Trump’s Kiev tape was doctored, says US official

Congress has been told key phrases were omitted from the transcript of Donald Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president.

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman arrives on Capitol Hill. Picture: AP

Democrats will shift the impeachment inquiry up a gear on Friday after congress was told that the White House omitted key phrases from the transcript of Donald Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian President.

A vote in the House of Representatives will seek to shift congressional hearings into public view after weeks of behind-closed-doors testimony.

The move suggests that the Democrats, who control the house, plan to impeach Mr Trump before Christmas, making him the third US president to be charged with “high crimes and misdemeanours”.

Mr Trump has repeatedly referred to the account released by his office of his conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to the inquiry, as “exact” and “perfect”.

A senior security official who listened in to the call testified that the White House transcript omitted key exchanges.

These included Mr Trump naming Joe Biden, the former vice-president who is a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination to take on Mr Trump next year. It also failed to include an explicit mention by Mr Zelensky of Burisma, the company that had Mr Biden’s son Hunter on its board.

The revelation undermined Mr Trump’s defence against allegations he abused the powers of his office by putting pressure on Ukraine to help with a domestic political battle at a time when US military aid was being delayed and the newly elected Mr Zelensky was seeking a meeting at the White House.

Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry last month after a whistleblower raised concerns about the phone call of July 25, when Mr Trump asked Mr Zelensky for a “favour” and called for an inquiry into the business dealings of Hunter Biden.

Republicans dismissed the move to public hearings of the house intelligence committee as a sham because several ­Democrat-controlled committees would continue with private investigations and Mr Trump’s lawyers would not gain the right to cross-examine witnesses.

“We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives,” Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker and senior Democrat, said. Adam Schiff, the intelligence committee chairman, said: “The American people will hear first-hand about the President’s misconduct.”

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, an army veteran and Ukraine expert for the White House-based National Security Council, told the house committees that the transcript of the call left out an ­assertion by Mr Trump that there were recordings of Mr Biden discussing corruption in Ukraine.

He testified that he tried to have these details inserted into the transcript, which includes ­ellipses at various points as if to suggest words are missing, but he was unsuccessful. He would not be drawn on any motive for not including these details.

Mr Trump has made the rough transcript prepared by the White House a cornerstone of his defence, insisting he had wrong-footed his accusers because it showed he demanded “no quid pro quo” from Ukraine.

Mr Trump called Colonel Vindman a “Never Trumper”, a nickname for his staunch Republican opponents.

The Times