Trump and Ukraine: at least four national security officials reportedly flagged concerns - live
(The Guardian United States)

Officials worried by administration´s pressure on Ukraine spoke with White House lawyer before and after 25 July call, Washington Post reportsSign up for the US briefing and get a new perspective 12.24am BST The officials reportedly raised concerns both before and immediately after Donald Trump´s July call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. It´s unclear whether any of the same officials later spoke with the whistleblower who filed the complaint now central to the democrat´s impeachment inquiry. One official who had listened on the call immediately went to White House lawyer Eisenberg, and at least two others did so by the end of the day, according to the Post. 12.08am BST At least four national security officials raised concerns over the Trump administrations´ efforts to pressure Ukraine with a White House lawyer, the Washington Post reports:The nature and timing of the previously undisclosed discussions with National Security Council legal adviser John Eisenberg indicate that officials were delivering warnings through official White House channels earlier than previously understood - including before the call that precipitated a whistleblower complaint and the impeachment inquiry of the president.At the time, the officials were unnerved by the removal in May of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine; subsequent efforts by Trump´s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani to promote Ukraine-related conspiracies; as well as signals in meetings at the White House that Trump wanted the new government in Kiev to deliver material that might be politically damaging to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Continue reading...