The Joseph Maguire Testimony: A Trump Official Under the Spotlight

by Nomad

This morning, Joseph Maguire will be testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, regarding his decision not to release the whistleblower's complaint about questionable- and possibly impeachable- activities by the president and close advisors.

Maguire is the current Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. He retired from the United States Navy as a Vice Admiral in 2010 after 36 years of military service.

The committee is expected to ask Macquire why he refused to release to congressional intelligence committees the report of the independent inspector general, Michael Atkinson, who deemed it "credible and urgent."

Under mounting pressure from both parties, the Trump administration backed down on Wednesday and handed copies of the complaint to House and Senate intelligence committees.

Members of Congress will focus on Trump’s alleged efforts to use his office - as well as the pressure of withholding military aid- in order to persuade Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to dig up potentially politically-damaging evidence on Joe Biden, the former vice president who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.
As of this week, Democrats in the House are in the process of drawing up articles of impeachment against Trump. Macquire's testimony is expected to shed some light on how the complaint was processed and which of Trump's top officials were involved in its suppression.

Why is this important? Well, according to the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act, intelligence whistleblowers should submit their complaints to the inspector general of the intelligence community, who is supposed to act independently.

The inspector general is required to review complaints within 14 days and determine whether they are of "urgent concern," meaning they report a serious problem, abuse, or violation of the law "relating to the funding, administration, or operation of an intelligence activity within the responsibility and authority of the director of national intelligence involving classified information."

According to the Washington Post, Maguire had threatened to resign over concerns that the White House might try to force him to stonewall lawmakers about the complaint. It said he had warned the White House he was not willing to withhold information from Congress.

However, this claim has been officially denied by Maguire. In a statement, he said:

“At no time have I considered resigning my position since assuming this role on Aug. 16, 2019. I have never quit anything in my life, and I am not going to start now. I am committed to leading the Intelligence Community to address the diverse and complex threats facing our nation. ”

If that statement is anything to go by, Macguire's sworn testimony should prove to be very interesting. To make matters worse for the administration, the anonymous whistleblower himself has tentatively agreed to meet with lawmakers and provide more inside information.

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