Intel lawyer who initially blocked Ukraine whistleblower complaint from Congress set to resign

The top intelligence community lawyer whose initial decision to block the Ukraine whistleblower complaint from reaching Congress helped set off the House impeachment inquiry, will resign from his post, a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirms to CNN.

Jason Klitenic will step down as General Counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence early next month and return to the private sector, the spokesperson added.

News of his departure comes as President Donald Trump faces a March 11 deadline to nominate a new Director of National Intelligence or name a new acting official.

Federal law prevents the current acting DNI, Joseph Maguire, from serving beyond that date but if Trump were to nominate someone for the job before March 11, Maguire could stay in the acting role while the candidate’s Senate confirmation is pending.

Klitenic was confirmed as ODNI General Counsel by the Senate in August 2018 and was one of only a handful of officials who would have been legally permitted to replace Maguire as acting DNI if Trump were to allow the clock to run out.

Intelligence Community Inspector General, Michael Atkinson, is among those atop the line of succession to be named acting DNI should Trump fail to name a replacement or nominate a candidate for Senate confirmation by the March 11 deadline.

Politico was first to report Klitenic’s departure.

Last fall, Klitenic’s handling of the whistleblower complaint came under scrutiny after he consulted with DOJ and decided to block its transmittal to Congress despite the fact that the Intelligence Community Inspector General had determined that it was of “urgent concern.”

That prompted a letter from House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff demanding the complaint be handed over. In his response, Klitenic acknowledged that he had consulted with DOJ and determined that the matter did not, in fact, rise to the level of urgent concern.

“In this instance, the ICIG transmitted to the DNI a complaint, that he viewed as an urgent concern, and we reviewed that report immediately upon receipt. Because there were serious questions about whether the complaint met the statutory definition of an “urgent concern” under 50 U.S.C. § 3033(k)(5), we consulted with DOJ concerning the appropriate way to handle the complaint,” he wrote on September 13.

“Based on those consultations, we determined that the allegations did not fall within the statutory definition of an “urgent concern” and that the statute did not require the complaint to be transmitted to the intelligence committees,” Klitenic added.

Klitenic’s initial refusal ultimately led to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to open an impeachment inquiry — which facilitated the release of the whistleblower complaint and a partial transcript of Trump’s July 25 call with his Ukrainian counterpart. Maguire also testified before Congress as part of the probe.

“This is going to be the thing that defined his term in office,” Bob Litt, former ODNI General Counsel and Klitenic’s predecessor, told CNN.

Litt also said that he thought Klitenic handled the whistleblower complaint “entirely appropriately” and as a result never made himself a target of the administration.

Prior to serving as ODNI General Counsel, Klitenic was a partner at the law firm of Holland & Knight LLP, according to his agency bio.

Earlier in his career, served as Deputy General Counsel of the US Department of Homeland Security and Deputy Associate Attorney General of the US Department of Justice, it says.