Senate

Romney: Administration should hand over Ukraine transcript

by Jordain Carney - 09/23/19 6:22 PM ET

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said on Monday that he wants the Trump administration to give Congress the transcript of a highly controversial call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“I think it would be very helpful to get the transcript. … Absolutely, let’s see the transcript,” Romney told reporters when asked if the transcript should be given to Congress.

{mosads}The call between Trump and Zelensky is reportedly tied to an intelligence community whistleblower complaint that has dominated headlines since late last week amid reports that Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani attempted to persuade Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden or his son Hunter Biden, who had business dealings in the country.

Trump appeared to acknowledge on Sunday that he had discussed Biden on the call with Zelensky. But he said on Monday that he did not threaten to withhold aid to Ukraine unless they investigated the Biden family.

“I did not make a statement that you have to do this or I’m not going to give you aid,” Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The White House has so far refused to hand over the whistleblower complaint to Congress. Trump has signaled that he’s open to releasing the transcript of the call with Zelensky.

Republicans have been careful not to directly criticize Trump even as Democrats have used the whistleblower complaint to fuel new demands that the House move on impeachment.

Romney, who has emerged as a critic of Trump on issues such as foreign policy, said that whether the conversation between Trump and Zelensky was inappropriate would depend on what they talked about.

“What has been alleged by some news sources is that the president asked for an investigation into Mr. Biden. That would be in my view very inappropriate and a very serious allegation itself, so let’s find out what exactly what was said,” Romney added on Monday.

Romney was one of the first Senate Republicans to raise concerns about the whistleblower complaint. He said in a tweet over the weekend that it would be “troubling in the extreme” if Trump pressured a foreign leader to investigate a political opponent.

“If the President asked or pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate his political rival, either directly or through his personal attorney, it would be troubling in the extreme. Critical for the facts to come out,” he tweeted.

Tags Donald Trump Joe Biden Mitt Romney Rudy Giuliani