Ukraine whistleblower complaint declassified

A whistleblower complaint given to the intelligence community inspector general that touches on a phone call President Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been declassified.

Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, who is set to testify before Congress tomorrow morning, delivered the complaint to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Members viewed it in a secure room known as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, on Capitol Hill.

Democrats who viewed the complaint called it “explosive” and “deeply disturbing,” while Republicans were more muted in their response, saying it is too soon to talk about impeachment.

Late in the evening, Utah Rep. Chris Stewart, a Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee, announced the complaint had been declassified. However, it appears the complaint itself will not be released until Thursday morning at the earliest.

As lawmakers got a chance to view the complaint earlier in the day, Trump announced that he told House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy that he “fully” supports transparency with the “so-called whistleblower information,” suggesting that he approved a declassification order and insisted on the same degree of transparency for all information related to former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

The complaint focuses in part on Trump’s July 25 call with Zelensky in which he asked for Ukraine’s help in investigating a matter related to the elder Biden, a potential rival in the 2020 election, fueling a Democratic push for an impeachment inquiry. The transcript was released Wednesday morning, after which an NBC News tally found that a majority of the House now supports some sort of impeachment action.

Democrats in Congress, concerned that Trump may have pressured his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate the Bidens by leveraging millions of dollars in military aid that was delayed until earlier this month, have clashed with the Trump administration for access to the complaint over the past couple weeks. They argue that because the intelligence community inspector general found the complaint to be “credible” and “urgent,” statute demands Maguire give the intelligence committees access to the complaint.

Yet after receiving guidance from the White House and Justice Department, Maguire said that because the subject of the complaint sits outside of his jurisdiction he is not bound by that statute to give the complaint to Congress. The Justice Department received a criminal referral about a potential campaign finance violation in relation to Trump’s phone conversation with Zelensky but declined to take action after a review.

An opinion released by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel on Wednesday explains why they believe the complaint does not constitute an “urgent concern” under the scope of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act. The document also says the intelligence community inspector general’s preliminary review found “some indicia of an arguable political bias on the part of the Complainant in favor of a rival political candidate” but ultimately concluded the complaints appeared credible.

The complaint was released after the both the Senate and then the House passed resolutions calling for the whistleblower complaint to be released.

Maguire is scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee in a rare open session on Thursday. The Senate Intelligence Committee is also expected to interview Maguire in a closed session that day. The whistleblower also has tentatively reached an agreement to testify to lawmakers, according to letters obtained by CNN.