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Adam Schiff Threatens To Defund Intel Community over Trump Whistleblower

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So here’s a fantastic idea: Why don’t we defund the intelligence committee because of the fact that the White House isn’t releasing whistleblower details to Congress?

That foolproof plan is what’s being fronted by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat. Schiff wants to know what was said during a phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a call that is believed is at the heart of a whistleblower complaint against Trump.

That whistleblower complaint hasn’t been turned over to Congress because acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire doesn’t believe the complaint meets the “urgent concern” standard under the law that would necessitate him forwarding it to legislators, according to a memo from the DNI office to Schiff, published by The New York Times.

Democrats are more or less threatening impeachment over the complaint, which purportedly has to do with the administration’s desire for Ukraine’s government to investigate dealings by former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, as well as Biden’s potential interference into a previous investigation.

“If the administration persists in blocking this whistle-blower from disclosing to Congress a serious possible breach of constitutional duties by the president, they will be entering a grave new chapter of lawlessness which will take us into a whole new stage of investigation,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a letter to House Democrats, according to The New York Times.

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In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Nation” Sunday, Schiff had a different solution: Withhold certain funds from the intelligence community until the White House complies.



When host Jake Tapper asked him whether this might put the United States at risk and to what extremes he’d be willing to go to get the report, Schiff denied that blocking funds to intelligence would hinder intelligence, which is an interesting way to look at it.

“It depends on what funds we withhold,” Schiff told Tapper. “In this case, you have the office of the director of national intelligence that is withholding this complaint in violation of the clear letter of the law … And there are funding requests that that office makes that don’t go directly to national security that we can withhold.

Do you think Adam Schiff will defund the intelligence community to get the whistleblower report?

“Look, it is a blunt remedy and one that I’m very reluctant to use,” Schiff continued. “At the same time, the inspector general has said this is not only serious…but it’s urgent. We cannot afford to play rope-a-dope in the court for weeks or months on end. We need an answer.”

So, he’ll take money away from the intelligence community. Wonderful. And, of course, he’s also going down the impeachment road.

“If there is a fire burning, it needs to be put out. And that’s why we’re going to have to look at every remedy,” Schiff said.

“And if these two issues are, in fact, one issue and it relates to deplorable conduct, a violation of the president’s oath of office … then we’re going to have to consider impeachment as well.”

Schiff also said that “if in a matter within the jurisdiction of the director of national intelligence, an employee or contractor who follows the law and makes a complaint, and it is possible for the subject of that complaint to essentially quash the complaint or keep it from Congress, then this system is badly broken.”

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“Now, I don’t think this is a problem of the law,” Schiff said.

“I think that the law is written very clearly. I think the law is just fine. The problem lies elsewhere. And we’re determined to do everything that we can to determine what this urgent concern is, to make sure that the national security is protected and to make sure that this whistleblower is protected.”

Except the acting director of national intelligence apparently doesn’t believe this to be of “urgent concern” — a legal term that, according to the DNI memo to Schiff, concerns “serious allegations relating to ‘the funding, administration or operation of an intelligence activity within the responsibility and authority of the DNI.”

The complaint “concerned conduct by someone outside the Intelligence Community and did not relate to any ‘intelligence activity’ under the DNI’s supervision,” the memo states.

The president is “outside the intelligence community ” and, obviously, not under the “supervision” of the director of national intelligence.

Keep in mind that the president has wide latitude to conduct foreign relations. If there were a quid pro quo where the funding package for Ukraine was held up on the condition that Ukraine investigate the Bidens’ activities in the country, then yes, there could be serious problem.

If not, then Maguire has every right to withhold the report from Congress.

For his part, Trump, now as ever, is defiant:

“The real story involves Hunter Biden going around the world and collecting large payments from foreign governments and foreign oligarchs,” Trump wrote in a Twitter post on Sunday, with a reference to investigative journalist Peter Schweizer and Fox News host Laura Ingrham.

“Hunter made a fortune in Ukraine and in China. He knew nothing about Energy, or anything else.”

Is Adam Schiff serious? We’re going to find out in the coming days and weeks.

If he’s willing to endanger our national security just so that he can engage in yet another wild goose chase against Trump, it’s telling that this is the guy the Democrats chose to head the House Intelligence Committee.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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