The chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, on Wednesday said President Donald Trump's phone call with Ukraine's president was far more damning than expected.
Schiff, a Democrat, said the memo of the call that the White House released earlier on Wednesday in which Trump asked Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, currently seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, sounded like threats made by the mafia.
"It is shocking at another level that the White House would release these notes and felt that somehow this would help the president's case or cause. Because what those notes reflect is a classic Mafia-like shakedown of a foreign leader," he said.
"Like any Mafia boss, the president didn't need to say, 'that's a nice country you have, it would be a shame if something happened to it,' because that was clear from the conversation," Schiff added. "There is no quid pro quo necessary to betray your country or your oath of office."
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