Published 11:09 IST, November 14th 2019
'Donald Trump's call to US ambassador in Ukraine a security breach': Ex officials
Former US officials stated that a US ambassador's phone call to Donald Trump from a restaurant in Kyiv in the summer of 2018 was termed as a breach of security
Former US officials stated that a US ambassador's phone call to President Donald Trump from a restaurant in Kyiv in the summer of 2018 was termed as a breach of security that in turn exposed the telephonic conversation to foreign intelligence services by the means of surveillance. The incident came to light after the current US ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor Jr., disclosed the information about the call on the first days of the impeachment hearings based on the alleged abuse of Presidential powers by the American President.
A call between Donald Trump and Gordon Sondland
William Taylor testified that one of his staff members could hear Trump talking on the phone asking US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, about the "investigations", talking about the investigations that Trump wanted to conduct against former Vice President, Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden and a Ukraine based energy company on whose board Hunter once served as a director. Taylor further added that Gordon told Trump that Ukraine was ready to move forward with the investigations.
The conversation between Trump and Gordon happened just a day after an official call between the American President and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump exerted pressure on Ukraine to conduct the investigations.
'Such a call can have serious security ramifications'
According to reports, former senior director of the White House situation room, Larry Pfeiffer, stated that there are very serious consequences in pulling off such a stunt on an unsecured phone line. He further added that to be on a personal phone call in a country rigged with Russian intelligence, there is a high chance the Russians knew what Trump was talking about.
In previous incidents, Russia has already shown its ability to keep a tab on US diplomats' calls in the capital city of Kyiv and has had no issues in leaking according to their interests. A call dating back to 2014 was leaked on YouTube wherein then-Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland was heard talking about the sluggish European Union's efforts to acknowledge a hovering political and economic crisis in Ukraine to then-US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt.
According to reports, the White House acknowledged the authenticity of the call but quickly blamed Russia for the call getting leaked, calling the incident a type of information warfare.
(With inputs from agencies)
Updated 12:57 IST, November 14th 2019