President Trump said on Friday that he may release a second “transcript” of an earlier call he had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before the now-infamous July 25 conversation in which Trump encouraged the country to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. That call, which Trump has repeatedly called “perfect,” sparked the ongoing impeachment inquiry after a whistleblower complained. “Now they want my first call,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I have no problem with giving it.” He added: “I don’t like doing it because it’s such a bad precedent.” To be clear, the “transcript” Trump released of the July 25 call was not verbatim and reportedly “omitted crucial words and phrases” from the exchange. Trump also seemingly made a u-turn on his demand for Democrats to open the doors on impeachment proceedings, telling reporters: “They shouldn’t be having public hearings.”
