The partisan federal employee who issued a complaint regarding President Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a male CIA officer who was previously “detailed to work at the White House,” reports the New York Times.
According to the Times, the officer, who has since returned to work at the CIA, appears to be an “analyst by training” and “steeped in details” of U.S. foreign policy regarding Europe. Further, he is believed to possess a “sophisticated understanding” of the politics in Ukraine.
The Department of Justice on Wednesday confirmed the Office of Intelligence Community Inspector General found that the so-called “whistleblower” not only had second-hand information regarding the call, but also possessed a “political bias” in favor of a “political rival” of President Trump.
In a statement to the Times, the officer’s legal team confirmed his previous work at the CIA, but warned the newspaper against revealing their client’s identity, claiming that doing so could potentially place him in danger.
“Any decision to report any perceived identifying information of the whistle-blower is deeply concerning and reckless, as it can place the individual in harm’s way,” said lawyer Andrew Bakaj. “The whistle-blower has a right to anonymity.”
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The office of acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, provided comment to the Times regarding its report, simply stating: “We must protect those who demonstrate the courage to report alleged wrongdoing, whether on the battlefield or in the workplace.”
The transcript of the July 25th phone call, which was released by the White House on Wednesday, shows President Trump and Zelensky discussing, separately, both U.S. military aid to Ukraine and possible wrongdoings by Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. President Trump suggested Zelensky look into the Biden family’s business dealings in the eastern European country and Ukraine’s president appeared open to the idea. However, as both world leaders addressed extensively together at the United Nations in New York City, no pressure was applied to probe Joe or Hunter Biden.
“I think you read everything. I think you read text. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be involved to democratic open elections, elections of USA. No, sure, we had I think good phone call. It was normal. We spoke about many things, and I — so I think and you read it that nobody pushed me,” Zelensky told reporters.
Nonetheless, following the transcript’s release, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reaffirmed her support for a formal impeachment probe, claiming that the president used “taxpayer money to shake down other countries for the benefit of his campaign.”
“Either the President does not know the weight of his words or he does not care about ethics or his constitutional responsibilities,” said the speaker. “The transcript and the Justice Department’s acting in a rogue fashion in being complicit in the President’s lawlessness confirm the need for an impeachment inquiry. Clearly, the Congress must act.”
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Republican panel members, including Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-CA), tore into Democrats during the hearing, accusing them of carrying out a political smear-job against President Trump.
“I want to congratulate the Democrats on the rollout of their latest information warfare operation against the president, and their extraordinary ability once again to enlist the mainstream media in their campaign,” said Nunes, before adding, “we’ve been treated to an unending parade of press releases, press conferences, and fake news stories.”
Meanwhile, President Trump and Republicans on Capitol Hill appear none-too-worried about the impeachment probe, suggesting it will help the Republicans in 2020.
“The left has officially lost their minds — they are so fixated on their imaginary impeachment that they are getting nothing else done,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told Breitbart News. “266 days in power and what have Nancy Pelosi and the Socialist Democrats accomplished? Absolutely nothing.”
Story cited here.
