Nicholas Kamm/Reuters
Joseph Maguire speaks before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 25, 2018
- Joseph Maguire, the acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI), delivered a whistleblower complaint involving President Donald Trump to Congress on Wednesday.
- The move came hours after the White House released a memo of a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that is at the center of the complaint.
- The intelligence community inspector general, Michael Atkinson, determined that it was "credible" and of "urgent concern," which should have triggered a federal statute requiring the DNI to transmit the complaint to Congress.
- But the Justice Department and White House stopped Maguire from doing so because they argued that the complaint involved an individual - Trump - who is not under the DNI's jurisdiction.
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The acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Joseph Maguire, released a whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump to Congress on Wednesday.
The complaint was filed by a US intelligence official in August and centers around a July 25 phone call Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump repeatedly pushed Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and discredit the Russia probe. He also suggested Zelensky should work with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General William Barr on the matter.
After the whistleblower filed their complaint, the intelligence community inspector general, Michael Atkinson, determined it was "credible" and of "urgent concern," which should have triggered a federal statute requiring Maguire to transmit the complaint to congressional intelligence committees.
But after consulting with the Justice Department and White House officials, Maguire determined he was not required to turn over the document because it related to an individual - Trump - who is not under the DNI's jurisdiction.
Read more: Ukraine's president tells Trump to his face that he doesn't want to be involved in US elections
Revelations about the complaint ignited a firestorm in Congress and among the public, with many lawmakers and national-security veterans accusing Maguire of breaking the law by refusing to turn the complaint over.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump because of the unprecedented nature of the complaint, in which a sitting US president was accused of asking a foreign government to dip its toes into a presidential election by investigating his political opponent.
The White House released a memo of the phone call earlier Wednesday.
Trump had ordered the US to withhold a nearly $400 million military-aid package to Ukraine days before the phone call. Notes of the call show the US president made no direct mention of offering aid in exchange for Zelensky's assistance in probing Biden, but be brought up how the US does "a lot for Ukraine" right before asking Zelensky to help out with investigating Biden and undermining the Russia probe.
Maguire is set to testify on the complaint in an open hearing at 9 a.m. ET on Thursday.