The mention of “possible political bias” in the intelligence community inspector general report was included because the whistleblower is a registered Democrat.
The fact that the whistleblower is registered as such did not undermine the credibility of his complaint, according to Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.
“Further although the ICIG’s preliminary reviewed identified some indicia of bias of an arguable political bias on the part of the complainant in favor of a rival political candidate, such evidence did not change my determination that the complaint relating to the urgent concern ‘appears credible’ particularly given the other information the ICIG obtained during its preliminary review,” Atkinson wrote.
One of the whistleblower’s attorneys, Mark Zaid, responded to news that the unidentified whistleblower was registered as a Democrat over Twitter as part of a lengthy thread responding to critics who claim he is partisan.
“We won’t comment on identifying info but if true, give me a break! Bias? Seriously? Most ppl are,” Zaid said.
12/I understand @jaketapper at @CNN reported my client’s pol bias, as stated in @ODNIgov IG memo, was nothing more than #whistleblower registered Democrat. We won’t comment on identifying info but if true, give me a break! Bias? Seriously? Most ppl are.https://t.co/d3ZNeOK9n0
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) October 3, 2019
The whistleblower’s complaint ignited an impeachment inquiry against President Trump and allegations that Trump wrongly pushed Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his family’s ties to Ukraine.
