The White House severely restricted distribution of memos detailing President Donald Trump’s calls with foreign leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman, after embarrassing leaks of his conversations early in his tenure, a former White House official said. The White House’s handling of Mr Trump’s calls with foreign leaders is at the heart of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. It is a betrayal of his oath of office for President Trump to pressure a foreign country to interfere in our elections. The White House was beset by leaks of highly sensitive information in the early days of Mr Trump’s presidency. On Friday, the White House acknowledged the Ukraine call was moved to a highly classified system at the direction of National Security Council lawyers.

Source: Irish Examiner September 28, 2019 16:18 UTC