Whistleblower says Trump made “troubling” promise to foreign leader, Washington Post reports

Author: CBS News
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FILE - In this June 30, 2019 file photo, President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn as he arrives at the White House in Washington. Trump is accusing China and Europe of playing a “big currency manipulation game.” He says the United States should match that effort, a move that directly contradicts official U.S. policy not to manipulate the dollar’s value to gain trade advantages. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE – In this June 30, 2019 file photo, President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn as he arrives at the White House in Washington. Trump is accusing China and Europe of playing a “big currency manipulation game.” He says the United States should match that effort, a move that directly contradicts official U.S. policy not to manipulate the dollar’s value to gain trade advantages. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

A whistleblower’s report that was submitted to the inspector general for the intelligence community centers on an interaction between President Donald Trump and a foreign leader, the Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing two former U.S. officials.

The identity of the whistleblower and details of the claim remain unknown – but the Post reported that the interaction between Mr. Trump and the foreign leader involved a “promise.”

The Post said an intelligence official found it “so troubling” that he or she was prompted to file a whistleblower complaint on August 12 with the inspector general, Michael Atkinson.

Atkinson concluded that the complaint was credible enough to be considered an “urgent concern.” Atkinson will testify on Capitol Hill Thursday in a closed-door hearing.

Mr. Trump denied that he said anything inappropriate to a foreign leader, writing on Twitter Thursday that the Post report was “Fake News.”

“Another Fake News story out there – It never ends! Virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there may be many people listening from various U.S. agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself. No problem!” Mr. Trump wrote.

Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially “heavily populated” call. I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA!” Mr. Trump continued in a second tweet.

The report has caused a rift between Congress and the intelligence community. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff issued a subpoena to obtain the whistleblower’s complaint – but Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire is refusing to hand it over.

Maguire said he determined the allegations did not merit “urgent concern,” and since they relate to a person outside the intelligence community, he is not required to pass them along to Capitol Hill.

Schiff pointed out that this is the first time a Director of National Intelligence has overruled a determination from the inspector general, and raised concerns that the refusal may be a sign of a cover-up to protect the president.

Schiff said Sunday on “Face the Nation” that it’s fair to assume the report involves “the president, or people around him, or both.”

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