Article snippet: WASHINGTON — Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire defended his decision not to immediately share with Congress an extraordinary complaint by an intelligence community whistle-blower alleging that President Trump used his office to solicit interference by a foreign country in the 2020 US elections. Maguire told members of the House Intelligence Committee that he supported the right of the whistle-blower, whose complaint helped touch an impeachment inquiry, to raise concerns with an intelligence community watchdog. But much of the complaint concerned communications the president had with a foreign leader, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and may have been covered by executive privilege, he said. That is a privilege, Maguire said, that he is not empowered to waive. Maguire said that the White House, in the end, did not assert privilege over the complaint or the phone call it describes, which took place on July 25. Maguire said his office first sought advice from the White House Counsel and then the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel to ask if the complaint might be covered by executive privilege. Representative Adam Schiff of California, the committee chairman, strongly questioned Maguire on why he had sought advice from the White House when the president was subject of the complaint. ‘‘It just seemed prudent to be able to check’’ on the issue, Maguire said. Maguire said officials at the OLC determined that executive privilege mi... Link to the full article to read more