Whistleblower wants to testify before House Intelligence Committee
The whistleblower who filed a complaint with the inspector general of the intelligence community regarding President Trump's communications with the Ukrainian president now wants to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, Chairman Adam Schiff tweeted Tuesday.
"We have been informed by the whistleblower's counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI as to how to do so. We're in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower's testimony as soon as this week," Schiff wrote.
We have been informed by the whistleblower’s counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI as to how to do so.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 24, 2019
We‘re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this week.
House Democrats are pressing for an investigation of a call between Mr. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during which Mr. Trump talked about former Vice President and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The call is the subject of the whistleblower's complaint, which the intelligence community inspector general found both credible and of "urgent concern." As a result, it was supposed to be turned over to the House Intelligence Committee, but the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, has declined to submit the complaint to the committee because he determined that it was not of urgent concern.
Mr. Trump said in a pair of tweets Tuesday that he's authorizing the release "of the complete, fully declassified and unredacted transcript of my phone conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine."
"You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time," his tweet read.
At least one week before Mr. Trump spoke with Zelensky in late July, he instructed his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to hold off on releasing nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine that had already been appropriated by Congress, CBS News' Major Garrett confirmed. Ultimately, the White House released the funds to Ukraine in September, after withholding the aid for about two months.
Meanwhile, the Senate unanimously passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday calling on the Trump administration to release the whistleblower's complaint.
The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has also written three letters to federal government officials seeking more information about the withholding of security funding for Ukraine.
When asked on Tuesday about his decision to hold back aid to Ukraine shortly before his call with the Ukrainian president, Mr. Trump said it was because he "wanted other countries to put up money."