Intel chief on House grill
Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified in Congress on Thursday that the whistleblower who filed a complaint against President Trump acted in “good faith.”
“First, I want to stress I believe the whistleblower and the inspector general have acted in good faith throughout,” Maguire told members of the House Intelligence Committee.
“I have every reason to believe that they have done everything by the book and followed the law.”
Maguire, appointed by Trump last month to succeed Dan Coats, also argued that he himself properly handled the whistleblower’s complaint.
“I am not familiar with any prior instances where a whistleblower complaint touched on such complicated and sensitive issues, including executive privilege,” Maguire told lawmakers.
“I believe that this matter is unprecedented. I also believe that I handled this matter in full compliance with the law at all times.”
Trump, speaking to reporters after returning to Washington from New York where he attended the UN General Assembly, called the House hearing a “disgrace.”
“It shouldn’t be allowed. There should be a way of stopping it,” the president said.
Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the ranking Republican on the panel, said the hearing was based on “hearsay evidence provided by a whistleblower.”
House Democrats ripped into Trump for pushing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to probe Joe Biden — his possible Democratic opponent.
Trump “betrayed his oath to defend our national security and betrayed his oath to defend our constitution,” said panel Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
Maguire was pounded by questions over why he took the report to the Department of Justice and the White House to clear its release before turning it over to Congress as spelled out in the law.
He said there were unresolved issues about executive privilege because the president was a participant in the phone call.
“It was not stonewalling. I was not receiving direction from anybody,” he said. “I have to comply with the way the law is, not the way some people would like it to be.”
The complaint was filed with Michael Atkinson, the inspector general of the intelligence community, on Aug. 12 but it wasn’t sent to Congress until Wednesday and released publicly moments before Maguire’s appearance.
The rough transcript of the phone call between Trump and Zelensky was released Wednesday.
Despite repeated goading from several Democrats, Maguire refused to say whether he discussed the whistleblower’s report with Trump — citing privileged conversations — and wouldn’t tell committee members whether he believes the president should be investigated.
“Chairman, the horse has left the barn. You have all the information,” Maguire told Schiff during a tense exchange.
The weeks-long delay in providing the report to Congress infuriated lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who said Maguire broke the law by not turning over the complaint to Congress.
Citing White House stonewalling and leaked details of the phone call, Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Tuesday that the House was launching a formal impeachment inquiry.