Transcripts For BLOOMBERG Bloomberg Markets European Close 20240714

Important for americans to hear. But on page one, and im not going to improvise for purposes like the chairman of this committee did, im going to quote directly. On page one, the complaint reads i was not a direct witness to most of the events described. Like a very important like to look into and i think the American Public love questions in particular about that line. My question to you is, for the record, the dig fully investigate the allegations into this complaint at this time . Has the ig fully investigated the allegations of the complaint . Earlier, i believe that the Intelligence Committee Inspector General did a thorough investigation of the 40 day timeframe that he had, and under that time to the best of his ability made a determination that it was both credible and urgent. Thate no reason to doubt he did anything but his job. When you talk about a full investigation, the veracity of the allegations in the complaint, there were many references to white house officials. Do you know if the ig spoke with those officials . You know if the investigated the truthfulness of these allegations . Or was there pulmonary investigation . I would have to defer to the ig to respond to that. What i do know, although i do not know the identity of the was a blower, i do know that michael had in fact discussed this was lower and found his complaint to be credible. As far as who else he spoke with, i am unaware of what went on in michaels investigation into this manner. Sartre as of today, the only individual that we know that the ig spoke with is the complaint, the author in the was lower. What im saying is im unaware who else Michael Atkinson may have spoken to. With hisunfamiliar investigative process and everybody that he spoke to in this regard. Thank you for the answer on the record. AreAmerican Public, they going to have many questions as they read this complaint today. Because on page one it says no direct knowledge, i think its we haveortant that questions answered for individuals that you have direct knowledge and with that, i yield back. Thank you, complement. Dr. Mr. Swallow, thank you. Maguire, the you agree that the definition of a coverup is an attempt to prevent people from discovering a crime . I would say thats close. Im sure theres others but i dont disagree with that. Lower in the was a complaint, but was alleges that immediately after the president s call for the president of ukraine on july 25, white house lawyers moved quickly to direct white house officials to move electronic transcripts from one Computer System where it was normally stored to a secret, classified information system, is that right . Excuse me, sir, is that what was alleged . Yes or no . All i know is that the allegation. Im asking you that. Dark out that the allegation. And you read the allegation, and the first people that you go to after you read the allegation on the white house lawyers who are telling the white house officials who see this transcript and move it into a secret compartmentalized system. Those are the first people you go to . Puts a couple of things. Complaint. This Inspector General says urgent, credible. You have no wiggle room to not go to congress, and instead, you send your concern to the subject of the complaint. The white house. To the white house tell you after you send your concern about privilege, did they tell you to go to the department of justice next . Counsel, inmy consultation with the Intelligence Community Inspector General went to the office of Legal Counsel. And we were not directed to do that. Maguire, you said that this did not involve ongoing intelligence activities. However, the whistleblower says that this is not the first time that the president s transcripts with foreign leaders were improperly moved to an Intelligence Community system. Is that part of the allegation . I believe thats in the letter and i will have the letter speak for itself. Also speak for itself is in the transcript with a foreign leader is improperly moved into an Intelligence Community classification system, that actually would involve your responsibilities, is that right . Not necessarily. It is not underneath my authority and responsibility and once again, this is an allegation that has been made. It does not necessarily mean that it is a true statement. And the allegation was determined to be urgent and credible by the Inspector General. Yes, it was. Want to know,lso considering you are the director of National Intelligence and transcript are being moved into a secret intelligence system, whether other transcripts, perhaps maybe the president spoke also vladimir putin, with saudi arabia or turkey or kim jongun, would you want to know if those were also being improperly moved because the president is trying to cover up something . Congressmen, how the white house, the office of the executive office of the president and the National Security council conduct their business is their business. It actually your business to protect americas secrets, is that right . Its all about. Activity this cover of because the president is working improperly with a Foreign Government, that the compromise americas secrets. There is an allegation of a coverup. Im sure an investigation and before this committee might lend credence or just prove that but right now, all we have is an allegation, an allegation. Secondhand information from a whistleblower. No knowledge of whether or not that is true and accurate. The department of justice opinion you relied upon said that youre not responsible for preventing or an election interference, is that right . What the office of Legal Counsel did was over 11 pages have an opinion defining and explaining it not complying with urgent are you responsible for preventing election interference . By Foreign Government . Congressmen, election i hope you know this answer is yes or no. Election interference i really hope you know the answer to the question is yes or no. Is it your priority . Yes, it is. This complaint also alleges a shakedown with a Foreign Government by the united as president involving a rogue actor who has no clearance, no authority under the United States, and Africa White House to move the transcript that was called to a secret system. Thats at least what is a legend. Congressman, i believe Election Security is my most fundamental priority however this complaint focused on the conversation with the president with another forum leader, not Election Security. I yield back. If that conversation involve the president requesting help in the form of intervention in our election, is that not an issue of interference in our election . Again, this once was sent to the federal bureau of investigation. I understand that, but youre not suggesting, are you, that the president is somehow immune from the laws that preclude the u. S. Person from seeking for help in a u. S. Election, are you . Is that no saying one, none of us is above the law in this country. Thank you, chairman. Its a pleasure to be here with you. I tell my friends always time that ive gotten more surveillance as an member of congress than i did as an undercover officer in the cia and i think you got more arrows shot at you since youve been dni than you did in almost four decades on the battlefield. Question, the letter that is contained in the was a lower package is actually dated august 12, and a recognized this may be a better question to be asking the icig. That letter is dated august 12 theits to the chairman of intelligence and the chairman of this committee. The you know if that was lower provided that letter to those two chairmen concurrently . Earlier, i i said believe that the whistleblower and the i cig acted in good faith and follow the law every step of the way. Good copy. Weve talked about the way the law on the was lower statute its decidedll share to be an urgent concern, however, best practices has always been to share regardless of whether that urgent concern. , negative any reason impacts on the Intelligence Community, if that legislation was changed . Say, all whistleblower complaints should be shared with committees . Thats correct. In addition to that, lets just say the allegation was made against a member of this committee. Members of this committee, although you are the Intelligence Committee, are not members of the Intelligence Community. And as the dni, i have no authority or responsibility over this committee. Is, do you think that every whistleblower complaint that was brought to the Intelligence Community Inspector General was always shared with this committee, would that have any impact on intelligence equities . And i ask that because i dont know why when the statute was written that he did not say all should be shared rather than only urgent concern. My question to you as the head of the Intelligence Community, the you think if we change that law, would it have impact on intelligence equities . I dont think a law could be changed to cover all things that might possibly happen. I think we have a good law, i think it is well written. However, as you said, this is unprecedented, and this is a unique situation. Thats why were sitting here this morning. Not in thise we are position again, however if we do find ourselves in this position again, you want to make sure that theres not any uncertainty in when information should be shared to the committee. Dni under you or under your premises are aware of a decision to suspend ukrainian aid as was alleged in this complaint . As far as i am concerned personally, i have no knowledge of that and i am unaware if anybody is aware of that. I just dont know the answer to that. I apologize for a lot of these legal questions, that may be best directed that somebody else but i feel like you have a perspective. When does a well see, office of legislatives Legal Counsel guidance override laws passed by congress . The office of Legal Counsel does not override laws passed by congress. What it does, it passes legal theion for those of us in executive branch, and the office of Legal Counsel, legal opinion is finding to everyone within the executive branch. I have two final questions, im going to ask you together to give you the time to answer them both. How is your assessment of intelligence operations in general are going to be impacted by this latest episode, and when i say episode, im referring to the media circuits, the political circuits, the technical issues, that are related to this was a blower revelation. You alluded to it in some of your previous questions, but i would like your assessment on how this could impact intelligence operations in the future. And i do believe this is your first time testifying to congress in your position, right . And i would welcome, in the end, i know this is a little offtopic, what the ucr our greatest challenges and threats to our country . Let me answer the latter part of that. I think that the greatest challenge that we face is not necessarily from a kinetic strike or with russia or china or iran or north korea. I think the greatest challenge that we do have is to make sure that we maintain the integrity of our election system. We know right now that there are foreign powers who are trying to get us to question the validity of whether or not our elections are valid. Foremost, i think that protecting the sanctity of our elections within the united national, city, state, local, is perhaps the most important job that we have with the Intelligence Community. That, we do face significant threats. Number one is not necessarily kinetic, but ciber. We talk about whether or not the great competition is taking place with russia and china, and we are building ships and