WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A second whistleblower, with first-hand knowledge of President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, has spoken with the intelligence community’s internal watchdog, the lawyer representing the official said on Sunday.
Mark Zaid confirmed in an interview with ABC’s “This Week” that the second official, also from the U.S. intelligence community, has been interviewed by the inspector general. Zaid represents the first whistleblower who filed a complaint involving a July 25 phone call Trump held with Ukraine’s president in which he asked him to investigate a Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
He declined to provide more information.
IC WHISTLEBLOWER UPDATE: I can confirm that my firm and my team represent multiple whistleblowers in connection to the underlying August 12, 2019, disclosure to the Intelligence Community Inspector General. No further comment at this time. https://t.co/05b5aAVm2G
— Andrew P. Bakaj (@AndrewBakaj) October 6, 2019
The existence of the second whistleblower followed stirrings of discontent within Trump’s own Republican Party after he called on China on Friday to investigate Biden’s son, who had business dealings in China.
Republican U.S. Senators Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Susan Collins all have expressed concerns about Trump reaching out to foreign countries to help him in his 2020 re-election bid.
The telephone call and the whistleblower complaint prompted House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch impeachment proceedings on Sept. 24 against Trump, saying his actions jeopardized U.S. election integrity and threatened national security.
Trump and his supporters have criticized the first whistleblower for admittedly lacking direct knowledge of the president’s call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as for allegedly mischaracterizing the conversation.
Responding Saturday night to reports of a possible second whistleblower, Trump remained defiant, tweeting: “Keep them coming!”
The first so-called second hand information “Whistleblower” got my phone conversation almost completely wrong, so now word is they are going to the bench and another “Whistleblower” is coming in from the Deep State, also with second hand info. Meet with Shifty. Keep them coming!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2019
Zaid told ABC that he does not know if the whistleblower mentioned by the Times is the same new whistleblower he is representing.
