WASHINGTON – The acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, told the House Intelligence Committee that he delayed providing a whistleblower complaint to Congress because executive privilege protected the confidentiality of communications with President Donald Trump.

The committee released the whistleblower’s nine-page complaint, which sparked an impeachment investigation in the House, before the three-hour hearing Thursday with Maguire. The intelligence director said the complaint could be released after Trump made public a summary Wednesday of his conversation July 25 with the president of Ukraine, which was at the heart of the complaint.

“This case was unique and unprecedented," Maguire said. "The White House did not direct me to withhold the complaint."

The whistleblower reported that Trump was "using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 election” and pressured the government “to investigate one of the president’s main domestic political rivals,” former Vice President Joe Biden. The whistleblower said the effort included the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who was a "central figure," and Attorney General William Barr “appears to be involved as well.”

"I realized full and well the importance of the allegation," Maguire said. "Right now, all we have is an allegation of secondhand information from a whistleblower."

Lawmakers repeatedly asked how such a complaint could be investigated, if the people named – Trump and Barr – also decide what qualifies for executive privilege or as an "urgent concern" that must be reported to Congress.

“That’s a dilemma for a democracy, is it not?” asked Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.

Graphics:A diagram of events in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump

With executive privilege no longer applicable, the Justice Department ruled that the complaint didn't apply to Maguire's operation because it involved the president, who isn't technically part of the intelligence community. Maguire suggested that Congress could investigate now that it has the complaint.

"The horse has left the barn. You have the whistleblower complaint," Maguire said. "I believe it is a matter to be determined by the chair and this committee."

White House officials again denied that Trump pressured Ukraine to do anything and noted that the whistleblower said he did not witness most of the events described.

“Nothing has changed with the release of this complaint, which is nothing more than a collection of thirdhand accounts of events and cobbled-together press clippings – all of which show nothing improper," White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said.

Congress seeks information

The committee chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., opened the hearing by saying the summary of a Trump phone call with Ukraine and the whistleblower complaint revealed “the most graphic evidence yet that the president of the United States has betrayed his oath of office.”

The top Republican on the panel, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, said the Democratic effort was “unhinged” and “a charade” that they should abandon.

“Everything they touch gets hopelessly politicized,” Nunes said. “They don’t want answers. They want a public spectacle.”

Graphic:Analyzing the Trump-Ukraine "transcript" in 3 charts

Schiff asked why Maguire went first to the White House, then to the Justice Department for advice on how to handle the complaint, despite Trump and Barr being subjects of the complaint. Maguire said he sought legal advice about whether the complaint was covered by executive privilege and whether it met the definition of "urgent concern," requiring a report to Congress within seven days.

"I believe everything involved in this matter is totally unprecedented," Maguire said.

Schiff asked whether Maguire discussed the whistleblower complaint with Trump, but he declined to say.

“I will not divulge privileged conversations that I have as the director of national intelligence with the president of the United States," Maguire said.

Trump said he watched a bit of the hearing on TV, calling it “a disgrace” that “should never be allowed.”

“It’s Adam Schiff making up stories,” Trump said. “There should be a way of stopping it. Maybe legally through the courts.”

Executive privilege, national security

April Doss, a former counsel for the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation who is in private practice at Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr, said the whistleblower's case may spur Congress to clarify how national security complaints are reported to lawmakers.

The Trump administration has broadened claims of executive privilege from communication between the president and top White House officials to cover conversations with lower-level agency workers and people who have never worked in government. Doss said a call with a foreign leader would usually be covered by classification rather than executive privilege. The whistleblower acknowledged hearing about the call from other officials, Doss said.

“I don’t think we’ve heard the last of executive privilege on this whole set of issues,” Doss said. “If this or any other administration goes too far in asserting claims of executive privilege, they might find themselves facing some court rulings that really definitively turn it back from what we’re seeing today.”

Lawmakers voiced concern that if a national security complaint doesn’t meet the definition of “urgent concern,” which must be reported to Congress within seven days, the inspector general might not have the authority to investigate if the subject is the president or another official who isn’t in the intelligence community. Congress may want to clarify that lawmakers still expect to receive whistleblower complaints and have them investigated, Doss said.

“It sets up a constitutional struggle,” Doss said. “Congress could take the position that it’s unconstitutional for the executive branch to stand in the way of providing information to Congress.”

Impeachment saga kicks off

Revelations that Trump urged Ukraine's president to investigate Biden prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to announce on Tuesday the start of an impeachment inquiry on Trump.

The whistleblower, who has not been identified publicly, filed the complaint Aug. 12 to the inspector general for the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson, who found it credible and urgent. Maguire and the Justice Department blocked Atkinson from passing the complaint to Congress within seven days.

That led to a standoff that was resolved Wednesday when the complaint was sent to Capitol Hill.

The complaint dealt with concerns about Trump’s call July 25 with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The conversation took place as the president was holding back hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid that Congress approved for Ukraine.

Democrats said Trump's actions were an egregious abuse of power, but Trump insisted there was nothing improper in his call. He said he did not present the Ukrainian president with a "quid pro quo" demand for an investigation of Biden in exchange for freeing up the military aid.

Trump offered his own preview of the DNI hearing, sending out a series of tweets and retweets that defended his actions and denounced the impeachment drive.

"THE GREATEST SCAM IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS!" he posted.

Trump tweeted that the whistleblower's lawyer had political bias, contributed to Biden's campaign and worked for Democrats Hillary Clinton and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York.

Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., said attacks on the whistleblower would discourage others from reporting wrongdoing.

"This will have a chilling effect," Sewell said.

“There has already been retaliation by the president,” Schiff said. The committee must ensure “that no one is sitting next to them, trying to put a gag on what they can say.”

The whistleblower's lawyer, Andrew Bakaj, issued a statement Tuesday supporting the Senate's unanimous vote for Congress to receive the complaint. Bakaj confirmed he asked Maguire for guidance about security practices for the whistleblower to testify before the intelligence committees.

Maguire said he is working with Schiff on security clearances for the whistleblower's lawyers to allow the whistleblower to testify.

More about congressional investigations of President Donald Trump:

What's going on with Trump and Ukraine? And how does it involve Biden and a whistleblower complaint?

Trump administration releases details of call with Ukrainian President Zelensky amid impeachment inquiry

What's different now that Nancy Pelosi has started an impeachment inquiry on Donald Trump?