ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Today we finally heard from the man who has played a key role in the fight over the whistleblower complaint about President Trump's phone conversation with the president of Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOSEPH MAGUIRE: I think the whistleblower did the right thing. I think he followed the law every step of the way.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Shortly before, acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire took his seat to testify before the House Intelligence Committee. The committee released the whistleblower's complaint, and that complaint says Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shows that the White House worked to hide information that could be politically damaging to the president.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NANCY PELOSI: This is a cover-up. This is a cover-up.
SHAPIRO: Where Pelosi sees a cover-up, President Trump sees perfection, saying there was nothing wrong with his conversation with the president of Ukraine. He defended himself and raged about Democrats on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews earlier today.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The president, yesterday, of Ukraine said there was no pressure put on him whatsoever - none whatsoever. And he said it loud and clear for the press. What these guys are doing - Democrats are doing to this country is a disgrace, and it shouldn't be allowed. There should be a way of stopping it - maybe legally, through the courts - but they're going to tie up our country. We can't talk about gun regulation. We can't talk about anything because frankly, they're so tied up, they're so screwed up, nothing gets done. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.