There’s a new political controversy in the US – involving Donald Trump, foreign nationals, questions about legal and ethical behaviour, and allegations against a political rival.
This feels a bit like déjà vu from 2016, with Russia, then-candidate Trump and Hillary Clinton, but it’s a new country (Ukraine) and a new cast of characters (Joe Biden and his son Hunter).
Mr Trump is still right smack in the middle, of course.
The story can be difficult to follow, so here are some answers to the most pressing questions.
Why is this important?
Mr Trump’s most ardent critics accuse him of using the powers of the presidency to bully Ukraine into digging up damaging information on a political rival, Democrat Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump and his supporters allege the former vice-president abused his power to pressure Ukraine to back away from a criminal investigation that could implicate his son, Hunter.
Mr Biden is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to take on Mr Trump next year.
In other words, it is nothing less than the White House at stake.
Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone conversation on 25 July this year.
The US president is alleged to have pressed his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate former Vice-President Biden.
Mr Trump may have also discussed the $250m (£201m) in military aid Congress approved for Ukraine – aid that the Trump administration had delayed releasing until mid-September.
The Washington Post and other US media say Mr Trump told his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to hold back the aid at least a week before the phone call.
Has Mr Trump confirmed any of this?
Sort of.
Mr Trump said that he spoke to Mr Zelensky about the problem of corruption and also about Mr Biden and son Hunter among other issues.
It was a “nice conversation” on the phone – a “perfect” call.
Congressional Democrats say the phone call – raised by a whistleblower in a formal complaint – is important because it helps to shed light on the president’s dealings with the foreign leader.
Critics of the White House say that Mr Trump put pressure on Mr Zelensky, urging him to tell officials in his government to investigate business activities related to Hunter Biden, who was a board member for a company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch.
Democrats said that the president wanted the Ukrainians to start the investigation into corruption because this could sully the reputation of Hunter and his father.
Republicans have said little about the controversy. This shows the partisan nature of the controversy, which has – like much else in Washington – been divided by party politics.
However, at least one Republican, Mitt Romney, a US senator from Utah, said he would like to know more.
After receiving the complaint, the inspector general informed Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, and said the matter was “urgent”. The intelligence community whistleblower law says the director has seven days to pass the complaint along to congressional
intelligence committees.
That didn’t happen.
Instead, Mr Maguire spoke to a lawyer who told him the issue was not “urgent”, at least according to legal standards, according to the New York Times.
As a result, Mr Maguire decided that the members of the congressional oversight committees did not need to see it.
