The partisan CIA officer behind a so-called “whistleblower” complaint about President Donald Trump’s telephone call with the leader of Ukraine reportedly did not disclose his communications with a House Intelligence Committee staffer to the Intelligence Community inspector general.
According to Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge, inspector general Michael Atkinson told lawmakers that he had “no knowledge” of the officer’s contacts with the House Intel panel aide. This week, a New York Times report revealed that the officer and staff member first discussed the allegations against the president before the inspector general received the complaint.
Trump administration pledges $150M in aid, deploys Navy warships after deadly Venezuela earthquakes
Florida executes 74-year-old for wife’s murder, becoming oldest inmate put to death in state’s modern history
A Warning Charlie Kirk Gave Back in 2020 Coming True Now Within Democratic Party
French citizen who illegally cast ballot in 2022 midterms says New Jersey automatically registered him to vote
Jury deadlocks in federal trial of man accused of starting deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles
Dems put on blast over poll that shows record-low patriotism in US: ‘Tear our society apart’
Blue state leaders erupt after Supreme Court’s decision ending TPS protections for Haitians, Syrians
Real Man: Churchgoer Can’t Find Tool to Free Kids from Sweltering Car, Says ‘My Fist Will Probably Work,’ Then, With God’s Help, Starts Smashing Glass
Hunter Biden, Man Who Isn’t in Prison Thanks to Dem Establishment, Attacks Dem Establishment After Primary Stunners
Marco Rubio Warns Iran’s Strait of Hormuz Scheme Could ‘Spread Throughout the World Like a Contagion’
Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers withdraw request for civilian clothes, accuse prosecutors of creating a ‘spectacle’
Rashida Tlaib Defends Antifa Member Sentenced to 100 Years for Attempted Assassination, Calls Punishment ‘a Travesty and Totally Unjustified’
Watch: Sophie Cunningham’s Death Stare Went Super Viral as She Considered Smashing Heads to Defend Caitlin Clark
Colorado mom allegedly bought alcohol daily for 16-year-old daughter found dead with 173 empty bottles
WATCH: AOC won’t rule out Senate bid after New York progressives notch primary wins: ‘Inspired and encouraged’
Colleague Catherine Herridge rpts ICIG Atkinson told lawmakers the whistleblower did not disclose to the ICI that he contacted Schiff's committee. Atkinson said the whistleblower volunteered he was a registered Democrat
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 4, 2019
Per Catherine Herridge: IC Inspector General told lawmakers the whistleblower did not disclose contact w Schiff/Committee staff – so IG never looked into it. IG “had no knowledge of it”.
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) October 4, 2019
The Times reported that the staffer shared several of the officer’s claims with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA). The California Democrat is under fire for erroneously claiming in a recent interview that “we have not spoken directly with the whistleblower.”
“We have not spoken directly with the whistleblower. We would like to,” Schiff told MSNBC contributor Sam Stein when asked if the two had ever spoken. “But I am sure the whistleblower has concerns that he has not been advised, as the law requires, by the inspector general or the director of national Intelligence just how he is supposed to communicate with Congress, and so the risk to the whistleblower is retaliation.”
Trump administration pledges $150M in aid, deploys Navy warships after deadly Venezuela earthquakes
Florida executes 74-year-old for wife’s murder, becoming oldest inmate put to death in state’s modern history
A Warning Charlie Kirk Gave Back in 2020 Coming True Now Within Democratic Party
French citizen who illegally cast ballot in 2022 midterms says New Jersey automatically registered him to vote
Jury deadlocks in federal trial of man accused of starting deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles
Dems put on blast over poll that shows record-low patriotism in US: ‘Tear our society apart’
Blue state leaders erupt after Supreme Court’s decision ending TPS protections for Haitians, Syrians
Real Man: Churchgoer Can’t Find Tool to Free Kids from Sweltering Car, Says ‘My Fist Will Probably Work,’ Then, With God’s Help, Starts Smashing Glass
Hunter Biden, Man Who Isn’t in Prison Thanks to Dem Establishment, Attacks Dem Establishment After Primary Stunners
Marco Rubio Warns Iran’s Strait of Hormuz Scheme Could ‘Spread Throughout the World Like a Contagion’
Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers withdraw request for civilian clothes, accuse prosecutors of creating a ‘spectacle’
Rashida Tlaib Defends Antifa Member Sentenced to 100 Years for Attempted Assassination, Calls Punishment ‘a Travesty and Totally Unjustified’
Watch: Sophie Cunningham’s Death Stare Went Super Viral as She Considered Smashing Heads to Defend Caitlin Clark
Colorado mom allegedly bought alcohol daily for 16-year-old daughter found dead with 173 empty bottles
WATCH: AOC won’t rule out Senate bid after New York progressives notch primary wins: ‘Inspired and encouraged’
In a statement earlier this week, a spokesperson for the House Intelligence panel acknowledged Schiff’s response to Stein’s question “should have been more carefully phrased.”
