An attorney has said that a second whistleblower has come forward to speak with the intelligence community inspector general about President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, including issues surrounding a controversial July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The second whistleblower, whose existence was first reported Sunday, is said to be an intelligence official who is represented by Andrew Bakaj and Mark Zaid, the same attorneys representing the first whistleblower. Zaid said the second whistleblower has firsthand knowledge of the events detailed in the first whistleblower’s complaint and has met with the intelligence community’s watchdog Michael Atkinson.
Zaid told the Washington Examiner that the second whistleblower “spoke to ICIG” but “has not filed [their] own complaint” and “doesn’t need to.” Zaid said that this new whistleblower has “firsthand knowledge that supported the first whistleblower.” He tweeted that this whistleblower “also made a protected disclosure under the law and cannot be retaliated against.”
“I can confirm that my firm and my team represent multiple whistleblowers in connection to the underlying August 12, 2019, disclosure to the Intelligence Community Inspector General,” Bakaj tweeted on Sunday morning. “No further comment at this time.” The emergence of the second whistleblower follows a Friday report that another person had been considering stepping forward.
Trump seemed prepared for the revelation of a second whistleblower. “The first so-called second hand information ‘Whistleblower’ got my phone conversation almost completely wrong, so now word is they are going to the bench and another ‘Whistleblower’ is coming in from the Deep State, also with second hand info. Meet with Shifty. Keep them coming!” Trump tweeted Saturday.
The first whistleblower’s complaint stated that “in the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.” And although that whistleblower said they had spoken to “more than half a dozen U.S. officials” about what was described in their complaint, they acknowledged that they were “not a direct witness to most of the events described.”
Trump and Zelensky spoke by phone for roughly 30 minutes on July 25, while top officials like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listened in. The transcript of the call made public over two months later. Trump asked for a “favor” from Ukraine in investigating a conspiracy theory related to the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which determined the Russians hacked the Democratic National Committee’s email systems, an assessment agreed to by special counsel Robert Mueller and the U.S. intelligence community. Trump also urged the Ukrainian leader to look into any Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 election. Trump brought up his request related to CrowdStrike immediately after Zelensky asked about purchasing anti-tank weaponry, known as Javelins, from the United States.
Trump also talked about “the other thing” with Zelensky, suggesting that the Ukrainians investigate allegations of corruption related to 2020 Democrat Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Trump urged Zelensky to speak with Rudy Giuliani, his personal attorney, and Attorney General William Barr. Giuliani had spent months publicly urging Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, but the Justice Department made it clear that Barr wasn’t associated with the effort.
