The White House tried to cover up details of a damning telephone conversation between Donald Trump and the president of Ukraine.

It's alleged that during the call, Mr Trump pushed Wladimir Zelinsky to investigate Joe Biden, one of the front runners hoping to challenge him for the White House in next year's presidential election.

Democrats in the House of Representatives have now begun an impeachment inquiry, the process by which an American president can be removed from office on North America.

Editor John So Paul has the latest from Washington.

Joseph Maguire is a man who spent his career living in the shadows.

Not anymore, Theo.

Evidence that the acting director of national intelligence is giving today could have a critical bearing on the future of Donald Trump's presidency following that contested cool with the Ukrainian leader.

Donald Trump, who met Vladimir Zelinsky at the U.

N.

Yesterday, insists that the core was perfect, even though he blatantly asks the Ukrainian leader to investigate his main Democratic political rival, Joe Biden.

But today, a whistle blower's letter was made public, and its allegations are damning, he says.

After an initial exchange of pleasantries, the president used the remainder of the cool to advance his personal interests.

Namely, he sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the president 2020 reelection bid.

And he goes on.

White House officials told me they were directed by White House lawyers to remove the Elektronik transcript from the computer system in which such transcripts are typically stored for coordination, finalisation and distribution to Cabinet level officials and citing White House officials.

One other thing, the whistle blower says, is this isn't the first time the administration has treated a transcript like this, not because it's a matter of national security, but because it's politically sensitive on DSO to the evidence.

Would you agree that the whistleblower complaint alleges serious wrongdoing by the president?

United STATES?

The first question seemed to cause Mr McGuire discomfort.

The whistleblower complaint involved there.

The allegation of that.

But it is not for me in the intelligence community.

Decide how the president conducts ISAT foreign policy.

The White House has sought to undermine the credibility of the whistleblower.

Thean Teligent chief, though, was noticeably not going there.

I think the whistleblowing did the right thing.

I think he followed the law every step of the way that complaint states at the White House tried to lock down all records of the call, and Democrats are seizing on the whistle blower's letter.

This is a cover.

This is a cover.

Donald Trump's anger over attempts by Democrats to impeach him is palpable.

What these guys are doing Democrats are doing to this country is a disgrace, and it shouldn't be allowed.

There should be a way of stopping it.

The president returned to the White House this afternoon after what's being a bruising few days in New York events are moving at speed and not in the direction Donald Trump would want.

What's been striking is that the Republicans seem to be going after the Democrats farm or than this whistle blows statement from the White House said something along these lines.

Nothing has changed with the release of the complaint, which is nothing more than a collection of Third had accounts of events on cobbled together press clippings or yes, but no, because actually, what the whistleblower has done is made some very specific allegations about whether the transcript of this call was handled differently from other calls on that is very easy to prove or disprove.

And that's gonna be the focus of questioning one other thing when compared to the Russia investigation, which was sprawling and sometimes nebulous and hard to get a grip on.

Actually, what the whistle blower has said in this cool with the Ukrainian president is very clear and very easy to grasp on potentially therefore, much more dangerous.

Clive John.

Thank you for that, John.

Sir Paul there live at the White House.