US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he wants and deserves to meet the anonymous whistleblower at the centre of the fast-moving scandal that has triggered an impeachment probe against him.
The whistleblower, who could testify soon before Congress, fears for their safety if their identity is revealed, according to a lawyers' letter released by CBS News.
Battling the deepest crisis of his presidency, Trump in a series of tweets railed against accusations that he should be impeached for urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, his potential 2020 White House challenger.
"Like every American, I deserve to meet my accuser, especially when this accuser, the so-called 'Whistleblower,' represented a perfect conversation with a foreign leader in a totally inaccurate and fraudulent way," Mr Trump tweeted.
He also said the de facto leader of the congressional inquiry, Adam Schiff, lied to Congress last week about what Mr Trump said to the president of Ukraine and should be punished.
"His lies were made in perhaps the most blatant and sinister manner ever seen in the great Chamber," Mr Trump tweeted.
"He wrote down and read terrible things, then said it was from the mouth of the President of the United States. I want Schiff questioned at the highest level for Fraud & Treason," he wrote.
Aides say Trump is the true 'whistleblower'
Top aides to Donald Trump sought Sunday to turn the tables on Democrats pushing for his impeachment, insisting the president was the true "whistleblower" in urging Ukraine to investigate the son of rival Joe Biden for corruption.
Mr Trump's Republican allies have closed ranks as he battles the deepest crisis of his presidency, flatly denying he abused his power and seeking to discredit the anonymous whistleblower who exposed the scandal. That person will testify before Congress soon, lawmakers said.
"The president of the United States is the whistleblower," Mr Trump advisor Stephen Miller told "Fox News Sunday."
"This individual is a saboteur trying to undermine a democratically elected government," he said. "Getting to the bottom of a corruption scandal in Ukraine is in the American national interest."
Mr Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani - who has emerged as his point man in the Ukraine scandal - led the charge along with Mr Miller in a series of combative Sunday talk show appearances.
Brandishing what he said were affidavits incriminating Mr Biden's son Hunter over his work at a Ukrainian company, Mr Giuliani said Mr Trump was duty bound to raise the issue with Kiev.
"If he hadn't asked them to investigate Mr Biden, he would have violated the constitution," Mr Giuliani told ABC's "This Week," charging that "Donald Mr Trump was framed by the Democrats."
'Witch hunt'
The Democratic-led House of Representatives launched an official impeachment inquiry this week accusing Mr Trump of a "mafia-like shakedown" of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky aimed at damaging his potential 2020 White House challenger.
Mr Trump and his allies claim Mr Biden, as Barack Obama's vice president, pressured Kiev to fire the country's top prosecutor to protect his son Hunter, who sat on the board of a gas company, Burisma Holdings, accused of corrupt practices.
Despite the questionable optics, those allegations have largely been debunked and there has been no evidence of illegal conduct or wrongdoing in Ukraine by the Bidens.
(The New York Times) Source: The New York Times
But a transcript of the July 25 call shows Mr Trump pushing for Kiev to revisit the matter, saying both Mr Giuliani and US Attorney General Bill Barr would be in touch.
For Democrats, that amounted to a smoking gun, leading Speaker Nancy Pelosi to finally approve an impeachment process she opposed as a risky distraction from the 2020 battle.
Mr Trump insists he did nothing wrong, denouncing a new "witch hunt" and demanding the resignation of lawmaker Adam Schiff, who is leading the probe in Congress.
Between Saturday night and Sunday morning, the president retweeted dozens of news clips of conservatives defending his conduct - along with a video ominously warning his supporters that "our country is at stake like never before."
Whistleblower to testify 'very soon'
Democrats have charged aggressively into the inquiry, ordering Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to turn over Ukraine-related documents and scheduling witness testimony.
On NBC's "Meet the Press," Schiff said he was "urgently" investigating all aspects of the Ukraine affair, including whether Mr Trump withheld millions of dollars in aid as leverage.
"Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace - who has publicly criticized Fox colleagues for echoing the White House line on the scandal - reported that Mr Trump had overridden the Pentagon, State Department, and National Security Council in deciding, alone, to withhold aid.
He also reported Mr Giuliani had been working "off the books" with two Washington lawyers to damaging obtain information about Mr Biden from Ukraine - an allegation denied by Mr Giuliani.
Trump lashes out at US House's impeaching him as disgrace and political witch hunt. Source: SBS News
Asked if he planned to cooperate with Mr Schiff's probe, Mr Giuliani equivocated, saying he would only testify if asked to do so by Mr Trump.
Mr Schiff said he expected the whistleblower to testify "very soon" - with all precautions taken to protect their identity.
Democrats have said articles of impeachment - formal charges - against Mr Trump could be completed in as little as a month and swiftly voted on in the House, where the party has a majority.
The Biden campaign sent a letter Sunday to US TV networks to "demand" they stop booking Mr Giuliani for interviews.
In a letter obtained by The New York Times, the campaign called Mr Giuliani "a surrogate for Donald Trump who has demonstrated that he will knowingly and willingly lie in order to advance his own narrative."
Polls suggest public support is growing for the impeachment inquiry, with a new CBS survey showing 55 percent of Americans - and nine in 10 Democrats - approve.
But even if impeachment is approved in the House, Mr Trump would be tried in the Senate -- where, for the moment, he appears able to count on a Republican majority to prevent conviction.
One of Mr Trump's most outspoken Senate defenders, Lindsey Graham, hammered home the party line on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"I have zero problems with this phone call," he said.
