed to what he called the successes of his first term, saying, "We've got the strongest economy we've ever had."

Flow of assistance was cut off

The president's July conversation followed moves by the White House to stanch the flow of military assistance for Ukraine that Washington had been providing since the armed incursion by Russian forces in 2014.

Zelenskiy raised the military assistance in the call with Trump, according to the White House account. He thanked the American president and said "specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes."

That's a reference to the American guided anti-tank missile Javelin, built by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

Trump responded to Zelenskiy with his request for a "favor," mentioning the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and a "server," and an allusion to the testimony of former Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, who had appeared in Congress the day before.

Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials evidently weren't told about Trump's decision to cut off assistance and were "blindsided," according to The New York Times.

Other agencies in Washington were not briefed about any reason for the pause in the assistance, nor was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. After the matter came to the attention of more members of Congress, the assistance was restored earlier this month.