Senate panel to look into whistleblower complaint

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday the Senate Intelligence Committee will look into a whistleblower’s complaint that reportedly alleges President Donald Trump pressured the Ukrainian leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a possible Trump opponent in the 2020 presidential race.

But only a handful of Republicans demanded that the Trump administration turn over the whistleblower’s complaint to the panel.

Reports that Trump spoke to a foreign leader about his political rival — and has refused to hand over a whistleblower’s complaint about it — have energized Democrats’ impeachment investigation and put congressional Republicans in the politically perilous position of choosing whether to defend the president.

McConnell said Monday that the Senate would move forward on a bipartisan basis, complaining that the Democratic-led House had “politicized” the issue.

Later this week, the Senate Intelligence Committee will attempt to privately interview the inspector general of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which received the complaint. The IG had determined that that the complaint was serious and urgent enough that — by law — it should be shared with congressional intelligence committees. Of particular interest is a transcript of a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the acting director of the national intelligence office has refused to turn over the information.

A small number of Senate Republicans expressed concern about the content of the allegations.

Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a rare Republican who has openly criticized Trump, said lawmakers should see the whistleblower complaint. The former CIA agent announced last month that he would not seek reelection.

“The most important concern for me is that members of the intelligence community, and connected to the intelligence community, that they have a protected way to share information with the intelligence committees,” Hurd said.

Some Republicans said Monday they were skeptical of the whistleblower’s complaint, echoing Trump’s criticism. “Is it a whistleblower or leaker?” asked Sen. John Cornyn, RTexas, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “I don’t know which. I just don’t think we know enough information.” Three House committee chairmen on Monday demanded that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo turn over documents relating to the president and Giuliani’s alleged attempt to solicit the help of the Ukranians in the 2020 election. They warned that they would begin preparing subpoenas.

Among other things, Democrats want to know if the Trump administration delayed about $250 million in military aid to Ukraine at the same time it was pressuring the country to reopen investigations into Biden and his son, Hunter.