Investigation of Sexual Misconduct allegations before he was confirmed. First, you would be forgiven if the story of yet another subpoena to the Trump Administration flew under your radar this week given the unusual fire hose of trump scandal news. The flurry of headlines about his selfdealing as president. A nonprofit holding an event at his d. C. Hotel featuring members of his cabinet. The debacle over the u. S. Militarys frequent layovers at trumps turnberry resort in scotland, and the news the House Judiciary Committee passed a resolution ramping up its impeachment inquiry. All of that news broke just this week and while all of that was percolating in your news feeds, this politico headline appeared friday night. Adam schiff accuses top intel official of illegally withholding urgent whistleblo r er complaint. One that could implicate the white house. Chairman schiff announced the Intelligence CommunityInspector General notified the Intelligence Committee of a serious credible whistleblower complaint on september 9th, even though the complaint was submitted the month before. And when chairman schiff asked to see the unredacted complaint and related records, the office of the director of National Intelligence declined the request forcing schiff to issue a subpoena for the complaint which the dni is actually required by law to hand over. Schiff wrote, quote, a director of National Intelligence has never prevented a properly submitted whistleblower complaint that they determined to be credible and urgent from being provided to the congressional Intelligence Committees. Never. This raises serious concerns about whether the White House Department or justice or other executive Branch Officials are trying to prevent a legitimate whistleblower complaint from reaching its intended recipient, the congress, in order to cover up serious misconduct. Joining us is one of the reporters who has been following this developing story. Politico congressional reporter kyle cheney. And ned price, former National Security spokesperson and msnbc National Security analyst. Thank you for being here. Kyle, explain to us this story in a nutshell is there was a whistleblower complaint and what happened to it . It was filed more than a month ago now, which is under the statute that chairman schiff cited, they should have heard about this at least a week ago, maybe two weeks ago. And so the suggestion here is that this has been essentially blocked from reaching congress and in a very unusual way. Its something that the dni, the top intelligence official in the country, again, instead of providing this to the intelligence communities, diverted it to the Justice Department where people decided there was some matter or question of privilege or confidentiality to it which has led chairman schiff to say this must involve the president or someone senior in his administration because what else would qualify as something privileged that would be blocked from reaching congress. So the question i guess is, is it normal for a whistleblower complaint that goes through the proper channels to be then diverted to the Justice Department for them to weigh in on whether or not congress can get it because the law says congress is supposed to get it. In some respects yes. In some respects, no. We dont know anything about this whistleblower but we have every reason to suspect he or she is a true patriot. The Inspector General deemed the complaint urgent and credible. This person went through the proper channels. Went through the inspector the ic Inspector General. Didnt go to the press first or congress first. You are certainly able to go to congress after the fact. But the whistleblower protection says you should go to your own components Inspector General first which this person did. Now if this leads to a dead end, if this is blocked, this whistleblower could go to congress with the details of the complaint. But that would set up this person for retaliation. Between 1999 and 2009, there were ten complaints issued to the ic Inspector General, four of which were deemed credible and in several cases those people were retaliated against. So even when people go through the proper channels there is this potential for retaliation but this person apparently feels that her or his concerns are so valid, so urgent that they must go this route. And your story, kyle, indicates that adam schiff is the Intelligence Committee chair either believes or has information suggesting whatever this information is, it involves the president himself . I am not sure what adam schiff really knows here. Hes just deducing this because of the factor and all the unusualness of the dni saying you cant have this right now. Despite the letter of the law and the fact theres some privilege involved here. Hes divining this must have to do with someone very senior. But we dont know what he knows. He decided to make this exchange with the dni believe in an unusual way without providing details. You knew the demand from adam schiff. What is the specific how are they going to carry out this demand . Schiff issued a subpoena immediately as soon as he announced this whole exchange happened. He issued a subpoena and said i need the documents themselves by september 17th. Thats tuesday. He said if i dont get them by now ill subpoena you, dni mcgwire, to come in thursday for a public hearing on this which itself would be highly unusual and very intensely watched. And hes an acting. Hes an acting, not even a fully fledged director of National Intelligence. And that, i think, joy, is one of the challenges when you