•HRES 576 IH 
pendent Inspector General’s determination and the law, 
claiming that the Complaint did not meet the statutory 
definition of an ‘‘urgent concern’’ because the Complaint 
did not ‘‘relate to the funding, administration or oper-
ation of an intelligence activity within the responsibility 
and supervision of the DNI’’ and that no statute—in-
cluding statutes governing whistleblowers—requires dis-
closure of the Complaint to the congressional intelligence 
committees; 
Whereas the Acting Director has breached his obligations 
under section 103H(k)(5)(C) of the National Security 
Act of 1947, and potentially other statutes, by refusing 
to transmit the Complaint to the congressional intel-
ligence committees by no later than September 2, 2019; 
Whereas the Inspector General, in explaining his disagree-
ment with the Acting Director to the congressional intel-
ligence committees, and his view as to why the Complaint 
readily met the definition of an ‘‘urgent concern’’, ob-
served that the Complaint ‘‘relates to one of the most sig-
nificant and important of the DNI’s responsibilities to 
the American people’’; 
Whereas the Trump Administration’s interpretation of sec-
tion 103H(k)(5) of the National Security Act of 1947 
represents a stark and unprecedented break with how 
whistleblower procedures have been interpreted in the 
past, raises serious and related questions about the appli-
cation of Federal laws relating to whistleblowers, and un-
dermines the Committee’s statutory oversight over ele-
ments of the intelligence community and intelligence-re-
lated activities and programs of the Federal Government; 
Whereas, on September 9, 2019, the Inspector General noti-
fied the Committee of the Complaint and the Acting Di-
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•HRES 576 IH 
rector’s refusal to transmit the Complaint to the congres-
sional intelligence committees; 
Whereas, on September 13, 2019, in accordance with the 
Rules of Procedure of the Committee and the Rules of 
the House of Representatives for the 116th Congress, the 
Committee served a subpoena (in this resolution referred 
to as the ‘‘Subpoena’’) to the Acting Director to produce 
to the Committee the Complaint and accompanying mate-
rials, the Inspector General’s credibility determination, 
and any and all records related to the decision to with-
hold the Complaint from the Committee; 
Whereas the Acting Director, notwithstanding the Subpoena 
and in violation of a clear statutory command, continues 
to refuse to transmit the Complaint and the Inspector 
General’s determination to the Committee; 
Whereas notwithstanding a specific request from the Inspec-
tor General, the Acting Director has refused to provide 
direction to the Whistleblower, through the Inspector 
General, on how to contact the congressional intelligence 
committees directly ‘‘in accordance with appropriate secu-
rity practices’’ pursuant to clauses (i) and (ii) of section 
103H(k)(5)(D) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 
U.S.C. 3033(k)(5)(D)(i) and (ii)); 
Whereas, as a direct result of the Acting Director’s violation 
of a clear and lawful statutory directive, the Committee 
is not fully and currently informed of alleged significant 
problems and deficiencies relating to programs and activi-
ties within the responsibility and authority of the Direc-
tor of National Intelligence, and the Committee is unable 
to exercise its constitutionally mandated oversight, inves-
tigative, and legislative responsibilities; 
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•HRES 576 IH 
Whereas a Washington Post article on September 20, 2019, 
reported that the White House Counsel ‘‘has been en-
gaged in the matter since shortly after the whistleblower 
action surfaced . . . helping to identify legal obstacles to 
the sharing of information that could be politically dam-
aging to [President Donald J.] Trump’’; 
Whereas only days after the Director of National Intelligence 
assured Congress that the Whistleblower would be pro-
tected against ‘‘any retaliation or adverse consequence’’, 
President Donald J. Trump himself publicly has derided 
the Whistleblower as ‘‘a political hack job’’ and a ‘‘par-
tisan person’’ and questioned whether the Whistleblower 
is ‘‘on our Country’s side’’; and 
Whereas allegations of such unprecedented and highly inap-
propriate efforts by President Donald J. Trump, and 
White House and other senior officials of the Trump Ad-
ministration to— 
(1) discredit the Whistleblower and other lawful 
whistleblowers; 
(2) influence the Acting Director to violate a clear 
statutory command; and 
(3) not comply in full with the Subpoena, 
embody a serious breach of the obligation imposed by ar-
ticle II, section 3 of the Constitution of the United 
States on the President and the subordinates of the 
President to ‘‘take care that the Laws be faithfully exe-
cuted’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
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•HRES 576 IH 
(1) the Acting Director immediately must rem-
edy the executive branch’s continuing violation of 
section 103H(k)(5) of the National Security Act of 
1947 (50 U.S.C. 3033(k)(5)) and related provisions 
of law— 
(A) by forwarding the Complaint, accom-
panying materials, the Inspector General’s de-
termination that the Complaint was a credible 
urgent concern, and any comments the Acting 
Director considers appropriate, to the congres-
sional intelligence committees; and 
(B) by providing to the Whistleblower, 
through the Inspector General, any necessary 
direction on how to contact the congressional 
intelligence committees directly and in accord-
ance with appropriate security practices; 
(2) the Acting Director immediately must com-
ply in full with the Subpoena; 
(3) the Acting Director immediately must take 
affirmative, public steps to ensure that the Whistle-
blower and any other person who may have knowl-
edge with respect to the allegations contained in the 
Complaint, are fully protected from any and all re-
prisal or threats of reprisal, as a consequence of 
such reporting; 
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(4) the Acting Director, the Department of Jus-
tice, and the White House immediately must pre-
serve all records, documents, communications, and 
other information, regardless of form, which may 
refer or relate to allegations advanced by the Com-
plaint, including the decision to withhold the Com-
plaint from the congressional intelligence commit-
tees; and 
(5) President Donald J. Trump, his associates, 
and senior officials of the Administration imme-
diately must cease their public efforts to discredit 
the Whistleblower, as well as others who may have 
knowledge with respect to the allegations contained 
in the Complaint. 
Æ 
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