Senate

McConnell says GOP Intelligence chairman wants to hold closed-door briefing on whistleblower complaint

by Jordain Carney - 09/23/19 4:48 PM ET

The Senate Intelligence Committee is trying to schedule a briefing for this week on a whistleblower complaint reportedly involving President Trump’s action toward Ukraine.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) disclosed during a Senate floor speech on Monday that Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) has been working to get a closed-door meeting on the books for this week.

{mosads}”Chairman Burr has been working to get the intelligence community’s inspector general before the committee this week to discuss the matter,” McConnell said.

“The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has long worked on a bipartisan basis in secure settings out of the public spotlight to conduct critically important oversight of classified and sensitive matters, so I’ve been disappointed to see our colleague, the Democratic leader, choose to politicize the committee’s ongoing efforts with respect to a recent whistleblower allegation,” McConnell added, referring to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

A GOP aide confirmed that Burr is working to set up a briefing for the panel with the intelligence community’s inspector general and acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.

A briefing with the Senate Intelligence Committee would come after the inspector general, Michael Atkinson, declined to discuss the incidents contained in the whistleblower complaint during a meeting last week with the House Intelligence Committee.

The whistleblower complaint reportedly involves attempts by Trump to persuade Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden or his son. Reports surfaced over the weekend that both Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani attempted to pressure Zelensky.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said last week that the panel would consider a series of remedies to compel Maguire to share the complaint with Congress.

Schumer, in a letter to McConnell on Monday, called for a hearing to be held on the whistleblower complaint and for Senate Republicans to issue a subpoena to force the administration to tun over the complaint to Congress.

“In the face of this dire warning and the Trump Administration’s effort to cover it up, the Republican-led Senate has remained silent and submissive, shying away from this institution’s constitutional obligation to conduct oversight,” Schumer wrote.

Tags Adam Schiff Chuck Schumer Donald Trump Joe Biden Mitch McConnell Richard Burr Rudy Giuliani Ukraine