have a cabinet full of acting officials. An acting dni, acting deputy d ni, acting Homeland Security secretary. For six months an acting secretary of defense. These people, even if they are good people and i think in the case of acting dna mcgwire, he is, but they are under tremendous pressure to audition for the job every single day. They did not yet get the permanent nod. At every step they want to curry favor with the president. I think at worst, and were not sure if thats what happened in this case, but at worst, putting their loyalty to the president ahead of their loyalty to the law to the constitution. What we could be seeing in this case. Thats the corrupting effect that donald trump has had on government is everyone feels their main job is to protect him and i presume the reason adam schiff feels this must be about or may be about donald trump is that his chief protector right now in the government is the Justice Department. And what actually notably on that point is that this complaint was filed right around the time the previous permanent dni left. Dan coats who was someone appreciated and respected in congress and was senate confirmed, this complaint was filed right as he is leaving and theres this tumult. We know senator burr and others in congress wanted a different person to be leading the Intelligence Community right now and did not. So theres a lot of questions about the leadership there and how this has all played out. This whistle blower complaint happened around the time that was going on. Let me read a little of adam schiffs september 13 this is on friday, this letter to the dna. It says absent compliance by tuesday, september 17th, the committee will require you to appear for a public hearing on thursday, september 19th, to account for the decision to withhold the whistleblower complaint. Weve already seen this administration defy subpoenas, refuse to appear. So far, they dont seem to believe they have to uphold the law, which is that they should this complaint should go to congress or subpoena. What do you anticipate happening . When this administration digs in, its dug in. I suspect they may try to fight this. They may also try to reach some sort of accommodation where they turn over some of the details but perhaps not all the details. Keep what they say is privileged to themselves. There are any number of ways this could play out. If this escalates, and if theres this impasse were talking about, its also possible this whistleblower could do an end run around the processes and go direct three congress or to the press. Would it be would they be subject to prosecution if they went to the press . Potentialy, yes. Thats why theres this whistleblower act that prescribes a list of avenues for whistleblowers to take. If this person were to say this is going nowhere. Im going to the media, theyd set themselves up for potential criminal prosecution. This would be the Edward Snowden the complaint was he could have gone through this process . I hate to compare this person to Edward Snowden because Edward Snowden went directly to the press. Not to the Inspector General or to congress even. Went directly to several journalists. This is what Senate OversightCommittee ChairmanElijah Cummings wrote to mark esper. This is about the militarys use of turnberry a. If the department does not begin to produce the required documents this week the committee will be forced to consider the use of military and essentially tax money to spend at trumps resorts. Weve had subpoenas defied. People refusing to appear. Thats the pattern. So is there anything from adam schiffs committee that theyre anticipating what theyll do if they get more noncompliance . I think the pattern is the point. Were seeing this across a number economists where theyre demanding documents and testimony from people inside the administration and getting stonewalled. The mueller grand jury materials. Thats going to be litigated. But the point is theres potentially a boiling point where Congress Says this obstruction is too far and as they discuss potential articles of impeachment they keep referencing judiciary chairman jerry nadler who is pointing out obstruction of congress was an article against nixon. The more this builds up, the more pressure there is to take that allegation seriously. And andrew johnson. Its especially important in this context, though. In order to have a secret intelligence apparatus and a democracy like ours, weve entered into this social compact, especially since watergate that says you, the Intelligence Community can have incredible authorities and capabilities but in turn there have to be checks and balances. Some of them come within the executive branch. Some come with the Judicial Branch when it comes to the fisa court. The most important of those checks are with congress. Congress has an indispensable oversight role when it comes to the activities of the Intelligence Community. And if the Intelligence Community is stonewalling, it eats at our democratic system. This bargain weve entered into in a really incredibly dangerous way. Because the appearance would be from the public that the entire apparatus of government, the entire executive branch now only exists to protect one person, to protect donald trump if, in fact, hes done anything wrong. They seem to be collecting around him rather than protecting the country. That would be the perception if they cannot if congress cannot oversee the president. Thats the perception and it is as donald trump likes it. He has long thought that the apparatus of government is there to support