weapons to do that. But in my estimation, the great competition with these countries is taking place right now and is doing that in the ciber. My time is running out, but the broader implications on intelligence operations of this current was lower situation. This,el you, in light of i clearly have a lot of work as the leader of this community to do, to reassure. To reassure that the Intelligence Community, that in fact, i am totally committed to the was a blower program. And im absolutely, absolutely committed to protecting the anonymity of this individual as well as making sure that michael cig,son, who was our i continues to be able to do his job unfettered. Certainly havei to be proactive in my communications with my team. I yield back the time i may or may not have. Thank you, chairman. Thank you for your testimony today. I want to say thank you also to the was a blower for having the courage and the bravery to come forward on behalf of the nation. Thank you to mr. Atkinson, the Inspector General, for his courage and coming forward to congress. You mention that you believe that the was a law report is credible, but that was a blower is credible, that the whistleblower acted in good faith. Have,d a chance now as we and i believe the American People have, had an opportunity to review both the was a blower complaint and the transcript that was released of the phone call between the president of the United States and the president of ukraine. Youve read book documents by now, havent you . Yes, congress meant. The complaintay is remarkably consistent with the transcript that was released . I would say that the was a blower complaint is in alignment with what was released yesterday by the president. I want to read you a quick section of road to underscore exactly how accurate and consistent this complaint is. On page two of the whistleblowers complaint, the was a blower says according to the white house officials who had direct knowledge of the call, the president pressured to initiate or continue an investigation into the activities of former Vice President joseph biden and his son hunter biden, and the third bullet point, me or speak with two people a president named personaly as his envoys on these matters, mr. Giuliani and attorney general bar. Doom the president referred multiple times in tandem. In the transcript that was released on page four of the first paragraph into what looks like the third sentence, the formerrump says ambassador from the United States, a woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the ukraine were bad news, so i just want to let you know that. The other thing, theres a lot of talk about bidens son. If biden stop the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that, so whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stop the prosecution, etc. Doubt theve reason to was a blower has brought forward . Getting back into Michael Atkinsons determination on whether or not it was credible or urgent concern, as the dni, it is not my place to ensure that it is credible. That is the icigs job. He has determined that it is credible. Trouble with that, in fact, it involved someone who is not in the Intelligence Community or in an organization under which i have authority and responsibility. Director maguire, you agree that in all intelligence matters, it involved an issue of election interference, it involved an investigation of u. S. Persons including a former Vice President. If you had knowledge or the cia had knowledge that a government was going to investigate or drum up an investigation against the former Vice President , with that not qualify as an intelligence matter . With that qualify as an intelligence matter, yes or no . Well, i dont mean to say this and oppotaco question. I dont think its hypothetical. Thats exactly what to the transcript. The complaint. Thats what the president is asking the president of ukraine to do. Hes asking the president of ukraine to investigate a former Vice President of the United States. Does that qualify as an intelligence matter that the cia would want to know . The conversation was by the president of ukraine, as you know. Understand,re, i but that cannot be an ultimate against transparency. It cant be an ultimate shield against accountability. The president is not above the law. One thing that you havent told us is if your office or the Inspector General is not able to investigate, then who is able to investigate . As i mentioned several times so far, although it did not come to the committee, the complaint was referred to the Judicial Department for criminal investigation. This was not swept under the rug. I have one more question for you. Why did your office think you should appeal the ig determination about urgent concern to the doj . That has never been done before. It has never been done before. This is unprecedented in the past, but there has never been a matter that the Inspector General has investigated that did not involve a member of the Intelligence Community or an organization that the director of national until one last point i would make him a you keep saying the president is not part of the Intelligence Community. I believe he is. The president has the ability to declassify any single intelligence document, is that true . The president has original classification authority. That how is that person outside the Intelligence Community . Is the president of of the entire executive branch . Thank you. Mr. Ratcliffe. Good to see you. The navy 36 years, he commended seal team to . Any retired as vice admiral of the navy, correct thats correct. Despite the fact that after that service, you became acting the23 days after trumpsolons the call and four days after the whistleblower made his or her complaint, were subpoenaed before this committee after being publicly accused of committing a crime, correct . Yes, condiment. German