Trump orders significant NSC staff cut
US President Donald Trump has ordered a significant staff cut in the National Security Council (NSC) as an imminent impeachment looms on the horizon.
Trump ordered the staff of NSC be significantly reduced as part of his abortive efforts to neutralize the impeachment inquiry triggered by a whistleblower complaint involving the NSC, media reports said on Saturday.
The whistleblower complaint highlighted Trump’s phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy,
The unidentified whistleblower, who is said to be a spy for the US intelligence apparatus, complained Trump had unlawfully used his office to pressure Zelensky to investigate former US Vice President Joe Biden, a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
The whistleblower revealed NSC officials had tried to keep the phone call between Trump and Zelensky under wraps by storing it in a secret computer system with highly restricted access, media reported.
In the phone call, Trump repeatedly asked Zelenskiy to investigate his Democratic rival, an unprecedented move that prompted the Democrats in the US House of Representatives to launch the impeachment inquiry.
US media said Trump had apparently subscribed to claims that the anonymous whistleblower was a member of the NSC.
The whistleblower worked on the NSC’s Ukraine desk under former President Barack Obama, according to reports.
US 'bolstered' armed groups to oust Assad in Syria: Report
Washington was ‘aware’ of Israel’s nuclear weapons production since 1960s: Declassified doc.
Blinken visits Turkey as tensions escalate over proxies in Syria
Spain jurists demand ties with Israel ties be cut
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
VIDEO | Iran honors top Science Olympiad medalists
VIDEO | Austrians arrested at Gaza protest in Vienna
10 killed in bus crash in western Iran
VIDEO | One-man-band journalism with Civili
5 Israeli forces killed as Palestinian fighters face up to regime’s war machine
VIDEO | An insider's view of the country: Persian Tahini, Royan in Mazandaran
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