him. His military. His attorney general. His cabinet officials. To him, in his mind, they belong to him. We know, our constitution suggests, law suggests they belong to us. They are public servants. We are the public. He is one individual. He does not seem to understand that. Youll have a follow up on this . I think the Intel Community has been exception to some of this. If we see that seep into the relationship between the Intelligence Community and congress, its been somewhat strained in recent years because of the various investigations that have become very politicized. But typically theres been a functional relationship between congress and the dni. So if that doesnt if that starts to break down, then its a really new era. It is a new era in so many ways. Kyle cheney, thank you very much. Check that out on politico. Ned price, thank you both very much. Coming up, blockbuster new information regarding Brett Kavanaughs past. That is next. Xt xt Award Winning interface. Award winning design. Award winning engine. The volvo xc90. Our most awarded luxury suv. Should always be working harder. Oney thats why your cash automatically goes into a Money Market Fund when you open a new account. And fidelitys rate is higher than e trades, td ameritrades, even 9 times more than schwabs. Plus only fidelity has zero account fees and zero minimums for retail brokerage and retirement accounts. Just another reminder of the value youll only find at fidelity. Open an account today. Now, theres skyrizi. I have moderate to severe biplaque psoriasis. Rving. 3 out of 4 people achieved. 90 clearer skin at 4 months. After just 2 doses. Skyrizi may increase your risk of infections. And lower your ability to fight them. Before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection. Or symptoms such as fevers,. Sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs. Or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. I feel free to bare my skin. Visit skyrizi. Com. Are miss ramirezs allegations about you true . Those are not. She none of the witnesses in the room support that. If that had happened, that would have been the talk of campus in our freshman dorm. As a Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh denied allegations of Sexual Misconduct during his high school and college years. Including those made by deborah ramirez, a former classmate at yale. Ramirez alleges that at a party when they were both freshmen, kavanaugh, quote, pulled down his pants and thrust his penis at her prompting her to swat it away and inadvertently touch it. Kavanaugh claimed that had the incident haptd, happened, it would have been the talk of campus. Now the New York Times is reporting on evidence that it was the talk of campus. For the times, at least seven people heard about the yale incident long before kavanaugh was a federal judge, including two classmates who learned about it just days after the party occurred. The times also revealed a new accusation of misconduct by max steyer, another yale classmate of kavanaughs who said he saw, quote, kavanaugh with his pants down at a different drunken dorm party where friends pushed his penis into the hand of a female student. The times reports that stier notified senators and the fbi about this report but the bureau did not investigate. Joining me is heidi bris biprzy. Thanks for being here. Yes. Perhaps one that stood out to me most was the fact that this is element two. Deborah ramirezs legal team gave the fbi during this kavanaugh investigation, this short investigation, a list of at least 25 individuals who may have had corroborating evidence of her allegation but the bureau in its supplemental Background Investigation investigated not one of them, zero of them. What do you make of that based on your reporting on this story . Its in line with our reporting because at the time, i was speaking with actual women who had Text Messages that were very potentially incriminating. At least had more information that needed to be run down who were not being interviewed by the fbi. Deborah ramirezs lawyer was saying it wasnt the agents. They wanted to do an investigation but the white house had such a tight grip on this investigation and was deciding who they could talk to and who they couldnt talk to and that it was going to be a very limited investigation in scope. We were still speaking with people, joy, at the time of Susan Collins announcing her vote who had, for instance, Text Messages with an eyewitness who Debbie Ramirez had identified as an eyewitness saying that brett had told him to say, quote, no bad and balling out my source for saying that he had been in touch with kavanaugh in advance. These things were happening in realtime as the vote was about to occur. So it was almost as if there was this rush to get the vote and to get the vote before there was any kind of a broader investigation that was not just limited to these witnesses that the white house had hand picked. Your reporting to that very point seems to indicate Brett Kavanaugh himself was involved in trying to quash potential witnesses from either talking to the new yorker or to preempt the new yorker story where the original allegations were thrown open to the public. But to tamp that down and he was involved in that . So we had a report, joy, that there was a woman who was friends with the wife of one of the eyewitnesses and that she had gotten some text misfires which suggested, joy, that bretts team and thats how this woman referred to it, may have anticipated the Debbie Ramirez allegations as early as july. The new yorker story d