The individual who made the whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump’s alleged political pressure during a call with the Ukrainian president was revealed on Thursday to be a member of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The male CIA officer was also formerly “detailed to work at the White House” according to three individuals with knowledge of the officer’s identity, according to The New York Times.
Further, NYT suggested that the officer is an analyst and well versed in Ukrainian politics.
The whistleblower’s lawyers, however, refused to reveal anything of his identity.
“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 Andrew Bakaj, the whistleblower’s lead attorney. “The whistle-blower has a right to anonymity.”
The three officials said the whistleblower was not a member of the communications team involved in monitoring calls with global leaders, and only learned about the call through secondhand information “in the course of official interagency business.”
On Thursday afternoon, Trump tweeted, “A whistleblower with second hand information? Another Fake News Story! See what was said on the very nice, no pressure, call. Another Witch Hunt!”
A whistleblower with second hand information? Another Fake News Story! See what was said on the very nice, no pressure, call. Another Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2019
A spokesperson for Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, said it was the agency’s priority to protect the whistleblower, noting, “We must protect those who demonstrate the courage to report alleged wrongdoing, whether on the battlefield or in the workplace.”
On Thursday morning, Congress released the full copy of the whistleblower complaint that first alleged Trump used his position to “pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President’s 2020 reelection bid.”
The complaint alleges that “multiple White House officials with direct knowledge of the call” were “deeply disturbed” by the contents of the call, and the White House later tried to conceal records of the call.
The transcript of the call, released Wednesday, showed that Trump asked Zelensky to “look into” the matter of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden – after Trump had initially asked Zelensky to look into another matter involving U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike who was allegedly involved in 2016 election interference.
On Thursday morning, Trump tweeted “THE GREATEST SCAM IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS!” referring to the complaint and the phone call.
THE GREATEST SCAM IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2019
