The whistleblower who sparked the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump was a CIA officer assigned to the White House, US media have reported, on a day in which the Trump administration was accused of attempting to “cover up” the president’s Ukraine conversation. Democrats have continued to question the behaviour of the state department and Trump’s lawyer Rudy Guiliani in their dealings with the Ukrainian government. The governor of Vermont, Phil Scott, has become the first Republican to come out in support of the impeachment inquiry.
Age pensioners could be the target of more than 1 million new robodebt calls as the government seeks to expand its heavily criticised data-matching program over the next three years. Having primarily focused on targeting Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients, departmental projections put to the Senate suggest the scheme will be expanded to include pensioners, to help meet fiscal savings targets of $2.1bn. The peak welfare body has called for the program to be abolished: “People have reported their life being ruined as a result of robodebt,” Acoss said.
