Trump Promises Release Of ‘Unredacted’ Zelensky Call Transcript

U.S. President Donald Trump takes phone calls from children as he participates in tracking Santa Claus' movements with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Santa Tracker on Christmas Eve in the East R... U.S. President Donald Trump takes phone calls from children as he participates in tracking Santa Claus' movements with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Santa Tracker on Christmas Eve in the East Room of the White House December 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that he would release the “fully declassified and unredacted” transcript of his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.

Trump had been saying over the past few days that he’d “love” to release the transcript but worried that it would set a bad precedent. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin made TV appearances parroting a similar line that it would be “inappropriate” to release the transcript.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Trump pressured Zelensky to work with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter “about eight times” in the course of the phone call. Trump has acknowledged that Biden came up during the conversation, but insists it was only in the context of general comments about the “corruption” plaguing Ukraine.

Trump also maintains that he did not withhold aid from Ukraine to extort Zelensky into launching the probe. The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump did ask acting OMB Director Mick Mulvaney to hold back hundreds of millions in aid funding days before he had his call with the Ukrainian President. It is unclear if the money came up during the conversation.

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