September 25, 2019

White House Releases Memo on Trump’s Phone Call With Ukrainian President

“I would like you to do us a favor.”

Ting Shen/ZUMA

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President Donald Trump pushed the leader of Ukraine to open an investigation into Joe Biden, according to a memo released by the White House on Wednesday recounting the July 25 telephone call between the two heads of state.

Trump repeatedly urged Volodymyr Zelensky, the newly elected Ukrainian president, to discuss the matter with Attorney General William Barr and Rudy Giuliani, who is Trump’s personal attorney.

“I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it,” Trump told Zelensky, according to the memo, before suggesting that the Ukrainian government should investigate a series of matters related to Trump’s domestic political opponents. “Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible.”  He continued to repeatedly reference baseless allegations against Biden.

The release of the document comes one day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced plans to launch a formal impeachment inquiry.

Trump’s efforts to push for a Ukrainian investigation—which Democrats say amount to the president, yet again, encouraging foreign interference in a US election—first came to light earlier this month after reports surfaced of a whistleblower with knowledge of the phone conversation filed a complaint with the intelligence community’s inspector general. Trump has repeatedly dismissed allegations of malfeasance, claiming that the phone conversation was “perfect.” But the memo’s release on Wednesday appears to contradict that.

 

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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