US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused President Donald Trump of trying to cover up an attempt he made to pressure Ukraine into investigating Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Ms Pelosi - the leading Democrat in Congress - told reporters that a House impeachment inquiry launched this week would focus narrowly on the Ukraine episode and that other instances in which President Trump may have abused the power of his office would be considered later.
She said there was no timeline for the inquiry.
"The president has been engaged in a cover-up all along," Ms Pelosi said, citing a whistleblower's complaint that she said outlined a White House effort to "lock down" all records of a call between Mr Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The House Intelligence Committee today released a declassified version of the report.
The complaint said President Trump used his office to solicit Ukraine's interference in the 2020 election to advance his personal political interests, risking US national security and undermining efforts "to deter and counter foreign interference in US elections".
"I am deeply concerned that the actions described below constitute 'a serious or flagrant problem, abuse, or violation of law or executive order' that 'does not include differences of opinion concerning public policy matters,' consistent with the definition of an 'urgent concern'," the report said.
The Trump administration had initially argued it was not covered by a whistleblower statute that would require the automatic disclosure of the complaint to Congress.
The administration dropped its opposition to its release after a political row erupted over news reports of some of the details.
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Ms Pelosi cited the complaint as reporting "repeated abuse of an electronic records system designed to store classified, sensitive, national security information, which the White House used to hide information of a political nature."
She said: "This is a cover-up. This is a cover-up."
Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, who had withheld the complaint after consulting with the US Justice Department, told the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee today that he believed the whistleblower was acting in good faith.
During the July telephone call, President Trump pressed Mr Zelenskiy to investigate Mr Biden in coordination with US Attorney General William Barr and Mr Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, according to a summary of the conversation released by the administration yesterday.
"It is not the role of the president to shake down foreign leaders," Ms Pelosi said.
President Trump has denied doing anything wrong and accused Democrats of trying to destroy him politically.
THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO DESTROY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND ALL THAT IT STANDS FOR. STICK TOGETHER, PLAY THEIR GAME, AND FIGHT HARD REPUBLICANS. OUR COUNTRY IS AT STAKE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2019
"Is their a case for impeachment? Absolutely not!" There is no high crimes or misdemeanors, no treason, no extortion, no treason." RD Robert Ray, respected
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2019
He has provided no evidence of any wrongdoing by Mr Biden, the Democratic front-runner in the race for the 2020 presidential election.
Under the US Constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to impeach a president for "high crimes and misdemeanors."
No president has ever been removed from office through impeachment. Democrats control the House and Mr Trump's fellow Republicans control the Senate.
