Acting DNI Denies WaPo’s Fake News About Resigning Over Trump Testimony

Breaking Wednesday afternoon via The Washington Post (WaPo), the acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) threatened to resign if President Trump blocked his testimony before Congress Thursday regarding the Ukraine scandal that has led to a formal impeachment inquiry in the House. 

“The acting Director of National Intelligence threatened to resign over concerns that the White House might attempt to force him to stonewall Congress when he testifies Thursday about an explosive whistleblower complaint about the president, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter,” WaPo wrote. 

Sources told WaPo that Joseph Maguire, who is the nation’s highest-ranking intelligence official, was unwilling to withhold information from Congress, where he is expected to testify in open and closed hearings on Thursday. This is forcing the Trump administration to make an important decision on whether or not it would exercise executive privilege over the whistleblower complaint.

Congress has not examined the whistleblower complaint, and there are no indications on what it might say about a call between President Trump and Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It’s alleged that President Trump urged Ukrainian officials to investigate Joe Biden, who is running for president in 2020. 

Maguire was given the whistleblower complaint last month, which has catapulted him to center stage, stuck in the middle of a fierce battle between Democrats and the Trump administration. Democrats want the whistleblower complaint released while the Trump administration doesn’t. 

In a public statement, Maguire said on Tuesday that, “In light of recent reporting on the whistleblower complaint, I want to make clear that I have upheld my responsibility to follow the law every step of the way.”

“I am committed to protecting whistleblowers and ensuring every complaint is handled appropriately,” Maguire added. “I look forward to continuing to work with the Administration and Congress to find a resolution regarding this important matter.”

About 35 minutes ago, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham dismissed WaPo’s reporting via Twitter:

This is actually not true. And we would have gone on the record to say that if the @washingtonpost had given us more than 6 minutes (literally) to respond. https://t.co/5EBnBlShbK

— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) September 25, 2019

And moments ago, the White House tweeted, “.@WashingtonPost got it wrong again. From the statement by Acting DNI Joseph Maguire: “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.” 

.@WashingtonPost got it wrong again.

From the statement by Acting DNI Joseph Maguire:
“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.” https://t.co/hq8Irsv1Dr

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 25, 2019

And breaking in the last minutes of the US cash session, a statement from Maguire in response to the WaPo report 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.”

We can’t wait for the correction…