Face of Nation : Prime Minister Scott Morrison has denied Donald Trump put pressure on him during a phone call requesting Australia’s help with a US investigation into the origins of the Mueller probe into Russian meddling.
In his first interview since the phone call was revealed by the New York Times on Tuesday morning, Mr Morrison downplayed the conversation’s significance, saying it was a “fairly uneventful” conversation.
Mr Morrison said Australia had already agreed to provide assistance to US Attorney-General William Barr, who is gathering evidence to review the Mueller probe, and Mr Trump was seeking a “point of contact”.
“The president, in a fairly brief phone call, followed up on this,” Mr Morrison said. “It would frankly have been more surprising if we’d chosen not to cooperate.”
The prime minister has been under pressure to detail the call amid concerns Australia was being dragged into US domestic political disputes. Mr Trump is facing an impeachment inquiry over his alleged threat to pull US aid to the Ukraine unless they helped investigate his political rival Joe Biden.
Mr Morrison said Mr Trump’s request of Australia was “polite”, “not ladled with pressure” and he did not recall Mr Trump using the word “favour” during the conversation.
Asked whether diplomatic cables would be handed over, he said that would be a “very unusual thing to do” and officials would not do anything that would harm Australia’s interests. He also did not rule out providing access to the former higher commissioner to the United Kingdom, Alexander Downer, who helped trigger the Mueller probe.
