Second intel official considering filing complaint over Trump: report

A second intelligence official is considering whether to file a whistleblower complaint and testify before Congress about their concerns over President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, The New York Times reported Friday, citing two people briefed on the matter.

The Times reported that the officer has more direct information about the situation involving Trump than the first whistleblower, whose complaint filed in August helped spark the impeachment inquiry into Trump that House Democrats launched last week.

Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson has reportedly interviewed the person to corroborate the original whistleblower’s claims.{mosads}

Trump has repeatedly blasted the first unidentified whistleblower, questioning their motives and accusing them of being “partisan.” 

Meanwhile, the acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire told Congress in late September that he believed the whistleblower did the “right thing” by filing their complaint.

The whistleblower filed their complaint over concerns about Trump’s call with the president of Ukraine in late July in which Trump pressed the foreign leader to open an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Democratic presidential candidate.

A rough transcript of the call released by the White House last week corroborated several key points in the whistleblower complaint relating to Trump’s conversation with the Ukrainian leader.

The original whistleblower did not have direct knowledge of the conversation, but wrote that they got information from “multiple White House officials with direct knowledge.”

President Trump and other Republicans have attacked the person’s credibility. 

Democrats, meanwhile, said Atkinson’s Friday testimony before the House confirmed important details of Trump’s call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. 

“We explored with the IG through documents and testimony the reasons why he found the whistleblower complaint to be both urgent and credible,” Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “Now that we have all seen the call record, we can see that the IG’s determination was correct in both respects.”

The Times reported Friday that it was not clear whether Atkinson informed lawmakers that the second official was thinking about filing a complaint. 

The Hill has reached out to the office of the intelligence community inspector general for comment.