“Regarding Chairman Schiff’s comments on ‘Morning Joe,’ in the context, he intended to answer the question of whether the Committee had heard testimony from the whistleblower, which they had not,” said the spokesperson. “As he said in his answer, the whistleblower was then awaiting instructions from the acting [director of national intelligence] as to how the whistleblower could contact the Committee. Nonetheless he acknowledges that his statement should have been more carefully phrased to make that distinction clear.”
President Trump reacted Friday to Herridge’s report, tweeting: “WOW, this is big stuff!”
WOW, this is big stuff! https://t.co/H12yxMfua3
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2019
Trump administration pledges $150M in aid, deploys Navy warships after deadly Venezuela earthquakes
Florida executes 74-year-old for wife’s murder, becoming oldest inmate put to death in state’s modern history
A Warning Charlie Kirk Gave Back in 2020 Coming True Now Within Democratic Party
French citizen who illegally cast ballot in 2022 midterms says New Jersey automatically registered him to vote
Jury deadlocks in federal trial of man accused of starting deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles
Dems put on blast over poll that shows record-low patriotism in US: ‘Tear our society apart’
Blue state leaders erupt after Supreme Court’s decision ending TPS protections for Haitians, Syrians
Real Man: Churchgoer Can’t Find Tool to Free Kids from Sweltering Car, Says ‘My Fist Will Probably Work,’ Then, With God’s Help, Starts Smashing Glass
Hunter Biden, Man Who Isn’t in Prison Thanks to Dem Establishment, Attacks Dem Establishment After Primary Stunners
Marco Rubio Warns Iran’s Strait of Hormuz Scheme Could ‘Spread Throughout the World Like a Contagion’
Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers withdraw request for civilian clothes, accuse prosecutors of creating a ‘spectacle’
Rashida Tlaib Defends Antifa Member Sentenced to 100 Years for Attempted Assassination, Calls Punishment ‘a Travesty and Totally Unjustified’
Watch: Sophie Cunningham’s Death Stare Went Super Viral as She Considered Smashing Heads to Defend Caitlin Clark
Colorado mom allegedly bought alcohol daily for 16-year-old daughter found dead with 173 empty bottles
WATCH: AOC won’t rule out Senate bid after New York progressives notch primary wins: ‘Inspired and encouraged’
The report raises further questions about both the CIA officer and his complaint. As Breitbart News reported, the so-called “whistleblower” failed to follow the law for protecting intelligence community members seeking to report wrongdoing by contacting the House Intelligence Committee before the Intelligence Community inspector general:
Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act (ICWPA) of 1998 explicitly requires an official concerned about wrongdoing within the government to go to the IC inspector general before the congressional panels in charge of oversight of the intelligence community.
[…]
The employee may contact the congressional intelligence committees directly as described in clause (i) only if the employee –
- a. before making such a contact, furnishes to the DNI, through the IC IG, a statement of the employee’s complaint or information and notice of the employee’s intent to contact the congressional intelligence committees directly; and
- b. obtains and follows from the DNI, through the IC IG, direction on how to contact the congressional intelligence committees in accordance with necessary and appropriate security procedures.
And yet, the officer’s failure to follow whistleblower laws isn’t the only red flag. The Inspector General found that the officer’s complaint was not only based on second-hand information, but that the officer also possessed a “political bias” in favor of a “political rival” of President Trump. CNN reported on Thursday that the officer is a registered Democrat.
Story cited here.
