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(CNN) - The rapid scandal involving President Donald Trump and accusations that he pressed Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, to investigate his political rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, overturned politics in Washington, United States , and led the Democrats to an investigation of political judgment. There is no evidence that Biden has done anything wrong.
- What the complaint about Trump, Ukraine, the 2020 elections and others reveals
The complainant
The complainant remains anonymous.
An anonymous government worker, with access to White House officials, who filed an official complaint against the president alleging that several officials had concerns that Trump was using his public office to obtain personal political benefits from a foreign power, not only through his July 25 telephone conversation with Zelensky, but through emissaries, including Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, as well as, possibly, Attorney General Bill Barr. The complaint also alleges a cover-up by White House employees who tried to bury Trump's conversation with the president of Ukraine by placing an approximate transcript of it in a computer system reserved for highly classified material.
Donald Trump, president of the United States
Trump pressured the president of Ukraine in a phone call.
Just as he was trying to get away from accusations that his campaign colluded with the Russians against Hillary Clinton in 2016, Trump was stepping up efforts for Ukraine to stir up problems for Joe Biden, his possible opponent in 2020. He used official channels to ask the Ukrainian president to investigate the Biden family, openly asking Zelensky for a favor during a phone call on July 25 and then suggested that his lawyer meet with Ukrainian officials. In the phone call on July 25, the Ukrainian president mentioned plans to buy missiles manufactured in the United States, which he needs to help protect against possible Russian provocations. At the same time, Trump was sitting with almost 400 million dollars in aid to Ukraine, which he said was waiting while leaning on European countries to give more to Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine
Here is Zelensky, recording the television series "Servant of the People", where he plays the role of the President of Ukraine. He was later elected president of Ukraine.
Comedian turned politician, Zelensky's job before being elected president of Ukraine was to play the president of Ukraine on television. His country is in the middle of a clash of years with Russia over Crimea, an area that Russia invaded and annexed in 2014. Zelensky also deals with a war against pro-Russian separatists. But his intentions, and whether he is pro-Russian or pro-Western, have been something that both sides have been trying to determine. His desire for military aid from the United States is unquestionable. He flattered Trump during his phone call in July and promised a fair look to the Biden family after Trump requested an investigation. But Zelensky clearly doesn't want to get involved in US politics, and said after the White House published his transcript of the July 25 call he didn't think it was included.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lawyer
Giuliani boosted Trump's approach to Ukraine and the Biden.
The former mayor of New York, now the president's personal lawyer and unconditional defender of cable news, is at the center of the Ukrainian scandal. He said he went to Ukraine because he was trying to undermine the beginnings of Russia's investigation and protect Trump's former campaign president Paul Manafort, who is currently in prison for tax fraud related to his business in Ukraine. Giuliani has said that he later changed interest after learning about the allegations about Joe Biden's actions as vice president, including his public calls in 2016 to fire a prosecutor in Ukraine. Giuliani states that it was incorrect because, at that time, Biden's son sat on the board of a Ukrainian company that had been under investigation in Ukraine. After spreading the story about Biden for months, Giuliani finally met with a Zelensky main assistant in Madrid, days after the July 25 phone call, where Trump asked Zelensky to listen to Giuliani.
William Barr, United States Attorney General
Barr remained silent about the Ukrainian scandal, but Trump repeatedly mentioned it in the July 25 phone call with Zelensky.
Barr assumed the position of head of the Department of Justice in February 2019 and oversaw the official publication of the Mueller report that summarizes the government's investigation into the claims that Russia participated in Trump's campaign to alter the 2016 elections. Trump asked him to the Ukrainian president who spoke with Barr as part of an investigation that said Barr was carrying out. Barr has remained silent about any participation in Ukraine, but Democrats have said they expect to be called to testify.
Mike Pompeo, United States Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo is not mentioned by name in the complaint, but has been cited by House Democrats.
The former Kansas congressman and head of the CIA has become one of Trump's most reliable advisors. While Pompeo is not mentioned by name in the complaint, Giuliani has said that the State Department helped establish his meetings with Zelensky's aides. Pompeo was cited by House committees as part of the political trial investigation on September 27.
