Trump has approved releasing the document at the center of his latest standoff with lawmakers, a senior administration official said.
The White House is preparing to release to Congress by the end of the week both the whistleblower complaint and the inspector general report at the center of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, according to a senior administration official, reversing its position after withholding the documents from lawmakers.
The move shows the level of seriousness with which the administration is now approaching the House‘s impeachment proceedings, even as President Donald Trump publicly tried to minimize the inquiry as a “witch hunt,” “presidential harassment,” and even a move that will help him win reelection in 2020.
The administration official stressed the decision and timing could change over the next few days, but as of Tuesday evening, the White House was planning to give the information to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The format of presentation, or process of viewing the documents, wasn’t decided. The president has agreed to the move, the official added.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff told POLITICO on Tuesday night that he’d received no word on whether the Trump administration would turn over the complaint. A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House’s decision to give lawmakers any information on the whistleblower complaint marks a major change of strategy for the administration, which originally seemed intent on keeping the complaint private. Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, so far, has declined to turn over the complaint to the congressional intelligence committees as required by law. The White House counsel’s office and Justice Department have spent the past few days reviewing whistleblower laws.
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The move to release the whistleblower complaint shows the level of seriousness with which the Trump administration is now approaching the House‘s new impeachment proceedings https://t.co/6KGZXviBDT
— POLITICO (@politico) September 25, 2019
If Pelosi said "Okay, one more day, for the transcript," the White House would go into full Barr trickster mode:
-Here's a partial.
-Here's some more, later.
-Oh. Redacted. Well, too bad.
-More? No. Sue us.
-Here's some less redacted.
They'd do this all the way to 2020.
/2— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 24, 2019
So, good for Pelosi and the Dems for not waiting to get buried under more dilatory obfuscation from Barr and the WH. "One more day" wasn't going to make the difference, and JPod and everyone else knows this. Let's get on with it. /4x
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 24, 2019
That's why this will be a non-event. https://t.co/yMolmAHjei
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 24, 2019
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