'Absolutely zero accountability:' Ex-FBI agent explains how Trump could legally skirt additional DOJ scrutiny on Ukraine

Former FBI agent and national security consultant Asha Rangappa explained in a Twitter thread Thursday that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) went down a specific line of questioning because the decision of the Office of Legal Counsel under the Department of Justice would apply to any future whistleblower complaints.

"@RepAdamSchiff is getting to the heart of it: If the President’s actions are not under [the] purview of DNI, by definition, NOTHING he does cannot be an 'urgent concern,'" she tweeted. "That means NO wrongdoing reported by WB can ever reach the eyes of Congress."

She explained that by referring the whistleblower complaint to the Department of Justice the OLC believes the president can't be indicted or prosecuted while in office. So, the complaint would be ignored under that process. That's why it's sent to Congress and not the DOJ, but that's not what the director of national intelligence did in this case.

"This means that there is a vacuum in which [the] president can act with absolutely zero accountability," Rangappa tweeted.

If this process is allowed to stand, the "ICIG would have to reject future complaints," she tweeted.

Former Department of Defense Special Counsel Ryan Goodman made a similar point, noting: "The Justice Dept’s Opinion concerns not only the initial question of sharing [the whistleblower] complaint with Congress. The Opinion has also blocked the IG from investigating any further."