Here’s What We Know About the Second Whistleblower in Trump’s Ukraine Scandal
Credit to Author: David Gilbert| Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2019 13:52:02 +0000
President Donald Trump raged at Democrats late on Sunday night after a second whistleblower emerged over the weekend claiming to have “firsthand knowledge” of events central to the impeachment inquiry.
Trump directed his ire at Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), chairman of the House intelligence committee, and the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), claiming they were guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors, and even treason” and should be “immediately impeached.”
Trump’s anger comes as Republicans are becoming increasingly uneasy about the weight of evidence that is emerging supporting claims that the president used his position to try and force Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelensky to dig up dirt on Joe Biden and his son.
That pile of evidence is likely to increase in the coming days: attorney Mark Zaid confirmed on Sunday that he is representing a second whistleblower with “firsthand knowledge” of the events central to the first whistleblower complaint, which was filed in August.
Democrats will be eager to speak to the new whistleblower as the information provided could help counter claims from Trump that the original whistleblower was providing inaccurate, secondhand information — despite a rough transcription backing up the whistleblower's account of the call.
Not a lot is known about the new whistleblower, except that they are a member of the intelligence community and has spoken to the intelligence community’s inspector general. The official has yet to file a formal complaint.
Zaid’s partner Andrew Bakaj subsequently tweeted that the pair “represent multiple whistleblowers” but would not say if that means more than the two known whistleblowers.
The White House continues to deny any wrongdoing, but it has been accused of stonewalling the inquiry by refusing to hand over relevant documents and preventing officials from speaking to the committees investigating the situation.
On Saturday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said his department would comply with the request, but complained that his staff were being harassed.
Trump attempted to calm GOP nerves in a call with House Republicans on Friday, repeating the same lines he has been making in public: that the call was “perfect” and that he did nothing wrong.
READ: Here are 7 crimes Trump might have committed in this Ukraine scandal
He also, however, revealed for the first time that he only made the call at the urging of Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
"Not a lot of people know this but, I didn't even want to make the call. The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to. Something about an LNG [liquefied natural gas] plant," Trump said on the call, according to a source speaking to Axios.
Cover: President Donald Trump gestures while speaking to the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, before his departure to nearby Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
This article originally appeared on VICE US.