An acting spying chief refuses to comply with a subpoena to appear before a group of House experts

The complaint "concerns confidential and potentially privileged matters relating to the interests of other stakeholders within the executive," says a copy of the letter obtained by CNN, adding that complying with the committee's demands "will require necessarily appropriate consultations ".

Maguire will not appear at Thursday's hearing

Schiff's subpoena was issued Friday night and the office of the National Intelligence Director said that it was not enough time to comply. Maguire will also not be at the scheduled congressional hearing on Thursday; his office states that he "is not available in such a short time".

In response, Schiff said: "IC IG has determined that the complaint is both credible and urgent, which is why the committee needs to act quickly." The position of the committee is clear: the acting IDU can either provide the complaint in accordance with the law, or it will have to appear before the Committee to tell the public why it does not respect the letter of the law, including whether the White House or the Attorney General enjoin him to do so. of the Committee, so I expect him to appear Thursday, with subpoena if necessary. "

Schiff said Monday night on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" that he had issued a subpoena to Maguire after the inspector general of the intelligence sector had found the complaint "credible" and "disturbing", conditions which, according to him, require a notification from the Congress.

Specifically, Schiff asks Maguire to postpone the decision of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community and all documents relating to the involvement of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in this case, including any correspondence with other players in the executive branch, such as the White House, "according to the press release issued last week by the congressman.

Schiff argued that the Acting National Intelligence Director had already taken unprecedented steps to retain the Congressional complaint.

"A director of national intelligence has never prevented a whistleblower complaint properly presented, deemed credible and urgent by IG IC, to be forwarded to congressional intelligence committees." raises serious concerns as to whether the White House, the Department of Justice or another executive body Branch officials are trying to prevent a legitimate complaint of denunciation from reaching the addressee of the congress , Congress, to conceal a serious fault, "he wrote in a statement last week.

Schiff also argued that Maguire had acted outside the authority of his position by consulting the Department of Justice about the complaint as it involved "another body of executive power in the treatment of a claim. complaint of denunciation.

Legal experts say that the relevant legal status has long been a matter of contention between the executive and the legislature.

"The executive branch – both in republican and democratic administrations – has always considered that it has the right to control whether and how Congress receives classified or privileged information from the executive and its employees. even when these employees were whistleblowers, whose complaints are filed under the law, "said Jamil N. Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Institute of Security of the Faculty of Law Antonin Scalia of the George Mason University.

"At the same time, Congress has long felt that its independent constitutional control and other authorities, including the power to legislate and the provision of appropriate funds, require it to have access to all the types of classified and privileged information and that it can allow whistleblowers to provide information directly to Congress under certain circumstances, as permitted by the relevant law, "he added.

Schiff said Monday that he did not know the exact nature of the complaint because he had not yet received the details of the office of the national intelligence director, nor the identity of the whistleblower.

He declined to say he had been contacted by the whistleblower or his legal representative, saying that he would not want to endanger them.

Limited options

The whistleblower, however, is probably aware of the details related to the complaint and a source close to the situation told CNN on Tuesday that the unknown lawyer was discussing next steps.

However, the options seem to be limited.

A source close to the case told CNN that the Whistleblower Protection Act in the intelligence community was likely only a real way: bypassing the office of the national intelligence director and forwarding the complaint directly to the committee.

This path can also be complicated, the source warned, pointing out that it could pose classification issues related to the transmission of material.

"In the end, because the relevant law does not clearly allow the whistleblower to go directly to Congress in the exact circumstances at stake – even if he has arguments to make – this is likely to fall Jaffer, who also He has served as lead counsel to the Permanent Chamber, "said Jaffer, who also served as senior legal advisor at House Permanent Select, Intelligence Committee.

"Because the courts will probably take a long time to act and might even refuse to intervene because of the political nature of the dispute and the potential problems of national security, Congress will likely be left with other tools quite limited to force the president and his team to do what he wants, including by exerting public pressure, threatening to withhold the appointment of DNI Maguire as DNI, threatening to dismiss Maguire and cutting funding asked by the administration, "he told CNN.