President Trump told a group of people that the individual who provided the whistleblower with information is “close to a spy” and alluded to the “old days” when punishment for spying was handled differently.
Speaking Thursday morning to a group of staff from the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Trump condemned Joe Biden’s role in Ukraine while he was vice president and fumed over the identity of the person who told the whistleblower about a July 25 call between him and the Ukrainian president, according to the New York Times.
“I want to know who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information because that’s close to a spy,” Trump said. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart with spies and treason, right? We used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”
The remark reportedly stunned people in the audience and comes the same day that acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified before the House Intelligence Committee about the August whistleblower complaint that alleges Trump improperly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden.
