News / Politics

Trump orders significant NSC staff cut

Saturday, 05 October 2019 3:00 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 05 October 2019 3:06 PM ]

This photo taken on October 6, 2018 shows US President Donald Trump pointing at reporters upon arrival in Topeka, Kansas. (Photo by AFP)

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.

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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.

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