shepherd wrote a letter accusing you of being part of a unlawful cover up and the speaker of the house took it one step further. She went on national tv and said she went on national tv and said not once but twice that you broke the law, that you committed a crime. She said of the acting director of National Intelligence locked him from disclosing the was a blower complaint. This is a violation of the law. You were publicly accused of committing a crime, you were also falsely accused of committing a crime, as you have so accurately related. You were required to follow not just an opinion of what the law is, but the opinion from the Justice Department and an 11 page opinion about whether or not you were required by law to report the whistleblower complaint, correct . Thethat opinion says question is whether such a complaint falls within the statutory definition of urgent concern that the law requires the dni to forward to the Intelligence Committee. We conclude that it does not. Did i read that accurately . I better have, right . Bills an opinion not from barr, at an opinion from the department of justice ethics lawyers. Appointees, but career officials that serve republicans and democrats. The ethics lawyers at the department of justice that determined that you did follow the law. You were publicly accused and also falsely accused and yet here today, i havent heard anything close to an apology for that. Welcome to the house of representatives with democrats in charge. Let me turn to the matter that we are here for, a lot of talk about this was a blower complaint. The question is at this point, given what we have, why all the focus on this was a blower . The best evidence of what said the trump president zielinski is the transcript of what President Trump said the president zelinski. Dispersions on the whistleblowers good faith or their intent, but a secondhand account of something someone did not hear is not as good as the best evidence of what was actually said, and to that point, despite good faith, the was a blower is in fact wrong the whistleblower is in fact wrong in numerous respects. The was a blower says that i am deeply concerned that there was a serious or flagrant problem, views, or violation of the law. Say i was notn to a direct witness to the events described however i found my colleagues accounts of this to be credible. And then talking about those accounts, the whistleblower tells us the official that i spoke with told me and i was told that and i learned from multiple u. S. Officials and white house officials told me that and i also learned from multiple u. S. Officials that. In other words, all of this is secondhand information, none of it is firsthand information. But was a blower then goes on to cite additional sources besides those secondhand information. The sources happen to include Mainstream Media. The sources that the whistleblower businesss complaints on include the Washington Post company your times, politico, the hill, bloomberg, abc news, and others. Much like the steele dossier, the allegations in the was a are based onint third hand, Mainstream Media sources rather than firsthand information. Also appears to allege crimes not just against the president but says with regards to this theme to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 election the president s personal lawyer is a central figure in this effort and attorney general bar appears to be involved as well. But in a footnote a couple of pages later, the was a blower admits i do not know the extent to which, if at all, mr. Giuliani is directly coordinating his efforts on ukraine with attorney general bar. The attorney general does know because he issued a statement yesterday saying there was no involvement. My point in all of this is again, the transcript is the best evidence of what we have, and so the American People are very clear with that transcript relays his legal communications. The United States is allowed to solicit help from a Foreign Government in an ongoing criminal investigation which is exactly what President Trump did in that conversation. So, if the democrats are intent on impeaching the president for unlawful conduct, and be my guest, i yield back. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for being here, thank you very much for your service. I want to step back a little bit and put into perspective what is at stake here. Obviously yesterday, the white house released the transcript of that july 25 conversation between trump and zelinski. This phone call was indeed a part of the was a blower complaint. Yesterday, the chair had a press conference characterize the president s conversation in that call as a shakedown of the ukrainian leader. He was not suggesting that it was a shakedown for either information or money, instead, it was a shakedown for help to win a president ial election, which is coming up next year. Lets press rewind to may 7 of this year when fbi director Christopher Wray testified before the United States senate that, and im quoting, any public official or member of any campaign should immediately report to the fbi any conversations with foreign actors about influencing or interfering with our elections. Wraytor right director is of course the top cop. You agree with him, do you not . I do not disagree with director wary is that the same thing as agreeing . Yes. It was preferred to the fbi. Let me fast forward. It was referred to the fbi by the president who actually engaged in the conversation . No, it was not. 13,me fast forward to june thats five weeks in advance of that. When the chair of the federal Elections Commission made the following statement, follow me, please. Let me make something 100 clear to the American Public. And Anyone Running for public office. Person togal for any accept, solicit, or receive anything of value from a Foreign National