美国国家公共电台 NPR Democrats Intensify Calls For Potential Impeachment Over Whistleblower Complaint（在线收听）

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to spend the first part of today's program taking a closer look at the call this summer between President Trump and Ukraine's leader. President Trump says the call was routine, but Democrats want to know if he abused the power of his office. NPR's Jenny Gathright has more.

JENNY GATHRIGHT, BYLINE: President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone in July, and according to Trump...

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It was a perfect conversation. It was - couldn't have been any better.

GATHRIGHT: According to reporting in The Wall Street Journal, Trump repeatedly urged the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden's son Hunter during that phone call. House Democrats are looking into whether Trump's request to investigate Biden coincided with his administration's withholding of military aid from Ukraine.

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ADAM SCHIFF: And we may very well have crossed the Rubicon here.

GATHRIGHT: That's House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff speaking on CNN today. The Rubicon he's talking about is the road to impeachment, which he says he's been reluctant to pursue. Schiff says if Trump did pressure Ukraine into investigating his political opponent Biden, impeachment could be appropriate.

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SCHIFF: This would be, I think, the most profound violation of the presidential oath of office - certainly during this presidency, which says a lot, but perhaps during just about any presidency.

GATHRIGHT: There is one major roadblock to a congressional investigation here. Congress still hasn't seen the contents of an August whistleblower complaint - a complaint that multiple news outlets say had to do with Trump and Ukraine. Speaking on CNN today, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the White House shouldn't let Congress look at the whistleblower complaint.

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STEVEN MNUCHIN: I think that would be a terrible precedent. Conversations between world leaders are meant to be confidential.

GATHRIGHT: Trump said he'd love to release a transcript of his phone conversation with Ukrainian President Zelensky. But in Trump's words, you have to be a little bit shy about sharing the details of that kind of discussion. The two leaders are actually scheduled to talk again this week, this time face-to-face at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Jenny Gathright, NPR News.