US lawmakers will question Trump's chief on the report of a whistleblower

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top intelligence chief of President Donald Trump will be questioned Thursday by US lawmakers on the administration 's management of an emergency whistle – blower report that is at the center of the report. an impeachment investigation by the president.

Acting National Intelligence Director Joseph Maguire will testify before the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee after refusing to forward the complaint to Congress, despite the law requiring it to be sent to legislators after the Inspector General considered urgent and credible.

Maguire has been in his job for less than two months.

While the formal impeachment investigation announced Tuesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is led by Democrats, some Trump Republican compatriots have joined them in asking the administration to send the report. in Congress. Members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees were allowed to see the complaint on Wednesday.

"Republicans should not rush around the trolleys to say that there was no highway there, it's obvious that many things are very troubling," said Senator Ben Sasse , member of the Intelligence and Senate Committee, after reading the document.

The Senate passed a resolution calling for the report to be released unanimously on Tuesday. The House passed a similar measure by 421-0, with two Republicans voting "present" on Wednesday even after the administration gave in and agreed to let members of the Senate Committee and House Intelligence refer to the classified report. in secure rooms on Capitol Hill.

The dispute over the report is the last chapter of an ongoing power struggle. The Trump administration is resisting the efforts of Democratic lawmakers who are investigating the president's trade relations and actions to obtain documents, archives and testimonies from the White House and senior officials.

The whistleblower's report would include the story of a phone call made on July 25 between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump would urge Zelenskiy to investigate a political rival, "he said. former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden, in coordination with the US Attorney General. Trump's personal attorney.

There is no evidence that Biden, or his son Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of directors of a Ukrainian company, acted badly.

The call took place after Trump had ordered the freeze of US aid to Ukraine, worth nearly $ 400 million, as the administration did not released only later.

The Trump administration released a half-hour account of the phone conversation Wednesday, one day after Pelosi announced that the Democrat-led House was launching the official indictment investigation.

MONITORING OF THE COMMITTEE

Democrat representative Adam Schiff, who will lead the hearing as chairman of the House's intelligence committee, said after reading the whistleblower report that he was well-drafted and qualified the claims of "deeply troubling" and "credible".

"The complaint (…) certainly provides information to the committee for follow-up," he said.

Schiff said the Justice Department had misinterpreted the law by preventing Maguire from disclosing his complaint.

Maguire could also be questioned about a report released Wednesday in the Washington Post, according to which he allegedly threatened to resign, fearing that the White House would compel him to refuse to disclose information to lawmakers. Maguire, the former director of the National Counter Terrorism Center, issued a statement denying this report.

Following Thursday's public hearing at 9:00 am, Maguire is expected to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee in camera at 11:00 am

Trump named Maguire, a retired admiral of the Navy interim director of intelligence early last month. Trump has yet to appoint a permanent candidate, which should be confirmed by the Senate.

Trump and Zelenskiy appeared side by side in New York on the sidelines of the US General Assembly on Wednesday and denied the irregularity of their appeal. The Ukrainian president told reporters: "Nobody pushed me."

And at a press conference closing three days of meetings around the US General Assembly, Trump accused Democrats of opening an impeachment investigation for political ends, "because they can not to beat the ballot.