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Letter from Klitenic to House Intelligence Committee and Senate Committee on Intelligence Whistleblower Complaint on Ukraine (Kelly Smith, comp.) [1] (9/13/2019)

handle is hein.presidents/usgvtwht0016 and id is 1 raw text is: 

UNCLASSIFIED//F-9%HG


                 OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
                              OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL
                                   WASHINGTON, DC 20511


                                                                       September 13, 2019


The Honorable Richard Burr                      The Honorable Adam Schiff
Chairman                                        Chairman
Select Committee on Intelligence            Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate                            United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510                            Washington DC 20515

The Honorable Mark Warner                       The Honorable Devin Nunes
Vice Chairman                                   Ranking Member
Select Committee on Intelligence            Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate                            United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510                            Washington DC 20515


Dear Chairman Burr, Chairman Schiff, Vice Chairman Warner, and Ranking Member Nunes,

       (U/IFGUG) On September 10, 2019, Chairman Schiff sent a letter to the Acting Director
of National Intelligence (DNI), requesting information relating to a complaint that the Inspector
General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG) had received from an individual within the
Intelligence Community. In that letter, Chairman Schiff expressed the view that the DNI's
handling of the complaint was not consistent with 50 U.S.C. § 3033(k)(5). The ICIG sent a
separate letter to both committees concerning the underlying complaint on September 9, 2019. I
write to provide the intelligence committees with additional information concerning the complaint
and to explain how the DNI fully complied with applicable law. As explained below, because the
disclosure in this case did not concern allegations of conduct by a member of the Intelligence
Community or involve an intelligence activity under the DNI's supervision, we determined, after
consulting with the Department of Justice (DOJ), that no statute requires disclosure of the
complaint to the intelligence committees.

       (U//F-04) The DNI believes strongly in the role of the ICIG and in the statutory
provisions that encourage Federal employees and government contractors to report truthful
allegations of wrongdoing, in accordance with the specific legal process. The DNI also takes
seriously his obligation to protect lawful whistleblowers from retaliation. For the Intelligence
Community, this process is codified in the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act
(ICWPA) and in the parallel provisions in Title 50 of the U.S. Code. Under ICWPA, Congress
enacted a framework to report matters of urgent concern within the Intelligence Community to
Congress that protects both Congress' legitimate oversight responsibilities as well as the
constitutional authority of the President to determine how, when, and under what circumstances
classified or privileged information may be reported to Congress. See generally Whistleblower
Protections for Classified Disclosures, 22 Op. O.L.C. 92 (1998).


UNCLASSIFIED// PGHU

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