The whistleblower complaint withheld from Congress on the orders of the Department of Justice and Director of National Intelligence alleged multiple intelligence violations according to the New York Times.
A potentially explosive complaint by a whistle-blower in the intelligence community said to involve President Trump was related to a series of actions that goes beyond any single discussion with a foreign leader, according to interviews on Thursday.
The complaint was related to multiple acts, Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for American spy agencies, told lawmakers during a private briefing, two officials familiar with it said. But he declined to discuss specifics, including whether the complaint involved the president, according to committee members.
The Donald, y’all will not be surprised to learn, says it is all fake news.
….Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially “heavily populated” call. I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2019
Presidential Harassment!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2019
It seems likely that the full story will eventually leak, but that isn’t necessarily a certainty; it isn’t difficult to imagine Trump behaving so badly that a responsible person wouldn’t want the story to enter general circulation. If you were an officer of the government, for instance, and the rumored “pee tape” came into your possession — would you release it or, afraid of the damage it might do to the country, would you bury it in your backyard?
The difficulty here is that the law speaks plainly: The Inspector General is to investigate the complaint, and if he thinks it has merit it is to be provided to Congress. In the instant case, the IG found the allegation “credible and urgent.” The DOJ and DNI have blocked the IG from transmitting the complaint to Congress.
My recollection from high school civics is that the Supreme Court has “original jurisdiction” in the event of disputes between Congress and the Executive and — Oh, boy — if there was ever a case where the Congress ought to petition the Court for an immediate decision, this is it. Certainly, where offenses against intelligence are concerned, it is more grave than Nixon’s refusal to turn over the Oval Office recordings.