Several precautions were taken by the CIA to protect the analyst who filed a report last year that led to the impeachment of President Trump.
The security measures were instituted by the CIA’s Security Protective Service as the analyst faced a torrent of threats across social media as Trump himself would ask his massive Twitter following about the whereabouts of the whistleblower, and his allies would talk about revealing the whistleblower’s identity.
Sources told the Washington Post that the official spent months in affordable hotels that were under surveillance by the CIA and was driven to work by armed officers in an unmarked sedan. The analyst was occasionally allowed to visit his apartment, but only after a security team swept the location.
Impeachment proceedings began last year after word got out about an intelligence community whistleblower complaint about a phone call in which Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open investigations into a CrowdStrike conspiracy theory, as well as possible corruption involving Joe and Hunter Biden.
The House, led by Democrats, impeached Trump on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges in December. The GOP-controlled Senate acquitted him on both impeachment articles in February.
After the impeachment fight ended, U.S. officials said the threats subsided, and some of the security measures to protect the CIA analyst were lifted. However, the report noted that online attacks persist, and some of the security measures may remain in place indefinitely.
The CIA declined to comment for the report.
