Rep. Peter Welch called Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire’s approach to handling the whistleblower complaint detailing President Donald Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president in July “a dilemma for our democracy.”
Just days after House Democrats announced they are launching an impeachment inquiry over the phone call, Vermont’s lone House member and others on the House Intelligence Committee questioned Maguire, who did not forward the whistleblower complaint to Congress when he received it in August.
The chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff of California, and other Democratic members of the panel have accused Maguire of violating the law by failing to give the complaint to lawmakers.
In the document, which was made public on Thursday, the whistleblower voiced concern about Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25, and his request that the leader investigate former vice president and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden.
The whistleblower also reported that White House officials attempted to “lock down” records of the call between Trump and Zelensky.
Maguire told the committee on Thursday that he handled the complaint “in full compliance with the law at all times” and that his delay in providing lawmakers with the document stemmed from his concerns over executive privilege.
But Welch and other Democrats said that they disagreed with Maguire’s handling of the complaint, and that he should have provided it to Congress promptly.
“Under your approach as you saw it, it means that no one would be investigating the underlying conduct because in this case executive privilege applies, and number two the president who had the conversation is above the law,” Welch said. “So that’s a dilemma for our democracy is it not?”
Schiff, the committee chair, also told Maguire it was inappropriate for him to withhold the complaint.
“You stood silent when an intelligence professional under your care and protection was ridiculed by the president, was accused of potentially betraying his or her country when that whistleblower by their fact of coming forward has shown more dedication to country, more of an understanding of the president’s oath office than the president has ever demonstrated,” Schiff said.
Republicans on the committee defended Maguire, who said that this whistleblower case is different than others because it involves the president, who does not fall under the authority of his office.
“I think you’re nuts if you think you’re going to convince the American people that your cause is just by attacking this man,” Rep. Chris Stuart, R-Utah, told Democrats Thursday. “[It’s] clear that he felt there’s a discrepancy, a potential deficiency in the law. He was trying to do the right thing.”
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the former chair, blasted the Democrats’ complaint as highly politicized and called it the “rollout” of their “latest operation warfare against the president.”
While Welch criticized Maguire, he said he didn’t think the intelligence chief handled the complaint in bad faith.
“I disagree with some of the decisions you made, but I have no doubt whatsoever that the same sense of duty that you applied in your long and illustrious career guided you as you made these decisions,” Welch told Maguire, a retired Navy vice admiral and high-ranking official at the National Counterterrorism Center.