GETS UNDER WAY ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
NIGHT. >>> WELL, GOOD EVENING ONCE
AGAIN FROM OUR NBC NEWS
HEADQUARTERS HERE IN NEW YORK.
DAY 972 OF THIS TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION.
ADMINISTRATION. AND AS WE SAID, WE HAVE A BIG
STORY IN THE "WASHINGTON POST"
TONIGHT.
TONIGHT. IT INVOLVES A WHISTLEBLOWER
COMPLAINT FROM INSIDE THE
ADMINISTRATION THAT THE
INTELLIGENCE INSPECTOR GENERAL
CONSIDERS CREDIBLE AND URGENT.
TONIGHT THE POST PUTS IT THIS
WAY, SAYING THIS WHISTLEBLOWER
COMPLAINT INVOLVES PRESIDENT
TRUMP’S COMMUNICATIONS WITH A
FOREIGN LEADER.
FOREIGN LEADER. ACCORDING TO TWO FORMER U.S.
OFFICIALS FAMILIAR WITH THE
MATTER, THEY GO ON TO WRITE
"TRUMP’S IPT INTERACTION WITH
THE FOREIGN LEADER INCLUDED A
PROMISE THAT WAS REGARDED AS SO
TROUBLING THAT IT PROMPTED AN
OFFICIAL IN THE U.S.
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TO FILE A
FORMAL WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT
WITH THE INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR
THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY."
THIS IS OBVIOUSLY POTENTIALLY
EXPLOSIVE.
EXPLOSIVE. GREG MILLER, "WASHINGTON POST"
NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT,
IS THE FIRST NAME IN A
THREE-PART BYLINE TONIGHT.
HE HAS MADE HIMSELF AVAILABLE TO
US.
US. GREG, WHAT IS THE FINITE LIST OF
FOREIGN LEADERS OUR PRESIDENT
COULD HAVE BEEN TALKING TO IN
THIS CASE?
THIS CASE? >> WELL, THIS COMPLAINT, THIS
WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT, COMES
IN THE EARLY PART OF AUGUST.
AND IF YOU LOOK THROUGH THE
WHITE HOUSE RECORDS, TRUMP HAD
INTERACTIONS WITH ABOUT FOUR OR
FIVE FOREIGN LEADERS IN THE
WEEKS LEADING UP TO THIS
COMPLAINT.
COMPLAINT. PERHAPS THE MOST RELEVANT ONE IS
A LATE JULY, END OF JULY
CONVERSATION WITH VLADIMIR
PUTIN, IN WHICH THE WHITE HOUSE
READOUT WAS VERY DIFFERENT FROM
THE RUSSIAN READOUT AFTERWARD IN
WHICH THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT
INDICATED THEY SAW SOME SORT OF
PROGRESS TOWARD RESTORING
BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE
TWO COUNTRIES.
TWO COUNTRIES. BUT THERE WERE OTHERS TOO.
HE WAS ALSO INTERACTING WITH THE
NORTH KOREAN LEADER, WITH THE
PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN AND A
COUPLE OF OTHERS.
BUT I THINK IT’S SAFE TO SAY
THAT THE SPECULATION IS GOING TO
CENTER ON PUTIN AND ON KIM JONG
UN.
UN. >> NOW, I DO KNOW THAT IN THE
MODERN ERA THERE HAVE BEEN
TRADITIONALLY IN THE NATIONAL
SECURITY SHOP IN THE WEST WING,
THERE HAVE BEEN PHONE LISTENERS,
SOMETIMES NOTE TAKERS, SOMETIMES
ANALYSTS TO RECOUNT WHAT WENT
ON.
ON. THAT IS A WAY OF DOING BUSINESS,
THOUGH, NOT ALL THE TIME.
IS THERE REASON TO BELIEVE THERE
IS A PERMANENT RECORD OF THE
CONVERSATION?
CONVERSATION? BECAUSE ABSENT THAT OF COURSE
OPENS THE DOOR TO DENIABILITY.
>> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. SO THERE ALMOST UNDOUBTEDLY IS A
RECORD OF THIS CALL.
CALLS MADE BY PRESIDENTS OUT OF
THE OVAL OFFICE.
TWO FOREIGN LEADERS ARE ALWAYS
WITNESS.
WITNESS. THERE ARE ALWAYS OTHERS WHO
PARTICIPATE OR WITNESS OR RECORD
THE CALLS.
THE CALLS. TAKE NOTES.
TAKE NOTES. IN PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS
THOSE NOTES WOULD END UP BEING
DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE NATIONAL
SECURITY COMMUNITY TO KEEP OTHER
PEOPLE AND OTHER GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES APPRISED OF WHAT WAS
DISCUSSED AND WHAT WAS DECIDED.
THIS WHITE HOUSE HAS CURTAILED
THAT PRACTICE SIGNIFICANTLY IN
PART BECAUSE OF A STORY I WROTE
EARLY IN TRUMP’S PRESIDENCY IN
WHICH HE DISCLOSED CLASSIFIED
INFORMATION TO RUSSIAN OFFICIALS
IN THE OVAL OFFICE.
>> WHAT IS THE SHORT LESSON ON
WHISTLEBLOWER LAWS?
WHISTLEBLOWER LAWS? I KNOW THEY ARE WRITTEN FOR A
REASON, AND THAT IS HOPE THAT NO
MATTER WHO THE PERSON AND NO
MATTER HOW EXPLOSIVE THE CHARGE
IT IS SUPPOSED TO, IF IT’S
WORKING CORRECTLY, BUBBLE UP AND
MAKE ITS WAY TO THE APPROPRIATE
AUDIENCE.
AUDIENCE. AND IN THIS CASE, IN THIS RARE
CASE, A FIRST IN THE MEMORY OF
VETERANS ON CAPITOL HILL, THIS
CASE HAS BEEN BLOCKED FROM BEING
HEARD, CORRECT?
HEARD, CORRECT? >> THAT’S RIGHT.
SO FAR THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE, THE NATION’S TOP
INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL, IS
REFUSING TO DISCLOSE DETAILS
ABOUT THIS WHISTLEBLOWER
COMPLAINT, SAYING ESSENTIALLY
THAT THERE ARE OTHER EQUITIES
HERE, THAT THIS INVOLVES THE
COMMUNICATIONS OF SOMEBODY WHO
IS NOT -- WHO DOESN’T WORK FOR
ME BASICALLY.
ME BASICALLY. SO THAT HAS LED TO SOME
SPECULATION THAT THIS MIGHT BE
TRUMP.
TRUMP. AND WE WERE ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT
TODAY.
TODAY. I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT.
ONE OTHER THING YOU JUST SAID,
BRIAN, IS VERY IMPORTANT, WHICH
IS THAT THIS IS REALLY IF NOT
UNCHARTED TERRITORY THEN PRETTY
CLOSE TO IT.
YOU’RE BASICALLY -- WE’RE
SITTING ON A STORY WHERE AN
OFFICIAL WHO WORKS FOR THE U.S.
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY IS
TROUBLED ENOUGH BY WHAT THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
HAS SAID IN A CALL WITH A
FOREIGN LEADER THAT HE WENT TO
THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY’S
WATCHDOG AGENCY TO REPORT IT.
>> WE COMMEND THIS ARTICLE TO
THE ATTENTION OF OUR VIEWERS.
LOOK FOR THIS MAN’S BYLINE.
THE FIRST OF THREE.
A BIG TEAM WORKING ON THIS FOR