Intelligence chief to testify as Trump’s impeachment proceedings begin

Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, has been ordered by Democrats to turn over documents relating to the Trump administration’s dealings with Ukraine.

In a letter, the heads of three house committees subpoenaed Pompeo to produce the documents within a week.

The development is part of the impeachment proceedings against Trump.

According to a congressional official, a house committee will hear closed-door testimony from the intelligence community’s inspector-general on October 4.

Michael Atkinson, inspector-general of the intelligence community, and a Trump appointee, had determined that a whistle-blower’s report was credible.

Atkinson expressed concern that Trump potentially exposed himself to “serious national security and counter-intelligence risks” when he pressed his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Biden and his son.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the United States’ house of representatives, had announced a formal impeachment inquiry against Trump over claims that he sought help from Ukraine.

The announcement came amid reports that Trump may have abused his presidential powers and sought help from a foreign government to undermine former Vice-President Joe Biden, current Democratic party front-runner.

In a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25, Trump reportedly asked his counterpart to investigate the son of Biden.

Trump acknowledged discussing Biden with Zelensky but said he was only trying to get Europe to step up assistance by threatening to withhold military aid.

The president described the inquiry as “witch-hunt garbage” and said he has done nothing wrong.

Following the Ukraine leak, the White House has reportedly restricted access to the transcripts of Trump’s calls containing sensitive conversations with Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart, and the leaders of Saudi Arabia.

US SPECIAL ENVOY RESIGNS AMID CONTROVERSY

Amid the controversy, Kurt Volker, the US special envoy for Ukraine negotiations who was mentioned in the whistleblower’s complaint, resigned his appointment on Friday.

The whistle-blower complaint had described Volker, who was appointed in 2017 in a volunteer capacity, as trying to “contain the damage” from efforts by Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, to press Ukraine to investigate Democrats.

The complaint alleged that Volker and Gordon Sondland, US’ ambassador to EU, provided advice to the Ukrainian leadership about how to “navigate the demands that  Trump had made of  Zelensky”.

They were alleged to have also spoken with Rudy Giuliani, to try to “contain the damage to US national security”.

Vermont Republican governor backs Trump impeachment inquiry

Phil Scott, governor of US state of Vermont, became the first Republican chief executive to support an impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Scott, at a news conference, had said he was not surprised by the news that Trump repeatedly urged Ukraine’s president to “look into” Biden because he has “watched him over the years”.

“I think the inquiry is important, yes, and where it leads from here is going to be driven by the facts that are established,” Scott had said.