in connection with the u. S. Election. This is not a novel concept. Election intervention from Foreign Governments has been considered unacceptable since the beginnings of our nation. The you agree with the chair . That our elections are sacred and any interference want outside sources to solicit or accept it is illegal . Dir. Maguire i cannot answer that. You think it is ok for a public official you think it may be ok for a candidate or an elected official to solicit foreign interference in our election . Youre not saying that, right . Dir. Maguire im not saying that at all. We should note the fec chair was prompted to say this because it was just literally the day before that the president of the United States sat at the resolute desk in the most iconic room in the United States and fbii director ray director wray was wrong. You are disagreeing that. He also said he would consider accepting foreign help. Yesterday we learned the president did in fact do exactly that, solicited that help. Director, whether it is this president or any president , do you believe it is ok for the president of the United States to pressure a foreign country into helping him or her win an election . , i. Maguire congressman believe no one is above the law. It is illegal to solicit . Dir. Maguire i cannot answer that. I cannot reconcile your statements. Is it ok for a president to pressure a Foreign Government for help to win an election . Dir. Maguire it is unwarranted, it is unwelcome, it is bad for the nation to have outside interference. And by extension, it would be equally unacceptable to extort that assistance as well . Know is that all i i have the transcripts as you have. I have the whistleblower complaint as you have. I was not referring to the whistleblower complaint. If any president were to do this. I accept your answer. I think it is unacceptable, i think it is wrong, and i think we all know it. I think we were taught this at a very young age. There is a voice within most of us, evidently not all of us, that suggests it is wrong. Wrong and withnd that i yield back. Dir. Maguire if i may answer once again. You may answer. Again, it wasonce referred to the federal bureau of investigation. Not by the president. Dir. Maguire no. Y this office said anyor wray candidate or elected official so it should immediately report it. The person involved did not do. Hat director wray should occur mr. Welch. Thank you. Director, i want to say thank you. There is no one in this room who can claim to have served their country longer and more valiantly than you. Remarksin your opening that your family before you has been committed to this country. I say thank you. Second, i appreciated your candor when in your Opening Statement you acknowledged the whistleblower acted in good faith. Third, i appreciated your acknowledgment that the Inspector General also acted in good faith and according to his view of the laws. I want to say this. When you said you are in a unique position, that is an understatement. You got a complaint involving the president of the United States and also the United States attorney general. I disagree with some of the decisions you made, but i have no doubt whatsoever that the same sense of duty that you applied in your long and illustrious career guide you as you make these decisions. Thank you for that. I want to ask a few questions about the extraordinary document that came to your attention. Has jurisdiction over foreign interference in our elections, correct . Dir. Maguire that is correct. You are aware of the Robert Mueller report and his indictments against 12 Foreign Nationals, russians, who actively interfered in our elections, correct . Dir. Maguire i have read the report. Is a huge responsibility your agency has, correct . Dir. Maguire in this in this case, because of the things you mentioned, the president is the one person above the Intelligence Community. You do not forward the complaint to us. Correct . Dir. Maguire yes, congressman welch, because i was still working with the white house. You have been very clear on that. Let me ask a hypothetical to show the dilemma you are in. Lets say a u. S. Senator who was well connected, or a private senator a private citizen well connected had a conversation with the leader of a foreign country and asked that of providingfavor dirt on a political opponent. Is that something you would see that should be forwarded to this committee . Dir. Maguire i do not mean to be disrespectful, but it is difficult to answer hypothetical questions. I am not sure i understand. I will not make it hypothetical. Instead of a conversation between the president and the president of ukraine, it was a u. S. Senator who was the head of the Foreign Relations committee and was asking for the foreign leader. Dir. Maguire i understand. Would you forward that to our committee . Dir. Maguire i mentioned that earlier in our conversation. The United States senator is not a member of the Intelligence Community. The director of National Intelligence does not have the authority and responsibility to the u. S. Senate. Any wrongdoing in that regard should be referred to the department of justice for criminal investigation. I respectfully disagree with you. Obviously that would be a solicitation by the u. S. Senator for interference in our elections, and that is in your jurisdiction, correct . Dir. Maguire election interference is, indeed. Yes. Ase again, although it is, far as what the legal responsibility to do in compliance with the intelligence reform act, the whistleblower protection act, the statute does not allow for that to be done. I disagree with that. Here is the dilemma you are in and we are in but we will now be able to followup because executive privilege, if it existed, was waived good under means no one, it would be investigating the underlying conduct because in this case executive