Quigley, Krishnamoorthi part of whistleblower drama in Capitol
What motivated a federal whistleblower and the role of Rudy Giuliani were among questions local lawmakers asked at a congressional hearing Thursday into allegations President Donald Trump pressured Ukraine's leader to secure his re-election.
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi quizzed Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire about a whistleblower complaint that Trump urged the Ukrainian president to investigate his rival former Vice President Joe Biden in a July phone call.
"You believe that the whistleblower was operating in good faith?" Krishnamoorthi asked.
"I do," Maguire said.
"And without bias?" the Schaumburg Democrat said during the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence session.
"I don't know about that," Maguire said.
"You have no reason to believe that he or she was acting with bias?" Krishnamoorthi continued.
"I just believe the whistleblower was acting in good faith," Maguire said. "I would not know whether biased or not biased," he said.
Maguire is the latest Trump official in the maelstrom engulfing Washington after the Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry Tuesday amid pushback from Republicans and the White House.
Democrat leaders say that by urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to probe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, and by withholding funding from Ukraine, Trump compromised national security and the coming election.
Trump's campaign stated "this whistleblower complaint is an even bigger hoax than the Russia delusion. It's built on secondhand information echoed by the biased fake news media.
"Democrats are trying to block the inevitable re-election of President Donald Trump because they know they can't beat him fair and square at the ballot," the statement from Trump's campaign said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley focused on Guiliani, the president's attorney and former New York City mayor during 9/11. Trump advised Zelenskiy to contact Giuliani on July 25, according to the whistleblower's complaint. Quigley asked what type of vetting someone should undergo to interact with foreign leaders.
"In order to be able to handle sensitive information, whether it's diplomatic or intelligence, one must be vetted," Maguire said. "We can't just bring people in."
"What is your understanding right now of what Mr. Guiliani's role is?" asked Quigley, a Chicago Democrat.
"I would respectfully refer this to the White House," Maguire said.
"To your knowledge, does he have security clearance?" Quigley persisted.
"I don't know," Maguire said.
Quigley also asked about the complaint's contention that Trump suspended security funding to Ukraine.
"How the president of the United States wants to conduct diplomacy is his business and it's not whether or not I approve it or disapprove of it," Maguire said.
"The issue is whether it commits a crime and (if) that bothers you," Quigley said.
Trump's campaign said the whistleblower's "account was cobbled together by a partisan bureaucrat with 'no direct knowledge.'"
Krishnamoorthi asked Maguire if he would protect the whistleblower from any retaliation.
"I will not permit the whistleblower to be subject to any retaliation," Maguire said. "I am absolutely committed to that."