POLITICS SEPTEMBER 29, 2019 / 9:37 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Trump-Putin phone calls in Democrats' sights: Schiff

Doina Chiacu, David Morgan
5 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress is determined to get access to Donald Trump’s calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders, the chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee said on Sunday, citing concerns the Republican president may have jeopardized national security.

“I think the paramount need here is to protect the national security of the United States and see whether in the conversations with other world leaders and in particular with Putin that the president was also undermining our security in a way that he thought would personally benefit his campaign,” Democrat Adam Schiff said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Congress is investigating a whistleblower complaint that said Trump solicited a political favor from Ukraine’s president that could help him get re-elected to a second term next year. Democrats say Trump’s actions jeopardized national security and the integrity of U.S. elections.

The whistleblower’s complaint cited a telephone call in which Trump asked President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to launch an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, a leader among Democrats seeking to challenge Trump in 2020, and his son Hunter. Hunter Biden sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

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