Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Trumps Denies Improper 'Promise' to Foreign Leader

Steve Herman

   VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this
   report.
   WHITE HOUSE -- U.S. President Donald Trump is uttering his oft-cited
   'Fake News' accusation to rebut reports he made a 'promise' to a
   foreign leader that sparked an American intelligence official to file a
   whistleblower complaint.

   "Is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something
   inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially
   'heavily populated' call. I would only do what is right anyway, and
   only do good for the USA!" the president tweeted on Thursday.

   Trump, who has frequently accused the U.S. intelligence community of
   being part of a 'Deep State' opposition to his presidency, said he is
   aware that "virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader,
   I understand that there may be many people listening from various U.S.
   agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself. No
   problem!"

     Another Fake News story out there - It never ends! Virtually anytime
     I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there
     may be many people listening from various U.S. agencies, not to
     mention those from the other country itself. No problem!
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [1]September 19, 2019

   Trump's comments came as the House intelligence committee held a
   closed-door session with Michael Atkinson, the U.S. intelligence
   community's inspector general.

   The Trump administration is declining to comment on reports that the
   whistleblower, whose identity has not been disclosed, is an
   intelligence officer detailed to the National Security Council and was
   authorized to listen in on the call or have access to its transcript.

   Attorney Andrew Bakaj, a former CIA officer, who is "one of the top
   experts on these issues" and a national security whistleblower himself
   will represent the official, according to Mark Zaid who runs a
   Washington law firm specializing in national security.

     Our Of Counsel, colleague & client [2]@AndrewBakaj has been
     confirmed as attorney for [3]#whistleblower. Andrew is one of the
     top experts on these issues & [4]#natsec whistleblower himself. He
     authored [5]@CIA's PPD-19/ICD 120 regs for CIA while at CIA OIG.
     [6]https://t.co/LJQwfYYKj0
     -- Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) [7]September 19, 2019

   Lawmakers are hoping to learn more details of the secret whistleblower
   complaint that has sparked a legal battle between lawmakers and the
   Trump administration.
   Atkinson told lawmakers on Thursday he was unable to confirm or deny
   anything about the substance of the complaint, including whether it
   involved the president, reported the New York Times, attributing the
   information to people who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe
   the closed-door conversation.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1174696521310363649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/AndrewBakaj?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://twitter.com/hashtag/whistleblower?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   4. https://twitter.com/hashtag/natsec?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   5. https://twitter.com/CIA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   6. https://t.co/LJQwfYYKj0
   7. https://twitter.com/MarkSZaidEsq/status/1174712583607259136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

.