Donald Trump is blocking the release of an unredacted secret whistleblower complaint against Tulsi Gabbard that had been held in a locked safe.
The Trump administration cited claims of executive privilege, a power reserved for the president to withhold confidential information, as its justification for refusing to provide unredacted intelligence to congressional lawmakers.
‘Executive privilege is rarely used as a reason to not give information to the Gang of Eight,’ said Glenn Gerstell, a former general counsel at the National Security Agency, to Wall Street Journal. The Gang of Eight refers to the lawmakers overseeing intelligence.
The redacted intelligence found in the complaint reportedly involves a conversation between two foreign national regarding Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Senior Trump officials claimed the allegations against Kushner were demonstrably false but refused to explain further, arguing that doing so would expose highly classified material. Another top US official also told the Daily Mail that the claims ‘were nothing more than salacious gossip.’
The intelligence concerning Kushner included a brief conversation about Iran. The classified material was reportedly obtained through clandestine surveillance technology.
Gabbard’s office had previously released a redacted version of the complaint to top intelligence lawmakers earlier in February after keeping it locked in a safe for months.
Officials have continuously argued that sharing the full complaint could damage US national security. Although Democratic critics claim Trump is using his executive privilege to protect Kushner and Gabbard.
This is a developing story…
