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Whistleblower accuses Trump of soliciting foreign aid to meddle in 2020 election – live
Whistleblower accuses Trump of soliciting foreign aid to meddle in 2020 election – live
(32 minutes later)
The whistleblower’s account of Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president aligns with many of the details included in the White House memo on the leaders’ conversation.
Maguire began his opening statement by applauding the work of the House intelligence committee and stressing that his ultimate loyalty is to the Constitution.
Namely, the whistleblower writes that Trump “pressured” Volodymyr Zelenskiy to “initiate or continue an investigation into the activities of former Vice President Joseph Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.”
“I am not partisan, and I am not political,” Maguire told the committee, noting that he has served under eight presidents and taken the oath of the Constitution 11 times.
The whistleblower added that Trump urged Zelenskiy to locate servers used by he Democratic National Committee and confer with his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and the attorney general, William Barr.
NEW: Rep. Adam Schiff to Acting DNI Joseph Maguire: "In our limited interactions we have had since you became director...you have struck me as a good and decent man. Which makes your actions over the last month all the more bewildering." https://t.co/fUBRdsHDCG pic.twitter.com/b9BpqId7U3
The whistleblower writes that Trump used his call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to “advance his personal interests.”
Joseph Maguire has been sworn in and is now making his opening statement.
“Multiple White House officials with direct knowledge of the call informed me that, after an initial exchange of pleasantries, the President used the remainder of the call to advance his personal interests,” the whistleblower writes.
Adam Schiff, jumping the gun a bit, initially tried to jump right into questioning – apparently forgetting that the acting director of national intelligence intended to deliver an opening statement.
“Namely, he sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President’s 2020 reelection bid.”
Nunes also used his opening statement to accuse reporters of engaging in a conspiracy to oust Trump from office.
The whistleblower said in the complaint that Trump has used the weight of his office to request that foreign powers interfere in the 2020 election.
Rep Nunes is setting his own tone. He says Democrats and their "media assets" (He means reporters.) are out to get Pres. Trump with a "fake story" & doing "monumental damage." He claims, without evidence & explanation, that whistleblower complaint is another "Steele dossier."
“In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” the whistleblower writes.
The three major US broadcast networks have switched to live coverage of the hearing, demonstrating how historic many expect this event to become.
The whistleblower notes that while the person did not witness most of the events described, they were consistently recounted by multiple people, and those accounts fit a fact pattern that has also been reported publicly.
For the second day in a row, all three broadcast networks have ditched their regular programming to go live.
The whistleblower writes in the letter that Trump has used the presidency to pressure foreign leaders to meddle in the 2020 election.
As Nunes dismisses the whistleblower complaint as a “hoax,” it’s worth noting that another Republican on the House intelligence committee, Will Hurd of Texas, has said he found the complaint “concerning.”
The whistleblower argues that these efforts “pose risks to U.S. national security” and represent a serious abuse of power.
There is a lot in the whistleblower complaint that is concerning. We need to fully investigate all of the allegations addressed in the letter, and the first step is to talk to the whistleblower.
The House intelligence committee has posted the complaint written by the whistleblower here. The whistleblower’s seven-page, unclassified letter can be read in its entirety, but an attached appendix includes redactions.
The top Republican on the House intelligence committee, Devin Nunes, is now delivering his opening statement.
Trump has already sent about three dozen tweets and retweets this morning claiming that Democrats’ impeachment inquiry is a “scam” and that the White House memo on his Ukraine call was not at all incriminating.
The California Republican accused Democrats of promoting a campaign of “information warfare” against Trump.
So, you know, he’s clearly not nervous about today’s hearing ...
Nunes sarcastically said he would “congratulate” his Democratic colleagues on opening a new line of inquiry against the president.
So bad for our Country! https://t.co/BzICeKn8hY
Schiff has turned his attention to the actions of Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence and the star of today’s hearing.
