 |
| U.S. President Donald Trump |
On Sunday morning, attorney Mark S. Zaid announced on Twitter that another whistleblower has come forward regarding Trump’s interactions with Ukraine.
Zaid also said he is representing both, along with attorney and former CIA official Andrew P. Bakaj. According to a separate tweet from Bakaj, the new whistleblower has also been interviewed by Michael Atkinson, intelligence community inspector general, which triggered whistleblower protections.
Unlike the first whistleblower, who heard about the president’s call with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky second-hand, this whistleblower has first-hand knowledge about some of the events in question and “made a protected disclosure under the law and cannot be retaliated against,” according to Zaid.
NEWS UPDATE: I can confirm this report of a second #whistleblower being represented by our legal team. They also made a protected disclosure under the law and cannot be retaliated against. This WBer has first hand knowledge. twitter.com/GStephanopoulo…
Zaid was quick to point out, however, that the law does not require a whistleblower to have first-hand knowledge of events to qualify for protections. They only need to have a “reasonable belief” that wrongdoing occurred.
The first whistleblower, identified as a US intelligence official, filed a complaint about the president’s phone call with Zelensky on July 25, claiming the president threatened to withhold aid to the country unless Zelensky agreed to do him a “favor”—dig up dirt about former vice president Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
According to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, the second whistleblower is an intelligence official who has not yet had direct communications with congressional intelligence committees.
Thus far, President Trump has called allegations from the first whistleblower “totally inaccurate” and has claimed his call with Zelensky was “absolutely perfect” and “totally appropriate.” Trump has also publicly asked both China and Ukraine to “start an investigation into the Bidens.”
The New York Times reported on Friday that a second whistleblower was contemplating coming forward, and they apparently have decided to do just that. Trump tried to get ahead of the news, tweeting on Saturday night: “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!”
If the president continues to behave the way he has, worrying White House officials with his inappropriate interactions with world leaders, more whistleblowers may indeed come forward.
Source: RollingStone
Posts