Mike Pence, United States Vice President
When Trump was unable to attend a meeting with Zelensky in September, he sent Pence.
When Trump canceled a September trip to Poland during which he was supposed to meet with Zelensky, Pence went instead. The vice president told reporters after the meeting that he did not discuss Biden, but spoke with Zelensky in great detail about Trump's interest in eradicating corruption in Ukraine, and also about US aid to Ukraine.
Joseph Maguire, interim director of national intelligence
The Acting Director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, faced scrutiny over the complaint at Capitol Hill.
Retired Vice Admiral and former Navy SEAL, Maguire assumed his role when Dan Coats resigned in August. Maguire initially withheld the complaint from the congressman because his lawyers advised him that Trump was not part of the intelligence community. With weeks at work, he has already been called to testify before Congress about the scandal of Ukraine. In that testimony before Congress, he defended the complainant for presenting himself.
Pat Cipollone, White House lawyer
Pat Cipollone has been a White House lawyer since 2018.
Along with accusations about Trump's effort to influence the Ukrainian president against Biden, there is the allegation of the complainant that the White House lawyers tried to cover up everything by burying the transcript of the call on a server reserved for highly classified information. Cipollone, as a White House lawyer, also participated in the recommendation that Maguire should retain the complaint of the congress whistleblower, according to The Washington Post.
Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee
Schiff's intelligence committee will probably lead the most visible political trial investigation.
Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, is the confidant of Nancy Pelosi, president of the House of Representatives. She has appointed the California congressman to lead the Democrats' investigation into the complaint. He is a frequent target of Trump, who refers to him as the "liddle" Adam Schiff.
Devin Nunes, senior member of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee
Nunes has been one of Trump's most essential supporters.
If Schiff is the prosecutor, Nunes, also from California, will play the role of Trump's advocate. For a long time the president's apologist in the Russian investigation, Nunes has focused on defending Trump in Ukraine. With your seat next to Schiff, you will play an important role.
Nancy Pelosi, president of the US House of Representatives
Pelosi had been ideal to pursue the accusation until the history of the complainants was unleashed.
Pelosi is in his second stage as the best elected democrat in the country, and nothing will advance in terms of a political trial without his support. After months of delaying the calls of the Democrats to the procedures of political trial by the findings of the Mueller report, Pelosi quickly moved to change course and begin the official procedures of political trial after the substance of Trump's actions in Ukraine, as detailed in the whistleblower complaint, became clear.
Yuriy Lutsenko, former Prosecutor General of Ukraine
The former senior prosecutor of Ukraine, Lustenko, had complained about the US ambassador.
A remnant of the administration that preceded Zelensky in Ukraine, Lutsenko was Giuliani's original goal to influence an investigation of the Biden and Burisma. Lutsenko said in May that he had tried to revive the investigation, but also that there was no evidence of any crime by Hunter Biden. His comments to a reporter from The Hill, that there should be an investigation into whether Ukrainians had meddled in the 2016 US elections, may have helped boost Giuliani's approach in Ukraine. He resigned in August.
Viktor Shokin, former Prosecutor General of Ukraine
Shokin was appointed senior prosecutor of Ukraine under Ukrainian former president Petro Poroshenko in 2015 and began to face criticism for what was considered a lack of will to prosecute elite corruption. Biden, who handled Ukraine's affairs for the Obama administration, exerted public and private pressure on the Ukrainian government to fire Shokin. The Obama administration threatened to withhold $ 1 billion in loan guarantees unless Poroshenko took action. Trump has taken advantage of this to accuse Biden of irregularities, although there is no evidence of this. The Ukrainian legislature voted to expel Shokin in March 2016. Biden's last visit to Ukraine before Shokin's dismissal was in December 2015, although he held a phone call with Poroshenko before the dismissal.
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
Putin's Russia annexed Crimea, which had been part of Ukraine, in 2014.
Putin is not directly related to the reporter's complaint, but his shadow looms over this whole story and, in general, over Trump's presidency. The reason why Zelensky and Ukraine want military aid is their confrontation with Russia over the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014.