privilege applies, or may apply. Number two, the president who has the conversation is above the law. That is a dilemma for our democracy, is it not . Dir. Maguire the complaint was sent to the fbi totally disregarding any concern for executive privilege. I understand. The fbi never did a followup investigation, right . Dir. Maguire right . Dir. Maguire i believe they have concluded the investigation. I am not sure. In addition to being involved with this matter i have other pressing matters. And the Justice Department, led by william barr, who is a subject of the complaint, is the department that provided the opinion that there is no action to be taken . Dir. Maguire i believe the attorney general was mentioned in the complaint, not necessarily the subject of the complaint. He was mentioned. I yield back. Dir. Maguire thank you. Mr. Maloney . Director maguire director maguire, when was your first day on the job . Dir. Maguire friday the 16th of august. I think i set a record for being subpoenaed. You had a heckuva first week. The complaint dated august 12, no matter what you have done right, the timing is something to worry about. There has been a lot of talk today about the process. I want to summarize a couple of things. In your first couple of days on the job you are hit with this complaint. It says that the president of the United States pressured a foreign leader to help him investigate a political opponent and that political opponents son. That that resident asked the foreign leader to work with a private citizen, mr. Giuliani, and the attorney general of the United States, william barr, on thats on that steam. The president on that sceme. The president was withholding 391 Million Dollars of assistance. Raises u. S. T military assistance, javelins, defense weapons. He has Russian Troops in his country. The wolf is at the door. The president asks for a favor, complains about ukrainian reciprocity. He names the political opponents by name, the bidens. The ukrainian president says he will do the investigation. That is what you are hit with. Youre looking at that complaint that in the second paragraph alleges serious wrongdoing by the president of the United States and the first thing you mens go to the president s at the white house and women and say should i give to congress . In the second paragraph of that complaint, it also suggests the attorney general could be involved, and the second thing you do is go to the attorney generals people at the Justice Department and ask if you should give it to congress. I have no question about your character. I have read your biography. I have questions about your decision and the judgment in those decisions. Do you see any conflicts here . Dir. Maguire congressman maloney, i have a lot of leadership experience. As you said, it came to me very early on in this. The fact that i was i am the acting dni and i was still using garland to get to work this came to my attention involving the president of the United States and the important matter of this good i have always the important matter of this. I have always worked with Legal Counsel. As a naval officer for years, i thought it would be prudent. I also want to say my life would have been a lot simpler without becoming the most famous man in the United States. When you are considering prudence, did you think it was prudent to give a veto power over whether the congress saw this serious allegation of wrongdoing to the two people implicated by it . Is that prudent . Dir. Maguire i have to work with the situation as it is. Only the white house can determine or waive executive privilege. There is no one else to go to. Myfar as a second opinion, only avenue of that was to go to the department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. That ifnderstand unchallenged by your own Inspector General, that prudence would have prevented these allegations from reaching the congress. In response to mr. Heinz, he left the door open that you spoke to the president of the United States of the United States about this whistleblower complaint. Do speak personally to the president of the United States at any time about this complaint . Dir. Maguire once again, i am the president s intelligence officer. I speak to the president i know you speak to the present a lot. It is a simple question. Did you speak about this whistleblower complaint . Dir. Maguire my conversation with the president of the United States is privileged. I do not the content. Did you or did you not speak to the president about this complaint . Dir. Maguire i speak to the president about a lot of things. Anything i say to the president of the United States in any form is privileged. Are you denying you spoke to the president . Dir. Maguire i speak to the president , and anything i say to the president is confidential. That is the way it is. I understand. Thank you. Director, you understand we are not asking about your president s with the conversation about National Security, about foreign policy, about the National Counterterrorism center. We want to know, did you discuss the subject with the president . You can imagine what a profound conflict of interest that would be. Did you discuss this whistleblower claim with the president . You can say i did not discuss it with him. That does not betray any privilege. You can say i did discuss it with him but im not going to get into the content of those conversations. That question, you can answer. Dir. Maguire chairmanship my conversation with the president of the United States is privileged conversation between the director of National Intelligence and the president. Thank you so much, mr. Chairman, and director maguire, thank you for being here with us today. Thank you for your service. I know you said you took your first oath in 1974. That is a long time, but a long time to be proud of your service. I