Schiff: Senior intelligence official refuses to respond to "urgent" whistleblower complaint

The country's top intelligence official has refused to comply with a subpoena from the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee to give the content of a complaint of denunciation, a government watchdog deemed "urgent" and credible, said Tuesday evening the chairman of the committee, Adam Schiff. The California Democrat warned that the agency could conceal high-profile wrongdoing by President Donald Trump or his immediate advisers.

"The position of the committee is clear – the Interim DNI [Director of National Intelligence] can either file the complaint in accordance with the law, or be called to appear before the committee to tell the public why it does not respect the letter of the law, especially if the White House or the Attorney General ask him to: do it "said Schiff.

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"He has not yet provided the complaint in response to the committee's subpoena, so I expect him to appear Thursday – with a subpoena if necessary", did he -he adds.

Schiff sounded the alarm last week after acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, intervened to prevent Congress from receiving the content of the still-secret whistleblower's complaint. According to Schiff, Maguire reportedly returned the document to the Department of Justice and told him that he would refuse to share it because it would involve someone outside the intelligence sector and could involve issues of confidentiality and privilege.

Schiff scoured Maguire for violating a law that requires him to report to Congress any complaints relating to a denunciation deemed urgent by the Inspector General of the intelligence community. He stated that the confusion of factors led him to believe that the complaint involved Trump or other senior executive officials.

But DNI's general attorney, Jason Klitenic, insisted Tuesday in a letter to Schiff that Maguire had followed the letter of the law by blocking the transmission of the complaint to Congress. The law on whistleblowers governing his agency, he said, only applies when the complaint concerns a member of the intelligence community. Because it was aimed at someone outside the intelligence community, he said, the whistleblowing law does not apply to this scenario.

According to the law, said Klitenic, to consider a complaint of denunciation as "urgent" is only valid if it applies to the behavior of someone "within the responsibility and authority" of the DNI. As a result, he stated that after consulting with the Department of Justice, he determined that the complaint was not an "urgent" concern that needed to be conveyed to Congress.

He promised in his letter to protect the whistleblower's identity and to prevent any possibility of retaliation. "We will not allow the complainant to be subject to reprisals or adverse consequences based on his communication of the complaint to the Inspector General," wrote Klitenic.

"We also believe that it would be premature for the DNI to appear Thursday at a congressional hearing," Klitenic added, adding that Maguire would not be available on short notice and that he was still considering responding appropriately to the committee's requests. .