A week ago Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, revealed that a whistleblower made a complaint that was blocked from being shared with Congress by Joseph Maguire, acting Director of National Intelligence. This is centered around President Trump making an unspecified commitment to a foreign leader, which was perceived as something of egregious nature. Although it remains unclear exactly what the allegations are, information from sources familiar with the matter have affirmed that at least part of the allegations involve Ukraine. The inspector general has found the action credible, though it has not been transmitted to congress because the Director of National Intelligence received notice from the Department of Justice that there are privileged communications involved.
Recent allegations involving Ukraine could be related to the current complaint under inspection, given that President Trump spoke with President Zelensky on July 25, 2019, two and a half weeks before the complaint was filed. House Democrats recently investigated President Trump and his lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani’s, interactions with Ukraine, stating that the administration tried to manipulate the Ukrainian justice system to benefit the president’s reelection campaign and target possible political opponents, namely Joe Biden. The lack of transparency about the complaint and suspicions about President Trump’s negotiations with foreign leaders elucidates the dispute between administration officials and House Democrats.
