Democratic Congressman equates whistleblower report to Trump shooting someone on 5th Avenue
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he read the official whistleblower complaint filed by a senior intelligence officer after a series of conversations between President Donald Trump and Ukraine. What he read was disturbing enough that he was deeply concerned.
"You know, on the way up the stairs, I was thinking about what the president said on the campaign that he could shoot someone and his base would stay with him. I guess, what I read was, to me, the political equivalent of that," Quigley said. "Defying the Constitution, committing a criminal act and thinking, 'Well, I can get away with it,' is some sort of bizarre cult of personality. [It's] deeply disturbing what we read this morning. Alarming. Reinforced to an extraordinary magnitude by the report that we’ve just read."
During the 2016 campaign, Trump joked that his supporters were so loyal to him that he could shoot someone in the head on 5th Avenue and they'd still support him.
While Trump has barred anyone from releasing information outlined in the whistleblower report, Quigley said what he could explain about it was the whistleblower was very detailed and professionally done. He said that he thinks the White House is working to figure out what they would like to be released, but the congressman argued it isn't their call.
"I can’t detail that it involves any call — I can’t detail what it involves, period," he explained. "I will tell people that it is deeply disturbing. It reinforces the concerns that what we previously learned and I think it is a blueprint for what we still need to know. It lays out exactly what Congress needs to investigate."
He also said that it reinforces the courage of the whistleblower, who has been blocked by the Justice Department and the acting director of national intelligence. When the DNI and DOJ take those steps, Quigley said that bad things happen like leaks or worse any wrongdoing will go unpunished.
"I heard my Republican colleagues on the floor say today, 'What are you complaining about? You got the transcript. You’re getting the report. They’re going to testify.' We’ll have the complaint. The only reason we know about this at all is because a complaining witness had the courage to come forward," he noted.
Watch the interview below: