Joseph Maguire

persons of a similar name
American government official and Navy admiral (born 1951)

Joseph Maguire (born August 14, 1951) Prior to retiring from active duty, he was the deputy director for strategic operational planning at National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). Appointed by President Donald Trump, Maguire became Acting Director of National Intelligence on August 16, 2019, a role he held during the Trump–Ukraine scandal. On September 13, 2019, the House Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena to Maguire alleging that he was unlawfully withholding a whistleblower complaint from the committee; he testified before the committee on September 26.

Maguire is from Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Manhattan College with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1974. Maguire then received orders to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S) at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. After six months of training, Maguire graduated with BUD/S class 93 in July 1977 despite having a broken leg.

In June 2018, Maguire was nominated to be the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center by President Donald Trump. He was sworn in on December 27, 2018.

On August 8, 2019, President Donald Trump announced that Maguire would become acting Director of National Intelligence (acting DNI) on August 15, 2019. In February 2020 Trump rebuked Maguire when he heard that one of Maguire's subordinates, an expert on election security, had briefed members of House Intelligence Committee on Russian preference involvement in the 2020 election. Members of the committee were told Russia appeared to prefer Trump over Democratic candidates and could seek to act on that preference as they had done in 2016 election to boost his candidacy. Trump then announced he would be replacing Maguire, who resigned on February 21, 2020, and was immediately replaced with Richard Grenell as acting chief. Reactions of concern were published quickly by former military and intelligence professionals such as William McRaven.

Maguire was acting DNI at the time that a member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) submitted a formal whistleblower complaint to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (IGIC), regarding President Donald Trump's communications with a foreign leader; the complaint said Trump had made a troubling "promise" to the foreign leader. (It was subsequently revealed that the complaint related to a July 2019 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump pressed the Ukrainian government to investigate Trump's political rival, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and his family). The whistleblower's complaint was deemed credible and a matter of "urgent concern" by the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (IGIC). Under federal law, when the IGIC determines that a complaint credibly raises an urgent concern, he or she forwards it to the relevant agency head (here, the DNI), who is required to forward it to the congressional intelligence committees within seven days. In this case, however, Maguire, withheld the complaint from Congress. Schiff accused Maguire of illegally withholding a properly submitted whistleblower complaint in an unprecedented way, and said that the matter raised "serious concerns about whether White House, Department of Justice or other executive branch officials are trying to prevent a legitimate whistleblower complaint from reaching its intended recipient, the Congress, in order to cover up serious misconduct." According to a report in The Washington Post, Maguire threatened to resign as acting DNI over concerns that the Trump administration might attempt to constrain his testimony to Congress over the intelligence whistleblower's complaint. It was unclear whether Maguire had "forced the White House to acquiesce and allow him to testify without constraint".

U. S. military decorationsNavy Distinguished Service MedalDefense Superior Service Medal (two awards)Legion of Merit (two awards)Defense Meritorious Service MedalMeritorious Service Medal (two awards)Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (three awards)Navy Achievement MedalJoint Meritorious Unit AwardNavy Unit CommendationU. S. Service (Campaign) Medals and Service and Training RibbonsNational Defense Service Medal with bronze service starHumanitarian Service Medal with bronze service starsNavy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with three bronze service starsNavy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon with three bronze service starsNavy Rifle Marksmanship BadgeNavy Pistol Marksmanship BadgeU. S. badges, patches and tabs SEAL Trident Navy and Marine Corps Parachutist Insignia