Inspector General Notified Intelligence Committee that the Administration Was Withholding Whistleblower Complaint
Later that same day, September 9, Inspector General Atkinson sent a letter to Chairman Schiff and Ranking Member Nunes notifying them that an Intelligence Community whistleblower had filed a complaint with the ICIG on August 12.985 Pursuant to a statute governing whistleblower disclosures, the Inspector General—after a condensed, preliminary review—had determined that the complaint constituted an "urgent concern" and that its allegations appeared to be "credible."986 The Inspector General's September 9 letter did not disclose the substance or topic of the whistleblower complaint.
Contrary to uniform past practice and the clear requirements of the whistleblower statute, Acting DNI Maguire withheld the whistleblower complaint based on advice from the White House.987 Acting DNI Maguire also relied upon an unprecedented intervention by the Department of Justice into Intelligence Community whistleblower matters to overturn the ICIG's determination based on a preliminary investigation.988
The White House had been aware of the whistleblower complaint weeks prior to the ICIG's letter of September 9.989 Acting DNI Maguire testified that, after receiving the whistleblower complaint from the Inspector General on August 26, his office contacted the White House Counsel's Office for guidance.990
Consistent with Acting DNI Maguire's testimony, the New York Times reported that in late August, Mr. Cipollone and National Security Council Legal Advisor John Eisenberg personally briefed President Trump about the complaint's existence—and explained to the President that they believed the complaint could be withheld on executive privilege grounds.991 The report alleged that Mr. Cipollone and Mr. Eisenberg "told Mr. Trump they planned to ask the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to determine whether they had to disclose the complaint to lawmakers."992
On September 10, Chairman Schiff wrote to Acting DNI Maguire to express his concern about the Acting DNI's "unprecedented departure from past practice" in withholding the whistleblower complaint from the Congressional intelligence committees notwithstanding his "express obligations under the law" and the Inspector General's determination.993 Chairman Schiff observed that the "failure to transmit to the Committee an urgent and credible whistleblower complaint, as required by law, raises the prospect that an urgent matter of a serious nature is being purposefully concealed from the Committee."994
Also on September 10, Ambassador John Bolton resigned from his position as National Security Advisor. Ambassador Bolton's deputy, Dr. Charles Kupperman, became the Acting National Security Advisor. The Committee was unable to determine if Ambassador Bolton's departure related to the matters under investigation because neither he nor Dr. Kupperman agreed to appear for testimony as part of this inquiry.
On September 13, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) General Counsel informed the Committee that DOJ had overruled the ICIG's determination, and that the
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