Rep. Nunes says the whistleblower complaint relies on "hearsay"
Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said the whistleblower complaint "relied on hearsay" during his opening remarks before the acting DNI's testimony.
"The complaint relied on hearsay evidence provided by the whistleblower. The inspector general did not know the contents of the phone call at issue. The inspector general found the whistleblower displayed arguable political bias against trump. The Department of Justice investigated the complaint and determined no action was warranted," Nunes said.
He added that, "Once again, this supposed scandal ends up being nothing like what we were told."
10:42 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019
GOP congressman accuses Democrats of "information warfare operation"
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
GOP Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, accused Democrats of launching an "information warfare operation" against President Trump
"I want to congratulate the Democrats on the rollout of their latest information warfare operation against the President and their extraordinary ability to once again enlist the mainstream media in their campaign," he said in his opening statements at today's hearing.
He claimed that the White House transcript of the July call "debunked" accusations of presidential wrongdoing.
9:22 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019
Whistleblower confused by Trump's Crowdstrike obsession
From CNN's Marshall Cohen
The whistleblower expresses confusion about Trump’s references to CrowdStrike during his calls with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Some context: The Democratic National Committee hired CrowdStrike in 2016 to investigate hacks to its computers, which were later blamed on the Russian government.
In the call, Trump mentioned the US cybersecurity firm and said, “the server, they say Ukraine has it.” Trump also encouraged Zelensky to “find out what happened” with the server.
“I do not know why the President associates these servers with Ukraine,” the whistleblower wrote in a footnote in their letter, which was addressed to Congress.
The whistleblower added that Trump had previously connected the DNC server to Ukraine in television interviews.
Trump’s interest in CrowdStrike and the DNC server, more than three years after the hacks, is part of a larger effort to undermine the notion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help him win. He has repeatedly rejected the assessment from CrowdStrike, which was later confirmed by US intelligence agencies, that Russia was behind the DNC hacks and leaks.
9:20 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019
Congressman: "It appears there was an attempted coverup"
From CNN's Jim Acosta
Democratic congressman Joaquin Castro, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, says in response to the whistleblower complaint:
"It appears there was an attempted coverup."
10:41 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019
Adam Schiff: Call transcript is "most graphic evidence yet that the President of the United States has betrayed his oath of office"
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff called the White House transcript of the call between Trump and the Ukraine president the "most graphic evidence yet that the President of the United States has betrayed his oath of office."
"Betrayed his oath to defend our national security and betrayed his oath to defend our constitution," he said.
He is speaking at a hearing with Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.
9:21 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019
Whistleblower alleges admin use of intel system to lock down transcript was "abuse" of system
From Katelyn Polantz and Tammy Kupperman
The whistleblower alleges that the administration has locked down other Trump transcripts in a more secretive computer system for political reasons, according to his complaint.
The whistleblower describes how the transcript of the Trump-Zelensky call was moved to a computer system managed by the National Security Council Directorate for Intelligence Programs, in a partially redacted appendix attached to his complaint.
This move was concerning to some officials, who shared their concerns internally that this was an "abuse of the system."
"According to White House officials I spoke with, this was 'not the first time' under this Administration that a Presidential transcript was placed into this codeword-level system solely for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive--rather than national security sensitive--information."
The whistleblower does not provide further details of these allegations.
9:14 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019
What we know and don't know about the whistleblower
The whistleblower complaint has been released to the public.
Here's what we know and don't so far about the whistleblower:
This person has tentatively agreed to meet with Congressional lawmakers.
The whistleblower is not scheduled to appear before Congress, a source said.
Lawmakers have not been told the identity of the whistleblower or where the complainant works in the government
9:12 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019
NOW: Director of National Intelligence testifies
Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire is testifying before the House Intelligence Committee.
Maguire is facing intense scrutiny amid a widening controversy surrounding his handling of a whistleblower complaint regarding President Trump.
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Maguire threatened to resign if the White House tried to restrict his testimony before Congress.
He denied the report with this statement:
“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. I am committed to leading the Intelligence Community to address the diverse and complex threats facing our nation.”
9:06 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019
White House allies worry Trump is without strategy on the impeachment inquiry
From CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Kevin Liptak, Pam Brown and Jeremy Diamond
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Questionable rapid-pace decisions spurred by President Trump himself have left some his allies wondering if there's a cogent strategy in place to counter Democrats in the wake of the fast-moving impeachment inquiry, people familiar with the matter say.
Some people close to him believe the President is in denial about the gravity of his predicament.
A depleted West Wing now faces another storm that's likely to distract from the few policy goals aides were hoping to accomplish by year's end.
And the President himself — even after months of anticipation — has nonetheless taken the impeachment developments hard.
At a fundraiser Wednesday night, Trump greeted some of his longtime friends, who'd paid thousands of dollars to attend, with disbelief at what had unfolded, according to a person who was there.
After two-and-a-half years of weathering incremental developments in the Russia investigation that did not trigger an impeachment inquiry, the speed at which the Ukraine scandal unfolded has left Trump and his aides whiplashed.
Many White House officials said they were in disbelief at how rapidly Democrats have sped up their impeachment inquiry against Trump. For years, the constant drumbeat of impeachment loomed over the White House, but officials now feel like the ground has shifted beneath them.
