Trump Condemns Whistleblower Story

President says he'd never say anything 'inappropriate' to fellow leader on a phone call
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 19, 2019 10:20 AM CDT
Trump Condemns Whistleblower Story
President Trump speaks to media as he arrives at the White House in this file photo.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Trump is pushing back against the allegation that he made some kind of improper promise to another world leader while on a phone call. In a series of tweets Thursday, Trump pointed out that he knows full well all of his calls to foreign leaders have lots of people listening in. "Is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially 'heavily populated' call," he wrote. "I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA!" All of this stems from a story in the Washington Post alleging that a member of the intelligence community became so alarmed at what Trump told an unnamed world leader during a call that the intel official filed a whistleblower complaint.

Now, a House panel is in the process of investigating how top intelligence officials handled that complaint. The intel community's inspector general, Michael Atkinson, deemed the complaint credible, but acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire is refusing to provide any details to Congress, per the Post. Atkinson testifies before the House intelligence panel Thursday, and Maguire is set to do so next week. Meanwhile, Trump is getting some support from an unlikely place: CNN. A counterterrorism expert for the network, Phil Mudd, said he was about to "blow a gasket" over the issue. "The president can say what he wants," said Mudd, per the Daily Beast. "It's not the responsibility of the intel guys to go police the president and go snitch on him to the Congress. Ridiculous!” (More President Trump stories.)

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