Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday that she believes Attorney General Bill Barr has "gone rogue" with his handling of the controversy regarding the Trump administration's interactions with Ukraine.
The big picture: Pelosi bemoaned the fact that acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire, who testified before the House Intelligence Committee yesterday, decided to hand over the whistleblower complaint to Barr's Justice Department before giving it to Congress.
- That occurred because Maguire said he was worried that President Trump's phone calls with a foreign leader could fall under the umbrella of executive privilege.
- The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel ultimately determined that the matter was not of "urgent concern" — as is statutorily defined — and did not have to be forwarded to Congress.
Worth noting: Barr is a key player in the controversy, given the fact that Trump said he would have the attorney general contact Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during their July phone call.
What Pelosi said:
"This is my wheelhouse, as I said to the president. 25 years of experience in intelligence. ... I was there when we wrote the whistleblower laws. I was there when we wrote the law establishing the office of the director of national intelligence. That's only since 2004."
Go deeper ... Acting DNI Joseph Maguire: Whistleblower "did the right thing"