WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and a whistleblower complaint (all times local):
5:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump is reacting swiftly to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that the Democratic-controlled House is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.
Trump notes that Pelosi’s announcement comes as he meets Tuesday with world leaders at the United Nations. He’s tweeting that “the Democrats purposely had to ruin and demean it with more breaking news Witch Hunt garbage. So bad for our Country!”
Calls for an impeachment inquiry have intensified following reports that Trump may have sought a foreign government’s help in his reelection bid. Trump insists he has done nothing wrong. He said he’ll release a transcript of his phone call with Ukraine’s president.
Trump tweets: “They never even saw the transcript of the call. A total Witch Hunt!”
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5:10 p.m.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced the House is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
Pelosi made the announcement Tuesday from the speaker’s office at the Capitol saying “no one is above the law.”
The move puts the Democratic speaker’s stamp on the investigations that have been underway in the House.
Calls for an impeachment inquiry have intensified following reports that Trump may have sought a foreign government’s help in his reelection bid.
Pelosi says the president “must be held accountable.”
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4:50 p.m.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made it official, telling fellow Democrats she supports a formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
Her remarks at a closed-door meeting was described by two people familiar with the remarks who were not authorized to discuss them publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Pelosi is set to make a formal announcement at 5 p.m.
A third person familiar with Pelosi’s remarks but unauthorized to speak publicly says she told Democrats they have reached “a moment of truth” with the president.
She called reports indicating that Trump pressured Ukraine’s leader to investigate Joe Biden’s family “a betrayal of our national security” and a “betrayal of our election.”
Trump insists he did nothing wrong when it comes to Ukraine and announced he’ll release a transcript of a phone call with the Ukrainian president.
–Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick
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4:40 p.m.
The GOP-controlled Senate has approved a nonbinding but symbolically important resolution calling on the Trump administration to immediately provide the House and Senate intelligence committees a copy of a whistleblower complaint involving President Donald Trump.
The measure put forward by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer passed by voice vote after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell endorsed the idea and noted that the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Intelligence Committee was working behind the scenes to obtain the complaint.
Trump is alleged to have pressured the government of Ukraine to look into former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the front-runners for the Democratic nomination.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that the House would vote on a similar resolution on Wednesday.
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4:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump is asserting that a formal impeachment inquiry by House Democrats would be a “positive for me.”
Trump is reacting to news that Speaker Nancy Pelosi will announce an impeachment inquiry following reports that Trump may have sought a foreign government’s help in his reelection bid.
Trump is in New York meeting with world leaders at the United Nations. He says the country is “doing the best it’s ever done” and that Democrats are going to lose next year’s elections if they pursue impeachment. He says: “If she does that, they say that’s a positive for me.”
Democrats are expected to explore whether Trump pushed Ukraine’s leader for help investigating Democrat Joe Biden and his son during a summer phone call.
Trump said he had authorized the release of a transcript of the call on Wednesday.
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3:50 p.m.
Joe Biden says Congress must use its “full constitutional authority” to determine whether President Donald Trump asked the Ukrainian president for dirt on Biden as he runs for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Biden says if Trump doesn’t comply on that and other inquiries, he “will leave Congress … with no choice but to initiate impeachment.”
Biden says that would be a tragedy of Trump’s “own making.”
He adds that the president apparently believes he is “above the law.”
The former vice president spoke Tuesday in Delaware.
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3:40 p.m.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to announce a formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump over allegations that he pressured the leader of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden’s family.
Pelosi’s likely decision was described to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the decision who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Pelosi is set to make an announcement at 5 p.m.
Pelosi had for months resisted calls to start the impeachment process. But the dynamic changed this week as more members of her caucus came out in support, including Democrats from swing districts.
Democrats are demanding information about whether Trump improperly pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden and his son, partly by withholding foreign aid. Trump insists he did nothing wrong and said he will release an unredacted transcript of a call with Ukraine’s leader on Wednesday.
