This archive report was first published on 25 September 2019.
On September 10, 2019, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff sent an angry letter to Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, accusing him of violating the law by refusing to share the whistle-blower's complaint with Congress.
Maguire's decision was reportedly based on the Justice Department's disagreement with the inspector general's conclusion that the complaint's subject matter was covered under the law requiring disclosure to Congress.
However, as the impeachment inquiry came into focus, Maguire relented and was expected to release a redacted version of the complaint in the coming days. Administration officials were also working on a deal to allow the whistle-blower to file the complaint with congressional investigators.
Maguire is set to testify about the matter on Thursday, September 26, 2019.
What did the whistle-blower claim? ¶
The complaint's full details remain a mystery, as does the whistle-blower's identity. However, in a closed-door briefing with the House Intelligence Committee, the inspector general for the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson, said that the complaint involved multiple actions, suggesting that the matter goes beyond the president's July phone call.
What does Mr. Trump say? ¶
The president insists that he has been unfairly accused, saying that the whistle-blower is 'partisan' and that Democrats and the news media are initiating a new 'witch hunt' against him. Trump has also said that he is aware that his conversations with foreign leaders are monitored by numerous government officials and that he would not incriminate himself so easily.
What is Mr. Giuliani's role? ¶
Rudy Giuliani has communicated with Ukrainian officials for months about the Bidens and has pressed them about the circumstances of the 2016 disclosures of payments earmarked by a Russia-aligned Ukrainian political party to Paul Manafort, Trump's 2016 campaign chairman. Giuliani has sought information about both subjects and traveled to Madrid this summer for a meeting with one of Zelensky's top aides, whom he urged to investigate the matters.
