US President Donald Trump once again dismissed the allegations surrounding a complaint made against him by a member of the intelligence community, insisting that the conversation with the foreign head of state in question was "totally appropriate" and "actually beautiful". POTUS further slammed the attempt to let the complaint be reviewed by Congress, arguing that this was another attempt to complicate his presidency.
"It's a partisan whistleblower. It's just another political hack job. That's all it is", he said.
Trump separately argued on his Twitter page that no other person came forward regarding his style of handling talks, because they were all "pitch perfect" and not "dicey", as some "fake news media" reported.
....statement. Strange that with so many other people hearing or knowing of the perfectly fine and respectful conversation, that they would not have also come forward. Do you know the reason why they did not? Because there was nothing said wrong, it was pitch perfect!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2019
At the same time, POTUS failed to pinpoint exactly which conversation the intelligence whistleblower was referring to, or at least with whom he had the conversation.
Separately, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, expressed displeasure at the fact that the complaint in question had not made it to Congress, accusing Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, who blocked it, of breaking the law.
"If the President has done what has been alleged, then he is stepping into a dangerous minefield with serious repercussions for his administration and our democracy", Pelosi said.
Trump previously dismissed the complaint as "another fake news" and said he would never "say something inappropriate" in talks with a foreign head of state.
The Washington Post reported that a US intelligence operative had filed a complaint claiming that Trump had made an inappropriate promise to a foreign leader during talks. The newspaper didn't specify exactly to whom Trump had made the promise, but later reported that the complaint centres on Ukraine, citing anonymous sources.
A US intelligence watchdog still found the charge to be "credible" and related to an urgent matter, thus rendering it eligible for review by Congress. The verdict was, however, overruled by Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.