Maguire will testify publicly before the House intelligence committee in about 30 minutes and later speak privately to the Senate intelligence committee, where he will be joined by intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson.
Schiff started by applauding Maguire’s long government record. But the committee chairman said that record made Maguire’s actions over the past month all the more “bewildering.”
The intelligence committees received a partial, classified version of the whistleblower complaint yesterday, leading to complaints from some Democrats that they had not been provided enough information.
He criticized Maguire for not making the whistleblower complaint immediately available and for conferring with the attorney general, William Barr, when he was implicated in the complaint.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement this morning that it has provided lawmakers with a declassified version of the report to use in today’s hearing.
Schiff once again compared Trump’s actions to those of a mob boss, arguing they represented a serious abuse of power.
“Consistent with the accommodations process, last night ODNI formally transmitted a properly classified version of the complaint to the congressional intelligence committees,” the statement read. “We also provided Congress a redacted version of the complaint that Members can bring to an open hearing. ODNI is not planning to release the redacted version of the complaint at this time.”
“it would be funny if it wasn’t such a graphic betrayal of the president’s oath of office,” Schiff said of Trump’s comments to the Ukrainian president.
Trump is offering some counterprogramming to Maguire’s hearing this morning by disparaging Democrats’ impeachment inquiry and retweeting allies who have tried to minimize the White House memo on the president’s call with the leader of Ukraine.
The House intelligence committee chairman asserted Trump’s actions were “the most consequential form of tragedy.” Schiff said the founders allowed a remedy for such a “flagrant abuse of office”: impeachment.
THE GREATEST SCAM IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS!
Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, said in his opening statement that Trump had “betrayed” his oath of office as president and threatened US national security.
Thank you Jim! https://t.co/9ldr6iSdpl
Schiff argued the whistleblower complaint provided the most “graphic evidence yet” that Trump had violated the Constitution.
So cute! Her father is under siege, for no reason, since his first day in office! https://t.co/8wtB3H4fth
Schiff said: “If we do not defend the nation, there is no Constitution. But if we do not defend the Constitution, there is no nation worth defending.”
The president and his allies have argued that the memo showed no direct quid pro quo in the conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but Democrats note the document (which is not a verbatim transcript) of the call includes Trump asking for a “favor” after the Ukrainian leader mentions military aid to his country.
The whistleblower said that White House officials were “deeply disturbed” by what had transpired in the phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president.
Good morning, live blog readers!
“They told me there was already a ‘discussion ongoing’ with White House lawyers about how to treat the call because of the likelihood, in the officials’ retelling, that they had witnesses the President abuse his office for personal gain,” the whistleblower wrote in the complaint.
It’s like Mueller day all over again. The acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, is expected on Capitol Hill at 9am EST to testify about the whistleblower complaint that Donald Trump improperly pressured the president of Ukraine to open an investigation into Joe Biden.
The chairman of the House intelligence committee, Adam Schiff, has gaveled in the hearing with Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, on the whistleblower complaint.
Maguire will almost certainly be pushed for more details on the whistleblower complaint and his handling of it, not to mention the Washington Post report that he threatened to resign if the White House tried to prevent him from testifying freely today. (Maguire has denied the report.)
The acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, has arrived to testify before the House intelligence committee.
The hearing will probably be the largest hurdle of Maguire’s tenure so far – although that isn’t saying much because he only took over the job last month, following the resignation of Dan Coats.
But the answers the acting director provides could provide a road map for Democrats as they weigh next steps in their formal impeachment inquiry, making today’s hearing a consequential development in what will likely be a long process.
Here’s what else the blog is keeping its eye on today:
Trump will speak at a morning fundraiser in New York before returning to Washington.
Nancy Pelosi will hold her weekly press conference at 10.45am, where the Hose speaker will certainly be pressed for more details on her caucus’ impeachment inquiry.
Jim Mattis, Trump’s former defense secretary, is speaking at the Atlantic Festival at 11.30am.
