Sanders: Whistleblower complaint only ‘the tip of an iceberg’ of Trump corruption

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a 2020 presidential candidate, said the allegations included in a whistleblower complaint about President Trump’s communications with Ukraine point to a larger culture of corruption in the Trump administration. 

“This whistleblower complaint is only the tip of an iceberg of corrupt, illegal and immoral behavior by this president. What the House must do is thoroughly investigate Trump’s cover-up of this call and his other attempts to use government resources to help his re-election campaign,” Sanders said in a statement Thursday. “The public deserves to have full transparency regarding Trump’s abuse of office.” 

{mosads}Sanders’s statement comes after a whistleblower complaint, released by the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, alleges that Trump sought to enlist Ukraine’s help in the 2020 election by mounting a corruption investigation against former Vice President Joe Biden.

Other primary candidates, including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) also hit Trump over the allegations in the complaint. 

“It’s increasingly clear that Trump is not only unfit for office—he’s an active national security threat,” Castro tweeted. 

Ryan said the complaint showed the administration acting in “third-rate, banana republic behavior.”

The complaint was declassified and released to the public Thursday, after members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees read it Wednesday evening.  

The complaint discusses a call Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and alleges White House officials intervened to “lock down” records of the call. The White House released a partial memorandum of the call on Wednesday.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced on Tuesday the House would launch a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump after the filing of the complaint. It is not yet clear if the scope of the inquiry will be focused solely on the allegations over Trump’s communication with Ukraine.