took my first oath in 1984, when i was sworn in as a Law Enforcement officer. I thank you for saying that Public Service is a sacred trust. Circumstancesthe or who is involved, Public Service is a sacred trust. I have had an opportunity as a lawenforcement officer and member of congress to investigate internal cases involving other personnel. I have had an opportunity to investigate numerous other cases, criminal cases. Never once, just for the record, the principalto in those cases to ask them what i should do in the case. There has been a lot of talk this morning, the whole discussion, the reason why we are here centered around the u. S. Relationship with ukraine. I think you would agree that ukraine is dependent on the United States in terms of assisting them in defending themselves. Can you, based on your many years of experience in the military and now in your new position, talk about that relationship, and how important it is for the United States to assist ukraine if theyre ever going to be able to defend themselves . Dir. Maguire the United States has been extremely supportive of the ukraine. I would say they are reliant on us. They were lying other people in europe. I would also say the United States is paying more than their fair share for their support of ukraine than the others. The threat is real for the ukrainian people and the state of freedom and democracy is also even though it is in the ukraine, is very much a concern. You would say ukraine could probably never get there without the support or assistance from the United States of america . If others were willing to step up and support, they might be able to get there. But they are not. We are there. I think you have said it would be difficult for ukraine to meet that goal of defending themselves without our support, correct . Dir. Maguire it would be a challenge. This complaint outlines a scheme by the president of the United States, and im not sure what to call Rudy Giuliani these days, what his role is. Maybe he is the new fixer. I am not sure. It involves a scheme to course ukraine, this country you say is dependent on the United States, to defend themselves, to course coerce ukraine into assisting the president s reelection effort. It says on july 18 the office of management and budget official informed the Department Agencies that the president earlier that month had issued instructions to suspend all u. S. Security assistance. Staffr omb nor the nsc knew why the instruction has been issued. During interagency meetings on the 23rd of july and the 26 of july, omb officials said explicitly that the instruction assistance came directly from the president , but they were still unaware of a policy rationale. 23rd on the 18th this issue first came up, where the president was suspending that assistance you set ukraine so desperately depends on. Director maguire, we deal and what is reasonable. I believe your Inspector General included that in the report because this issue is about ukraines position in relationship with United States, their dependency on the United States and the president s to ukraine two coerce into an illegal and improper investigation good do you believe that is why your Inspector General added that about sending support to ukraine . Dir. Maguire i think Michael Atkinson found it to be credible and he viewed it was a matter of urgent concern. Do you think it is reasonable for the American People and this committee on both sides to believe there is a correlation or a nexus between the president suspending aid in the conversation that took place, the followup conversation . Dir. Maguire that is the allegation that is made. I do not have access to the transcript. My only information was the ici ease cover letter and the whistleblower allegation. The other information coming to light yesterday, as released by the president , changes things. May i just ask one more quick question. My understanding is the Inspector General is a career intelligence person. He has worked at the department of justice. He has received numerous rewards for exemplary performance. Did you have any reason to deny or not believe his conclusions in every area of this report that he was directly involved in . Dir. Maguire Michael Atkinson is a valued and trusted colleague. I respect him tremendously. The question came down to urgent concern and whether or not the Intelligence Community whistleblower protection act allows me to forward it to this committee. That is where i got stuck, and im sorry. Thank you. Mr. Maguire, thank you so much for your service to our country and thank you for your patriotism. I want to ask you a couple of questions about the times wrapping july 25 to the time you came the time surrounding july 25 to the time you came into office. Callu know, the phone between President Trump and the ukrainian president happened on july 25 of this year, correct . Dir. Maguire i believe july 25. At that time the dni was dan coats and his deputy was sue gordon. The whistleblower claim was filed on august 12 and you took office on august 16, four days later. Prior to taking your new job, or since, did you discuss the july 25 call or the whistleblower complaint with dni coates . Dir. Maguire i would not have taken the job if i did. How about with sue gordon . Dir. Maguire i do not think either director codes or our , had any sue gordon sense about this whistleblower complaint or that Michael Atkinson had it. Before your current role, did you discuss ukraine with President Trump . Dir. Maguire i have not discussed ukraine with anybody. Let me put it to you that way. Youve not discussed ukraine with anybody in your current role as the acting dni . Dir. Maguire we have about 190 countries out there, so whatever the president s daily brief is and matters pertaining to that. As far as intelligence equities, this has not been something that has come to