Mitt Romney Becomes First High-Profile Republican To Express Concern Over Ukraine Phone Call

As the heated controversy over a July 25 phone call made by President Donald Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to burn hot in the news, a growing list of high-profile politicians are weighing in on the possible consequences.

On Sunday, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney became the first Republican to publicly express concern over what Trump may or may not have asked of the Ukrainian president, according to The Hill.

“If the President asked or pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate his political rival, either directly or through his personal attorney, it would be troubling in the extreme. Critical for the facts to come out,” Romney tweeted on Sunday.

An anonymous whistleblower’s report alleged that while Trump spoke with Zelensky via phone, he repeatedly asked the foreign leader to essentially dig up dirt on the president’s top political opponent for the 2020 presidential election, former vice president Joe Biden. The incident Trump reportedly asked about involves Hunter Biden, son of the former vice president.

Though the president has firmly denied any wrongdoing in the phone conversation, he told reporters on Sunday that Biden’s name was mentioned, but that the discussion “was largely the fact that we don’t want our people like Vice President Biden and his son [contributing] to the corruption already in the Ukraine.”

Top Democrats have blasted the Trump administration, even going as far as saying they’re blocking the release of the transcript of the call for Congressional review in order to protect the White House. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that further attempts at blocking its release means the Trump administration is “entering a grave new chapter of lawlessness which will take us into a whole new stage of investigation.”

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Trump hinted on Sunday to reporters that he was considering releasing the transcript for review. He explained that his hesitancy to do so revolves around maintaining a level of privacy in talks between a president and foreign leaders.

Biden has joined other Democrats in demanding that the transcripts of the phone call be released.

While critics of the president continued to pile on with calls for investigations and even the potential of impeachment proceedings, Trump directed his attacks at the media and the whistleblower, according to The Inquisitr.

Earlier in the week, Trump labeled the anonymous whistleblower “a partisan person” based on what he’s heard from others, even though he admitted he didn’t know the person’s identity. He later equated the whistleblower’s report to “presidential harassment.”

He then reiterated that the conversation with Zelensky was “beautiful” and that it was not inappropriate in nature.