At the end of September, a complaint was filed with the head of the intelligence community concerning a phone call between U.S. President Trump and Ukraine President Mr. Zelensky. Now, after an official impeachment inquiry has been launched, it has been noted that the whistleblower informed House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of the contents of the phone call before he officially filed the complaint.
Beginning of an Investigation
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the whistleblower had worked with his Central Intelligence Agency colleagues, coordinating with Schiff prior to filing the whistleblower complaint.
Before filing an official complaint, the whistleblower called the House Intelligence Committee to say that they were concerned about Trump’s phone call. The intelligence aide reportedly took the message and informed Schiff of it later, leaving the whistleblower anonymous.
On Monday, the Intelligence Community Inspector General released a press release with details on how his office had worked to investigate the whistleblower complaint. Unfortunately, in a recently declassified letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, Michael Atkinson admits that his office did not even review the transcripts of the phone call before moving the complaint forward. [1]
Moving Forward
“Before going to Congress, the C.I.A. officer had a colleague convey his accusations to the agency’s top lawyer,” The New York Times reported. “Concerned about how that avenue for airing his allegations was unfolding, the officer then approached a House Intelligence Committee aide, alerting him to the accusation against Mr. Trump.” [2]
On Wednesday, Trump said that Mr. Schiff should be forced to resign, citing Schiff’s parody of the phone call at a hearing last week. Trump also believes that Mr. Schiff helped outline the complaint before the whistleblower officially filed it. “Big stuff. That’s a big story,” Mr. Trump said, “He knew long before and helped write it, too. It’s a scam.”
Notes:
- ^“Icig Letter to Acting Dni Unclassified(1).” Scribd, 2 Oct. 2019, www.scribd.com/document/428466629/Icig-Letter-to-Acting-Dni-Unclassified-1. (go back ↩)
- ^“Schiff, House Intel Chairman, Got Early Account of Whistle-Blower’s Accusations.” N. Y. Times, 2 Oct. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/us/politics/adam-schiff-whistleblower.html. (go back ↩)
