Stephen Miller dismisses whistleblower as a partisan 'saboteur'
Politicoby scammarata@politico.com (Sarah Cammarata)
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller on Sunday dismissed the anonymous whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump’s telephone conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “partisan hit job.”
“A partisan hit job does not make you a whistleblower just because you go through the Whistleblower Protection Act,” Miller said in an often contentious interview with host Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”
Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, though, has defended his handling of the whistleblower complaint, telling the House Intelligence Committee last week he had no reason to doubt the sincerity of the whistleblower or the inspector general who investigated the complaint.
“I believe that the whistleblower and the inspector general have acted in good faith throughout. I have every reason to believe that they have done everything by the book and follow the law,” Maguire said.
On Sunday, Miller doubled down on his attack against the whistleblower, describing the complaint as a “seven-page Nancy Drew novel” that “drips with condescension, righteous indignation and contempt for the president.”
“This is a deep state operative, pure and simple,” Miller charged.
“A group of unelected bureaucrats who think that they need to take down this president ... publish hit pieces, they publish fake stories” the White House adviser added.
Wallace also pressed Miller on reports that Trump went against recommendations from the Pentagon and State Department and temporarily froze hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine.
And Miller continued his assault against the whistleblower, dismissing the person as a “saboteur trying to undermine a democratically elected government.”
When Wallace asked if the individual was a spy, Miller said, “I don’t know who the individual is.”
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine |
