And again it is a telephone call by Donald Trump with a foreign head of government that causes a stir: this time, his interlocutor is the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. As the "New York Times" and the Australian broadcaster ABC report among others, Trump is said to have recently tried to urge Morrison to support US Attorney General William Barr in his investigation into the origins of the Russian affair.
The "NYT" refers to two unnamed officials who should have information about the phone call. ABC first cited an anonymous source in the White House. Shortly thereafter, a government spokesman in Canberra confirmed the phone call. He was always ready to "help with the efforts that help illuminate the issues under investigation," Canberra said. Morrison once again confirmed this readiness in his conversation with the US president.
Donald Trump asked Scott Morrison for help investigating the origins of the Mueller investigation. https://t.co/HFjGVkLiBE (via @abcnews)
- ABC Australia (@ABCaustralia) September 30, 2019As a special investigator in the Russia affair, Robert Mueller spent two years investigating Trump's election campaign camp for collusion with Russian officials on alleged interference by Moscow in the 2016 US election campaign, and whether Trump, as US president, later obstructed judicial investigations. At the end of March, Mueller presented a final report, although he left open whether Trump was guilty of legal disability. He expressly did not relieve the President of this accusation. Trump, on the other hand, said the report relieved him. He had always referred to the investigation as a "witch hunt".
The US government is now reviewing the Mueller investigation - a prominent role of the Justice Minister in such investigations is considered unusual. According to the NYT, Trump and Barr are trying to discredit the results of the Mueller investigation. And they obviously do not rely only on the help of Australia.
The Washington Post reported that Barr had personally sought assistance in investigating the Mueller investigation at meetings with foreign intelligence officials, including Britain and Italy. A Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed that Trump contacted other leaders to introduce Barr. However, Kerri Kupec did not say which countries it was.
Australia's role in the investigation into the Russian affair
Australia and the US are close allies, most recently Morrison was visiting the White House. The fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) once began investigating possible links between Russia and Trump's election campaign in 2016 has something to do with Australia: there was a corresponding tip from the Australian intelligence service.
The transcript of the Morrison and Trump telephone conversation was kept in a secure system, according to the "NYT," to keep the conversation as secret as possible, just as Trump's controversial telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj.
Breaking News: President Trump pushes Australia's prime minister to help Attorney General William Barr in an investigation intended to rebut the Mueller inquiry https://t.co/HNFx7TF5aI
- The New York Times (@nytimes) September 30, 2019Because of the revelations about this phone call, Trump has come under massive pressure. The US president is suspected of abuse of office because he called in the phone call investigations against the democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The Democrats in the House of Representatives are therefore preparing a possible impeachment trial against Trump.