Trump says he has authorized release of Ukraine call

President Trump, facing growing calls for his impeachment on Tuesday, said he had authorized the release of a transcript of his July conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that has drawn massive scrutiny over the past several days.

“I am currently at the United Nations representing our Country, but have authorized the release tomorrow of the complete, fully declassified and unredacted transcript of my phone conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine,” Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon while at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

{mosads}Trump insisted the release of the transcript would show he did nothing wrong in his communications with Zelensky, whom he is scheduled to meet in New York on Wednesday. 

“You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

….You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019

The announcement came as dozens of Democrats offered support for impeaching Trump or at least launching an impeachment inquiry, putting pressure on Democratic leaders to allow the process to go forward.

It’s unclear whether the release of the transcript of the call will be enough to stifle the calls for impeachment, either.

Several Democrats on Tuesday said they wanted to see a whistleblower complaint that was registered after the July 25 call Trump made to Zelensky. 

The president has acknowledged that he raised Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and corruption on the July 25 call, but denied that he pressured Ukraine to investigate the former vice president or that there was a quid pro quo involved in the conversation.

Reports have also emerged that military aid to Ukraine was held up by Trump in the weeks before the call, but Trump on Tuesday said that was because he wanted other countries to commit to providing aid to Ukraine. 

“I want other countries to put up money. I think it’s unfair that we put up the money. Then people called me and said, ‘Oh, let it go,’ and I let it go,” Trump told reporters at the United Nations Tuesday morning before delivering an address to global leaders.

“And there was never any quid pro quo,” Trump later added.

The Trump administration has thus far declined to make details of the whistleblower complaint available to Congress, and it is unclear if it will budge on that issue.

On Friday, multiple reports said Trump has repeatedly pressured Zelensky to investigate Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who is at the center of unsubstantiated corruption allegations waged by Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.