President Donald Trump is involved in yet another major scandal, this time involving a phone call he made to a foreign leader in which he made an inappropriate promise that forced one of his own appointees to become a whistleblower to warn Congress of this threat to national security.
Just days after a phone call in August with an unnamed foreign leader, a whistleblower in the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) made a disclosure to the Inspector General’s office describing a “serious or flagrant problem, abuse, violation of law or executive order, or deficiency” surrounding a promise Trump made to that leader, which the whistleblower deemed inappropriate.
As the Washington Post first reported, the call “prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community.”
By law, such a filing must be immediately submitted to Congress, but Trump is flagrantly flouting that law because his acting DNI chief Joseph Maguire is refusing to hand it over to the House Intelligence Committee, citing orders from a “higher authority.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) who chairs the committee, fired back by pointing out that no DNI chief has ever refused to hand over a whistleblower complaint, and will subpoena the complaint and enforce it.
No Director of National Intelligence has ever refused to turn over a whistleblower complaint the IG determined to be urgent and credible.
There is no privilege to engage in misconduct; not under this president, or any other.
That’s why I issued a subpoena and will enforce it. pic.twitter.com/pWg4MsOlwD
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 15, 2019
Of course, Trump himself whined about the whistleblower complaint on Twitter.
Another Fake News story out there – It never ends! Virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there may be many people listening from various U.S. agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself. No problem!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2019
….Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially “heavily populated” call. I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2019
National security expert Samantha Vinograd noted how concerning the complaint is and pointed out that Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not clear Trump of conspiracy with a foreign power.
We don’t know what the whistleblower complaint says: but with a @POTUS whom the Special Counsel couldn’t clear of conspiracy with a foreign power + who says he’s open to receiving foreign dirt, it’s not a stretch to understand why him making a “promise” is concerning.
— Sam Vinograd (@sam_vinograd) September 19, 2019
Making matters worse, CNN reported on Thursday morning that Trump spoke to only five foreign leaders in the days leading up to the complaint, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al Thani.
Did Trump make a promise to Putin or Kim Jong-Un? Did Trump compromise our national security and intelligence community? After all, he is good buddies with both of them despite their hostility towards the United States.
Congress must be given the complaint and it must be made public. The American people have the right to know if Trump is compromised by a foreign power. Also, in answer to Trump’s question about whether anyone really thinks he would be dumb enough to say something inappropriate to a foreign leader that would undermine our nation, the answer is clearly a resounding yes.
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