That Intel Whistleblower’s Complaint to IG? It Was Against Trump — and It’s Deadly Serious
The whistleblower complaint that has triggered a tense showdown between the U.S. intelligence community and Congress involves President Trump’s communications with a foreign leader, according to two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Trump’s interaction with the foreign leader included a “promise” that was regarded as so troubling that it prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community, said the former officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. :
Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson determined that the complaint was credible and troubling enough to be considered a matter of “urgent concern,” a legal threshold that ordinarily requires notification of congressional oversight committees. …
The inspector general “determined that this complaint is both credible and urgent,” Schiff said in the statement released Wednesday evening. “The committee places the highest importance on the protection of whistleblowers and their complaints to Congress.”
NBC has confirmed the story:
A former US intelligence official confirms to me that this whistleblower complaint was about a Trump phone call. Need to find different words for unprecedented. https://t.co/y6N4U1KzN2
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) September 19, 2019
A whistleblower complaint by an intelligence officer that the Trump administration is withholding from Congress involves a phone conversation had by the president, a former U.S. intelligence official familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday night.
Is anyone willing to bet that said source is Dan Coats? And, as Neal Katyal points out, lordy, there are likely to be tapes.
This is going to be huge. DOJ& Admin are contorting themselves backwards to try to hide this. Truth will come out. There are probably tapes and transcripts documenting a gross abuse of power by Trump. Gonna be ugly.And enablers should all face consequences https://t.co/0HaeWkd6aI
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) September 19, 2019
Of all the nightmare scenarios that could constitute an “urgent, credible” whistleblower complaint from within the intelligence community, a Trump “promise” to a foreign leader has to be among the most alarming. https://t.co/HqCWrijYVr
— Ned Price (@nedprice) September 19, 2019
Lawrence Tribe observes:
The federal whistleblower law’s explicit preclusion of judicial review of actions by the DNI and the IG means that impeachment is the exclusive remedy for defiance of the law’s obligations. @SpeakerPelosi, are you listening?
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) September 19, 2019
It is long past time for Donald Trump to be removed from power. Could this be the straw that breaks Moscow Mitch’s back?