Andriy Yermak, assistant to the president of Ukraine
As Zelensky's chief advisor, Yermak met Giuliani in Madrid a week after Trump's call with Zelensky. According to the complainant's complaint, several US officials said this meeting was a “direct follow-up” of the July 25 call.
T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, Counselor of the State Department
A West Point classmate and business partner of Pompeo, Brechbuhl is mentioned in the complaint as who heard Trump's call with Zelensky as it happened. The State Department has denied listening.
Kurt Volker, United States Special Representative for the Negotiations of Ukraine
Kurt Volker is the key person of the administration in Ukraine.
Volker, the key person of the administration in Ukraine, is a key figure in this story. It is mentioned in the informant's complaint as an attempt to advise Ukrainian officials on how to deal with Trump and Giuliani. It was Volker who apparently organized the meeting between Giuliani and Yerkmak, Zelensky's assistant. However, he is essentially voluntary and still works for the BGR group, a Washington lobbying firm that has represented the Ukrainian government. Volker reportedly resigned his position on Friday, three sources familiar with the issue were told CNN.
Gordon Sondland, United States Ambassador to the European Union
Sonland is mentioned in the whistleblower complaint along with Volker.
Mentioned in the complaint with Volker, the complainant said the two were advising Ukrainian leaders on how to deal with Trump and Giuliani.
Marie Yovanovitch, former US ambassador to Ukraine
Trump said the former ambassador to Ukraine, whom his administration revoked, was "bad news."
After the complaints of Lutsenko, the Ukrainian prosecutor and Republicans in the United States, Yovanovitch was removed from office. A member of the foreign service career who has served in embassies under three presidents, was sworn in as an ambassador to Ukraine in August 2016 and revoked in May 2019, which led Democrats to accuse the White House of a “political job” . In the phone call with Zelensky, Trump belittled her, calling her "bad news" and saying, "She's going to go through some things."
John Durham, federal prosecutor for the District of Connecticut
Barr brought American lawyer John Durham to lead a post-action investigation of the Russian investigation.
Mentioned in the complainant's complaint because Barr called him to conduct an investigation into the beginnings of Russia's investigation and, according to the Department of Justice, was investigating Ukraine.
Michael Atkinson, Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
The complaint was originally delivered to Michael Atkinson.
On his charge, Atkinson was the first to receive the whistleblower complaint. He informed Congress that he was initially being held by the House intelligence committee despite his determination that it represented an "urgent concern." He told the committee that the complaint was in a “stalemate” with Maguire and that Congress should be informed about its existence or its content. He was appointed to his position by Trump after many years in the Department of Justice.
Stephen Engel, Director of the Office of Legal Counsel
Senior Attorney of the Department of Justice, Engel's job was to review whether the complainant's complaint was an “urgent concern” from the Department of Justice's perspective. He recommended keeping the complaint in the Department of Justice for a possible criminal investigation instead of sending it to Congress, as the law seems to demand. That created the confrontation between Atkinson, the inspector general and Maguire.
General advisor of an intelligence agency
Even before the complainant filed the complaint, the White House was aware of the complainant's concerns because the general counsel of an intelligence agency notified the lawyers of the Department of Justice and the White House after the complainant pointed them out to through an anonymous process, according to The New York Times.
John Eisenberg, a White House deputy lawyer
He is the first person in the White House who notified about the concerns raised by the complainant. He and the intelligence agency's general advisor contacted the Department of Justice together, according to The New York Times.
John Demers, head of the national security division of the Department of Justice; Jeffrey Rosen, Deputy Attorney General; Brian Benczkowski, head of the criminal division of the Department of Justice
Demers was the first Justice Department attorney notified of Trump's concerns about the behavior raised by the complainant and discussed it with his colleagues Rosen and Benczkowski in the Justice Department, according to The New York Times. It is not clear when or how Barr was notified.
Allison Malloy, Will Mullery, Daniel Dale and Veronica Stracqualursi, all from CNN, contributed to this report.
Donald TrumpJoe Biden Political Judgment
