Skip to content
  1. Newsroom
  2. Press

Schumer Calls On Leader McConnell, Senate GOP Committee Chairmen To Take Immediate Action To Secure Intelligence Community Whistleblower Complaint And Launch Investigation Into Withheld Ukraine Aid; Schumer Outlines Five Actions The Republican-Led Senate Can Take Now To Hold Trump Administration Accountable

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell demanding the Republican majority take immediate action to stop President Trump from withholding an “urgent” and “credible” Intelligence Community whistleblower complaint from Congress and to begin an investigation into the Administration’s handling of military aid to Ukraine. 

In the letter, Leader Schumer calls on Senate Republicans to immediately take five specific actions to hold President Trump and his administration accountable:

  • Convene hearings with Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, Acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on events that led to the whistleblower to file this urgent complaint.
  • Issue a subpoena to compel the delivery of the whistleblower complaint to Congress.
  • Call on the White House to release the relevant transcripts of President Trump’s conversation with Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky.
  • Identify the Administration officials who directed that $250 million of military aid to Ukraine be delayed.
  • Insist that the Department of Justice provide any legal opinions given to the White House on whistleblower complaint to Congress.

Senator Schumer’s letter to Leader McConnell can be found here and below:

Dear Leader McConnell:

I write to urge that you and the Senate Republican majority take immediate action to stop President Trump from withholding an Intelligence Community whistleblower complaint that by law must be transmitted to Congress, and to begin an investigation into the Administration’s handling of security assistance to Ukraine. 

The Intelligence Community Inspector General, a Trump appointee, determined this whistleblower’s complaint is “credible” and a matter of “urgent” concern whose subject matter “not only falls within the DNI’s jurisdiction, but relates to one of the most significant and important of the DNI’s responsibilities to the American people.”  Yet in the face of this dire warning and the Trump Administration’s effort to cover it up, the Republican-led Senate has remained silent and submissive, shying away from this institution’s constitutional obligation to conduct oversight.

The Republican Senate’s “see no evil, hear no evil” attitude toward such a serious national security concern is unacceptable and must change.  I call on you and the chairs of the relevant Senate committees to fulfill your constitutional duty and immediately take the following actions:

1.      Convene hearings to determine exactly what prompted the whistleblower to file this urgent complaint. At a minimum, these hearings should include testimony from Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, Acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among others.

2.      Issue a subpoena to compel the delivery of the whistleblower complaint to Congress, as required by law.

3.      Request the White House to release the transcript of President Trump’s conversation with Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky during which President Trump reportedly pressured the government of Ukraine to investigate Vice President Biden and his family.

4.      Identify the Administration officials who directed that $250 million of military aid to Ukraine be delayed, and request that all records related to this decision be turned over to Congress. 

5.      Insist that the Department of Justice provide any legal opinion or other guidance it has given regarding the Administration’s obligations to transmit the whistleblower complaint to Congress.

This is a whistleblower complaint that has been labeled “urgent” and “credible” not by Democrats, but by a senior-level Trump appointee.  It is the Senate’s duty to take this national security matter seriously and to take action now.

Sincerely,

###

Previous
Next