Trump news: Intel chief admits Ukraine whistleblower complaint ‘unprecedented’ as details reveal White House tried to hide phone call record
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A whistleblower complaint alleging Donald Trump sought to pressure the president of Ukraine in an official government call to investigate a key political rival has been made public, just days after the House opened a formal impeachment hearing against the president over those claims.
A redacted version of the document – which Democrats have described as “explosive” and “deeply disturbing” – was made public Thursday morning, and claims that the White House may have regularly moved records of the president’s calls into a keyword classified database for political reasons, instead of serious national security concerns.
Acting national intelligence director Joseph Maguire has testified to the House Intelligence Committee about his handling of the complaint, and has called the situation “unprecedented”.
As the impeachment calls have grown, polls show that the American people are hearing the message, with a significant growth in the number of Americans who say they support the measure since this weekend, according to Morning Consult.
Mr Trump has maintained that the whole thing is a witch hunt intended to undermine his presidency, and it appears as though the president can rely on his Republican colleagues in the Senate to thwart any effort to remove him from office — at least for now.
Elsewhere, the offices of Bernie Sanders were evacuated on Thursday afternoon after a suspicious package was found in Vermont. It was not immediately clear what the package was.
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Fresh on the heels of questioning about leaks of Mr Trump's call with the Ukrainian president:
"The American public is not aware of the allegations of the president asking for a favor of investigation into his political opponent, we're not aware of the murky decision to withhold aide, we're not aware of Mr Giuliani's apparent establishment of a personal State Department, we are not aware of a possible retaliation against a US ambassador. None of this happened but for the decision of your inspector general Michael Atkinson, a man who was appointed by President Trump and confirmed by a Republican Senate," said representative Jim Himes.
Representative Terri Sewell says that she is worried about the "chilling effect" that this whistleblower instance could have on others, if it is not taken seriously.
"I have endeavored to transmit to the intelligence community my support of whistleblowers and I am quite sure for at least two hours this morning there were not many people in the intelligence community who were doing anything but watching this," Mr Maguire says.
Ms Sewell, as many have done today, noted that the president called the whistleblower a "political hack".
Mr Maguire notes that he does not know the identity of the whistleblower.
Mr Maguire has, today, refused to recount specific conversations between himself and the president. That includes whether he had spoken to Mr Trump about the complaint.
"My conversations with the president, because I am director of national intelligence, are privileged," he says
"Supporting the men and women in the intelligence community is my highest priority," Mr Maguire says, when asked how he will work to ensure that this whistleblower process will not have a "chilling effect".
Here's Adam Schiff warning of the chilling effect for whistleblowers, based on how this process has played out:
"If that system is allowed to break down, as it did here, if whistleblowers come to understand they will not be protected, one of two things happen — serious wrongdoing goes unreported, or whistleblowers take matters into their own hands and divulge classified information to the press in violation of the law and placing our security at risk,” he said during opening remarks earlier today.
"By law, the whistleblower complaint, which brought this gross misconduct to light, should have been presented to this committee weeks ago, and by you, Mr. Director, under the clear letter of the law," he continued.
Mr Maguire says he will give whistleblower complaints to Congress "as required" by statute. Democrats are really going after him for not handing over the complaint earlier than he did.
He also says that he "delayed it", meaning handing the complaint to the intelligence committee.
Democrats focusing on the process related to the whistleblower complaint has brought about quite a few criticisms.
Below, from a law professor at the University of Texas:
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