President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE pressed the Australian prime minister to assist Attorney General William Barr Bill BarrFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Why a backdoor to encrypted data is detrimental to cybersecurity and data integrity FBI official who worked with Mueller raised doubts about Russia investigation MORE obtain information about the Russia probe's origins in a recent phone call, The New York Times reported on Monday.

The White House has limited access to the transcript of the call between the two world leaders to a small group of presidential aids, sources told the Times.

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Echoing another call Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which sparked an impeachment inquiry in the House last week, the conversation with Prime Minister Scott Morrison reportedly involves the president pressuring a foreign leader to look into domestic political matters.

According to the Times, the president sought out Morrison's help upon request from Barr.

Trump is requesting Australia examine their tips to the FBI to see if they were sent for partisan or corrupt reasons, the Times reported.



This conversation occurred weeks following the controversial call with Zelensky, according to the Times.

An Australian government spokesperson told The Hill that the government is always "ready to assist and cooperate with efforts that help shed further light on the matters under investigation." "The PM confirmed this readiness once again in conversation with the President," the spokesperson said in a statement.

The Hill has reached out to the White House and the Department of Justice for comment.

Updated: 5:44 p.m.