President Trump on Thursday dismissed reports that his communications with a foreign leader are at the center of a secretive whistleblower complaint that’s sparked a dispute between Congress and the director of national intelligence.
In a tweet on Thursday morning, Trump called the news of his involvement first reported by the Washington Post “Fake News” and shot down anyone “dumb enough to believe” he’d say anything inappropriate to a world leader when he knows his calls are being monitored.
….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
The tweet follows multiple new reports about the ongoing battle between the House Intelligence Committee and the DNI over a whistleblower complaint, the details of which have been largely hidden from Congress. According to the Post and other media outlets, an intelligence community official surveilling Trump’s call with a foreign leader was so bothered by a “promise” Trump reportedly made on the call that the official filed a formal complaint with the inspector general.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has suspected since last week that the August 12 complaint — which he has not yet seen — was centered on Trump or “other senior White House or administration officials.” Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire has refused to give the committee a copy of the complaint.
Maguire agreed to testify in an open session next week. The director of national intelligence inspector general delivered a closed-door briefing to the committee on Thursday morning.
