In yet another cover up, the Trump administration is illegally keeping information about a major whistleblower complaint from the House Intelligence Committee, according to its chair, Rep. Adam Schiff. Schiff's accusation surfaced over the weekend after he subpoenaed acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire for the full complaint, which was allegedly deemed by the intelligence community's inspector general (IC IG) to be an "urgent concern." On Sunday, Schiff said Maguire was withholding the information at the request of a "higher authority."
"According to the director of national intelligence (DNI), the reason he's not acting to provide it, even though the statute mandates that he do so, is because he is being instructed not to. This involved a higher authority, someone above the DNI," Schiff told CBS News on Face the Nation.
By statute, the information should have been sent to the Intelligence panel by September 2, following a 7-day waiting period after the inspector general made its determination. In a letter to Maguire accompanying the subpoena, Schiff wrote: "So far as the Committee is aware, this marks the first time a Director of National Intelligence has ever sought to overrule the IC IG and conceal from Congress a whistleblower complaint."
Schiff said Maguire had departed from statutory protocol by consulting with the Department of Justice on the matter. He also said Maguire had "refused to affirm or deny" whether the White House had been involved in his decision to withhold the information. The statutory violation along with the unusual involvement of the Justice Department and perhaps even the White House led Schiff to believe foul play had occurred.
“The committee can only conclude, based on this remarkable confluence of factors, that the serious misconduct at issue involves the President of the United States and/or other senior White House or Administration officials," Schiff wrote.
If Maguire fails to comply with the committee’s subpoena by September 17, the panel expects him to appear at a public hearing on the matter September 19.