US President Donald Trump has urged Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a telephone conversation to help with the investigation by Special Investigator Robert Mueller, according to a media report.
An Australian government spokesman confirmed today a corresponding phone call between the two politicians. Morrison has agreed to help with investigations.
Earlier, the New York Times reported on the phone call. Trump has asked Morrison to help US Attorney General Bill Barr investigate the Mueller report. According to „NYT“ Trump hopes for information that weaken the credibility of the Mueller investigation.
Mueller report: Trump not completely relieved
The „New York Times“ further reported that the transcript of the conversation with Morrison was then – in analogy to the controversial telephone conversation Trumps with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky – in a particularly secure system has been kept to keep the conversation as secret as possible.
Mueller had been investigating for two years whether there had been collusion between the Trump camp and Russian officials in the presumed Russian influence on the 2016 US presidential election, and whether Trump, as US president, had later obstructed justice investigations.
At the end of March, Mueller had submitted his report, but he left it open whether Trump was guilty of obstructing justice. But Mueller also made it clear that Trump was not completely relieved after the investigations. The US president saw himself as relieved.
Trump subsequently demanded an investigation into the background of the Mueller investigation. The Department of Justice ordered prosecutor John Durham to do so. Australia plays an important role: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had launched its investigation into Russian electoral intervention following a reference from an Australian diplomat in the UK.
Report questions Justice Minister Barr
The Washington Post reported yesterday that Barr had met with a number of foreign intelligence officials, including Britain and Italy, to obtain information that could discredit the Mueller investigation. He was partly accompanied by Durham. According to the Washington Post, this raises the question of Barr’s abusing his position to provide political support to troubled Trump.
Trump has come under pressure because of the Ukraine affair. He is suspected of abuse of office because he demanded in the phone call investigations against the democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. An anonymous secret service employee filed an internal complaint. The Democrats have launched an official investigation into possible impeachment of the President.
House of Representatives invites Trump lawyer Giuliani
Yesterday, three US House committees called for Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, to produce documents. Giuliani should hand over his previous communication and all relevant documents to the Parliament until mid-October. It was about to examine the credible allegations that Giuliani should have helped the President to abuse his office, it was said.
