Whistleblower alleges White House coverup

By Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha, Amanda Wills, Mike Hayes and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN

Updated 8:37 p.m. ET, September 26, 2019
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8:41 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019

The whistleblower complaint is out

The House Intelligence Committee has released the declassified whistleblower complaint regarding President Trump’s phone call with Ukraine president Zelensky.

You can read it here.

8:30 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019

4 key events we're watching today

The whistleblower's complaint about President Trump's communications with Ukraine has been declassified and could be released as soon as this morning, three sources told CNN.

We don't know exactly what time that could happen, but these are the planned events we're watching today:

  • 9 a.m. ET: Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire will testify before the House Intelligence Committee
  • 10:45 a.m. ET: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will hold her weekly news conference. 
  • 11:30 a.m. ET: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will hold his weekly news conference. 
  • 1:30 p.m. ET: President Trump arrives at the White House after traveling back from New York City. He often takes questions when he's on the White House lawn.
8:20 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019

The Director of National Intelligence will testify at 9 a.m. ET

From CNN's Chandelis Duster

Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire — nearly two months after taking over as head of the intelligence agency — is facing intense scrutiny amid a widening controversy surrounding his handling of a whistleblower complaint regarding President Trump.

Maguire is set to testify before the House Intelligence Committee at 9 a.m. ET today regarding the complaint.

Maguire and Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson are scheduled to go behind closed doors with the Senate Intelligence Committee as well, according to a source familiar with the plans.

8:19 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019

More than half the House supports the impeachment inquiry

Alex Edelman/Getty Images
Alex Edelman/Getty Images

More than half the US House of Representatives have now said they support the impeachment investigation into President Trump. 

The numbers: There are at least 217 House Democrats – according to a CNN count – who publicly stated support for impeachment proceedings. Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a former Republican who has since become an independent, has also called for an impeachment investigation, bringing the total number of representatives to 218, or just over half of the 435-member chamber.

Why this matters: Reaching the halfway mark on this issue is a significant development as a majority of the House would be needed to vote to impeach the President in order to send the process to the Senate.

But remember: CNN’s count includes many Democrats who say they support an impeachment investigation but are still waiting for the results of the probe before deciding whether to finally vote to impeach Trump.

Even if the House could pass the vote, it likely would go nowhere in the Republican-controlled Senate, one of many reasons the issue has been politically divisive among Democrats and a large part of why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had for months avoided calling Democratic investigations an impeachment inquiry.  

11:05 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019

GOP senator: "Much of what is in the report is already out in the public domain"

From CNN's Suzanne Malveaux

Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images
Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images

Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, confirmed he has read the classified whistle blower report, though he would not confirm what was in it. 

He said “much of what is in the report is already out in the public domain.”

When asked whether there was anything in the report that he found “deeply troubling” or concerning — as his fellow Republican Sens. Mitt Romney or Ben Sasse have previously stated — Cotton said “no.”

7:42 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019

At least 215 House Democrats support the impeachment inquiry

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

On Tuesday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into the President, and the number of House Democrats who at least support launching an impeachment inquiry is quickly approaching the 218 votes needed to impeach Trump in the House (But note: It is unknown if all those who are in favor of an impeachment inquiry will vote to do so.)

Of the 235 Democrats in the House, there are at least 215 -- according to a CNN count -- who've made clear they support starting the impeachment inquiry process, while some have gone further.

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a former Republican who has since become an independent, has also called for impeachment proceedings, bringing the total number of representatives to 216.

You can see the full whip count here.

8:06 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019

Trump tweets: "THE GREATEST SCAM IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS!"

President Trump is tweeting this morning.

Here's his tweet:

7:38 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019

Russia won't comment on the Trump-Ukraine transcript

From CNN's CNN’s Darya Tarasova

 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov MAXIM SHEMETOV/AFP/Getty Images

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov today declined comment on the publication of a transcript of President Trump’s July 25 conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling it an “internal matter” for the US and Ukraine. 

“I will not comment on this,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

He continued:

“This is an exclusively internal matter of the US and Ukraine, especially if this publication happened by mutual agreement. In general, we must admit that, of course, the publication of a full recording of the conversation, whether it be a telephone conversation or face-to-face conversation, does not happen too often in international diplomatic practice, at least it hasn’t happened often until now.”

  

7:28 a.m. ET, September 26, 2019

Officials have given Congress a declassified version of report 

From CNN's Jim Sciutto

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has provided Congress with a declassified version of whistleblower complaint so members can use at today's hearing, an office spokesperson told CNN.

Here's the statement:

“Consistent with the accommodations process, last night ODNI formally transmitted a properly classified version of the complaint to the congressional intelligence committees. We also provided Congress a redacted version of the complaint that Members can bring to an open hearing. ODNI is not planning to release the redacted version of the complaint at this time.”