WASHINGTON, D.C. (NEXSTAR) — The Inspector General who received the whistleblower complaint at the heart of the impeachment inquiry appeared before lawmakers Friday in Washington.
Michael Atkinson was grilled by the House Intelligence Committee during an hours-long, closed-door session.
Indiana Democratic Congressman Andre Carson said nothing publically after the hearing about what Inspector General Michael Atkinson had to say in Friday’s classified hearing.
Others, like Ohio Republican Brad Wenstrup, did talk, but without saying much.
“…and it comes down to a lot in this whole thing about process, and you’ll learn more about that later,” he said.
Atkinson is the one who found the whistleblower complaint to be both credible and urgent…
“We’re investigating corruption, we’re not investigating campaigns,” President Donald Trump said.
But lawmakers want to know why acting Director of National Intelligence Jospeh Maguire stopped the complaint from being sent to Congress within the required time frame.
Last week, Maguire told a Congressional hearing that it wasn’t political pressure that delayed the complaint getting to Congress, but a question of executive privilege, since the complaint involved the president.
“I want to stress that I believe the whistleblower and the inspector general acted in good faith,” Maguire said last week.
On Friday, the president continued to say his conversation with the Ukranian president had nothing to do with politics.
“I don’t care about his campaign, as I said, I didn’t think… I didn’t think, and I don’t think, Biden is going to win,” Trump said.
Democrats said the call was a political shakedown while Republicans said it’s another attempt by Democrats to target the president.
