Feb 18, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Intelligence lawyer who blocked Ukraine whistleblower complaint to resign

Adam Schiff. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Jason Klitenic, the top lawyer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), is resigning from his position, Politico first reported.

Why it matters: Klitenic wrote a letter to the top lawmakers on the Senate and House Intelligence committees in September informing them that — after consulting with the Justice Department — acting DNI Joseph Maguire would not turn over the whistleblower complaint about President Trump's now-infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

  • House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff's (D-Calif.) effort to obtain the complaint was ultimately successful and led to Trump's impeachment for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

The big picture: Klitenic's departure comes as Maguire approaches a March 11 deadline to continue in his role, since he can only serve in an acting position for a limited period.

  • It "shrinks the pool of Senate-confirmed officials eligible to succeed Maguire as acting DNI, should his term expire without a permanent replacement," according to Politico.

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Facebook is in the midst of the largest ad boycott in its history, with nearly 1,000 brands having stopped paid advertising in July because they feel Facebook hasn't done enough to remove hate speech from its namesake app and Instagram.

Axios Re:Cap spoke with the boycott's four main organizers, who met on Tuesday with CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other top Facebook executives, to learn why they organized the boycott, what they took from the meeting, and what comes next.

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Boycott organizers slam Facebook following tense virtual meeting

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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Why it matters: The likely fallout from the meeting is that the growing boycott of Facebook's advertising platform, which has reached nearly 1000 companies in less than a month, will extend longer than previously anticipated, deepening Facebook's public relations nightmare.

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Steve Scalise PAC invites donors to fundraiser at Disney World

Photo: Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images

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Why it matters: Scalise appears to be the first House lawmakers to host an in-person destination fundraiser since the severity of pandemic became clear. The invite for the “Summer Meeting” for the Scalise Leadership Fund, obtained by Axios, makes no mention of COVID-19.

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