my attention in the six weeks ive been acting dni. Turning to the whistleblower and Inspector General, you do not know the identity of the whistleblower, right . Dir. Maguire i do not and i have made it my business to make sure i do not. And you do not know his or her political affiliation . You believe the whistleblower was operating in good faith. Dir. Maguire i do. Without bias. Dir. Maguire i do not know about that. You have no reason to believe you are she was acting with bias, correct . Dir. Maguire i believe the whistleblower was acting in good faith. You have no reason to believe whether he is biased or not biased . Do anything to protect the whistleblower from any attempts to retaliate . Dir. Maguire i will not permit the whistleblower to be retaliated against. That unlike the whistleblower, you do know the Inspector General. Dir. Maguire i hold him in high esteem. He also operated in the highest space . Dir. Maguire yes. Atkinsonstingly, mr. Was appointed by president donald trump, right . Dir. Maguire yes he was. Credibility to the whistleblowers complaint is the fact that mr. Atkinson, an appointee of the president , would actually bring forward a complaint against his boss, and that is something that is especially courageous. What i want to hear from you is that you will also do everything you can to protect misdirected to protect mr. Atkinson from potential italian asian . Dir. Maguire absolutely from potential retaliation. The white house transmitted they call it a telcom . Dir. Maguire this is the first time ive ever seen the transcript of a president ial conversation with a foreign leader. Have you been a party to a conversation between the president and a foreign leader on a phone call . Dir. Maguire when im in the office to provide the intelligence brief to the president , some foreign head of state might call in. The president may ask us to leave or stay there for a brief call from time to time. No takers who scribble down furiously what is being said . Dir. Maguire if they are note takers they would not be in the oval office. They might be listening somewhere else. Like from the situation room . Dir. Maguire i do not know where. Somewhere in the white house. In this particular situation, may be more than a dozen people were on the phone call . Dir. Maguire that is the allegation. And theyre all taking notes, presumably . Dir. Maguire if they are good Public Service. Were you ever a party to a call where the notes you took were then given to someone at the white house for keeping . I have never been party to any call other than my own. I would take notes for my own at my level or as the National Counterterrorism sector. I have never been privy to a conversation with the president where i would be involved in taking notes. It would just be happenstance. I would happen to be there and he felt comfortable enough for a brief conversation. It is not anything right would be in that office for that matter. Thank you for your service. Dir. Maguire thank you very much. I would like to reckon eyes the Ranking Member for any final questions you might have i would like to recognize the Ranking Member for any final questions you might have . Thank youre for surviving the legal challenge today. See you behindll closed doors. I would urge my colleagues on the others of the aisle that if they would like to impeach the president , they need to go to the floor of the house and call for a vote. The Intelligence Committee is not an appropriate place to try articles of impeachment. There is a process in the constitution i would advise you all follow. In the meantime, director maguire, i want to apologize to you for being accused of crimes you have not committed. It is totally inappropriate behavior for anyone to accuse someone that served four dictates like you. I hope you do not have to go through this longer. We have been listening to Joseph Maguire testify before the house Intelligence Committee. We will continue to follow that. In the meantime, we have breaking news. Peloton has begun trading. The 29it is down from priced last night. A lot of people were thinking it was already expensive. Double the ipo valuation it was last year. This does make it one of the worst openings for an ipo this large since 2008. Experiencer indicates we have to wait to see where it settles . Sonali yes, but the first traits do not indicate confidence. People are going to be asking what is going on. Usually investors expect a pop. What were the concerns going into the ipo . Bloomberg sonali has outlined this quite a bit. How do you value peloton . At 8s valuation, billion, that was more expensive the netflix on eight 2020 forward basis. David what is their path to profitability . Sonali they are growing their revenue but the losses have widened. David there is also a question if they have a second act. They are very popular. I have a lot of friends who have peloton. What you do besides get an exercise cycle . ,onali there is a second act but is it recession proof . Can you buy a 2000 bike when the economy gets worse . David how big is the marketplace . Sonali i do not have the answer on the top of my head, but it is something will be looking at as we look to push the valuation up . David who are the investors . Sonali tiger global. We mentioned they would have more than a 1 billion profit. They are still above that. They have been able to cash out. David stay with us. We will go to taylor riggs in san francisco. What is your take on this open . Taylor this is interesting. Or 27. N around 26 i want to touch on something sonali was talking about, about how you value the company. You have recurring revenue, those have higher valuations, and it is a hardware company. Treadmill,e, a 4000 those are closer to apple asked margins. If you continue to grow that hardware, that would give it a pathway to growth. On a price to sales basi