ULTIMATUM

Acting DNI Chief Threatened to Quit if Forced to ‘Stonewall Congress’ Over Whistleblower Complaint: WaPo

Maguire reportedly told the White House that he would not withhold information from Congress about the whistleblower complaint involving Trump.

Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire threatened to resign if the White House wouldn’t let him speak freely during his scheduled congressional testimony Thursday about the whistleblower complaint involving President Trump and Ukraine’s leader, The Washington Post reports. Maguire reportedly told the White House that he would not be withholding information from Congress, unless the White House was going to assert executive privilege on the matter and pursue a legal case preventing his cooperation. It is reportedly unclear whether Maguire’s threat to resign forced the White House to permit his testimony, but officials told the newspaper that Maguire wanted to speak with lawmakers to defend the actions he took. The Office of the DNI has commented publicly on the matter. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham tweeted that the Post’s report was “actually not true.”

Maguire reportedly refused to hand over the full whistleblower complaint—which Congress requested—after consulting with Justice Department officials. This led the Intelligence Community’s inspector general to notify Congress of the complaint directly, and speak with the House Intelligence Committee last week. In a Tuesday statement, Maguire said he “follow[ed] the law every step of the way.”