Mark Zaid, the attorney representing the whistleblower who sounded the alarm on President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine and triggered an impeachment inquiry, tells ABC News that he is now representing a second whistleblower who has spoken with the inspector general.
Zaid tells ABC News' Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos that the second person -- also described as an intelligence official -- has first-hand knowledge of some of the allegations outlined in the original complaint and has been interviewed by the head of the intelligence community's internal watchdog office, Michael Atkinson.
The existence of a second whistleblower -- particularly one who can speak directly about events involving the president related to conversations involving Ukraine -- could undercut Trump's repeated insistence that the original complaint, released on Sept. 26, was "totally inaccurate."
That original seven-page complaint alleged that Trump pushed a foreign power to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, and Biden's son, Hunter, and that unnamed senior White House officials then tried to "lock down" all records of the phone call.
"This set of actions underscored to me that White House officials understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call," the first whistleblower stated, in a complaint filed Aug. 12.
Zaid says both officials have full protection of the law intended to protect whistleblowers from being fired in retaliation. While this second official has spoken with the IG -- the internal watchdog office created to handle complaints -- this person has not communicated yet with the congressional committees conducting the investigation.
The New York Times on Friday cited anonymous sources in reporting that a second intelligence official was weighing whether to file his own formal complaint and testify to Congress. Zaid says he does not know if the second whistleblower he represents is the person identified in the Times report.
Zaid’s co-counsel, Andrew Bakaj, confirmed in a tweet Sunday that the firm is representing "multiple whistleblowers." Zaid later confirmed in a tweet that two are being represented by their legal team.
According to the first whistleblower, more than a half a dozen U.S. officials have information relevant to the investigation -- suggesting the probe could widen even further.
From a legal standpoint this is devastating to Trump, but I'm not sure politically how much of a difference a second whistleblower will make at this point. Trump partisans aren't going to believe a word of the second individual's complaint against their Orange Emperor, and let's remember, the impeachment and trial process will be 100% political. But for 99% of Republicans, their mind is made up, and we get ridiculous conversations like this one between Chuck Todd and Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.
Still, this puts additional political pressure on Trump's partisans and the ridiculous "it's hearsay!" defense, now that we have a second source with first-hand evidence. How much pressure, we'll see in the days and weeks ahead. And as Chuck Todd shows above, the media is actually fighting back because of how ridiculous defending Trump looks.
Understand though the base accusations are still the same: Trump used foreign aid and pressured foreign leaders into fabricating intelligence on his political allies to help him in 2020.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment