President Donald Trump. (AFP/File / Brendan Smialowski)
On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump was aware of the whistleblower complaint in August, soon after he placed the call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Lawyers working for White House Counsel Pat Cipollone were the ones who told Trump about the complaint. It is unclear exactly what they said, and this will likely be blocked from public view under executive privilege, but it is known that this conversation revealed to the president that the complaint existed.
This means that Trump was aware that the withholding of the aid could become a subject of investigation not only at the time he backtracked and released the aid, but also at the time that he told E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland "no quid pro quo." This suggests that this conversation with Sondland was a deliberate attempt to cover up his motivation.
Report typos and corrections to corrections@rawstory.com.
For customer support contact support@rawstory.com.
