Face of Nation : Joseph Maguire, the acting director of National Intelligence, faced scrutiny Thursday from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as he testified before the House Intelligence Committee.
Maguire discussed his reasoning for initially blocking a whistleblower complaint’s transmission to members of Congress. The complaint centered on a call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump urged his counterpart to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden over Biden’s son’s connections to a Ukrainian gas company.
Reports of the complaint prompted House Democrats to open an impeachment inquiry against Trump. During his testimony, Maguire said he delayed passing along the complaint to Congress because of executive privilege to protect communications with the president.
“The White House did not direct me to withhold the complaint,” Maguire said. Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, questioned Maguire on whether the complaint mentioned “serious wrongdoing by the president of the United States.”
“Yes, that this is the subject of the allegation of the complaint,” Maguire replied. He added: “I am not authorized as the director of National Intelligence to provide material that has executive privilege.”
Schiff asked why Maguire went first to the White House and then to the Justice Department for advice on how to handle the complaint, despite Trump and Attorney General William Barr being subjects of the complaint. Schiff asked whether Maguire discussed the whistleblower complaint with Trump, but he declined to say.
Devin Nunes, the top Republican in the House Intelligence Committee, questioned Maguire on whether members of the Intelligence community were the ones to leak the whistleblower’s complaint to the media.
“I lead the intelligence community — we know how to keep a secret,” Maguire replied. He said he is unsure how the press found out about the complaint, adding “where they get their information from, I don’t know.” “But it was not from the intelligence community, from me or from my office,” he continued.
Nunes continued to press Maguire on how the complaint could have leaked, pointing to past conversations between the president and world leaders being reported on without a memo of the calls being released. “The allegation in the whistleblower complaint was there were about 12 people who listened in on the conversation,” Maguire said responded.
Maguire noted that members of the National Security Council were present for the phone call between Trump and Zelensky. He added that State Department officials were likely briefed on the call because “they have an area of responsibility and a region responsibility then they would be informed on the interaction.”
“So there were a number of people, that from the White House briefed on the call, this would not be something —,” Maguire continued. “Well I’m quite sure of this, the White House probably didn’t leak this out,” Nunes interrupted.
“I wouldn’t say the White House, but there are individuals within the White House that may or may not,” Maguire responded. “I don’t know. But it will not be from an intelligence intercept, I will say that.” Schiff also pressed Maguire on whether he thought the whistleblower is a “political hack,” quoting name-calling from Trump.
Trump last week derided the whistleblower as a “political hack” and said his communication with a foreign leader is a “ridiculous story.” “You don’t believe the whistleblower is a political hack, do you director,” Schiff said.
“I believe the whistle-blower is operating in good faith,” he said, adding the whistleblower “has followed the law.” Maguire added that it is his job “to support and lead the entire intelligence community.” “That individual works for me,” he continued. “Therefore it is my job to make sure I support and defend that person.”
When asked whether he thinks the whistleblower is disloyal to the United States, Maguire said “absolutely not.” “I believe that the whistleblower followed the steps every step of the way,” he said. “I think the whistleblower did the right thing.”
Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is a key figure in the whistleblower’s complaint and was mentioned in the call between Trump and Zelensky. The complaint highlights repeated efforts by Giuliani to help push Ukrainian officials to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter, in connection with the son’s association with a Ukrainian energy company.
Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., asked Maguire whether he knew if Giuliani has security clearance for the White House. “I don’t know,” Maguire said. “Congressman Quigley, I’m neither aware or unaware whether or not Mr. Giuliani has a security clearance.” Quigley went on to question whether Maguire knows what Giuliani’s role in the White House is.
“Congressman Quigley, my only knowledge of what Mr. Giuliani does, I have to be honest with you, I get from TV and the news media,” Maguire responded. “I am not aware of what he does, in fact, for the president.”
When asked whether the president’s mention of Giuliani in the call with Zelensky concerned him, Maguire did not answer. “There’s a lot of things that concern me,” he said. “I’m the director of national intelligence.”
