US

Trump Calls Intelligence Whistleblower ‘Highly Partisan,’ Denies Wrongdoing

REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
Font Size:

President Donald Trump said Friday that a “highly partisan” whistleblower is behind a complaint filed against him over his interactions with a foreign leader, identified by the press as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

On Twitter, Trump denied any impropriety in a phone conversation said to be at the center of the complaint.

“The Radical Left Democrats and their Fake News Media partners, headed up again by Little Adam Schiff, and batting Zero for 21 against me, are at it again!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

“They think I may have had a ‘dicey’ conversation with a certain foreign leader based on a ‘highly partisan’ whistleblowers……statement.”

“Strange that with so many other people hearing or knowing of the perfectly fine and respectful conversation, that they would not have also come forward. Do you know the reason why they did not? Because there was nothing said wrong, it was pitch perfect!” (RELATED: Reports Identify The Country At Center Of Mystery Whistleblower Complaint)

The Washington Post and New York Times reported Thursday that an intelligence official who worked in the White House filed the complaint with the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) on Aug. 12. The whistleblower was alarmed over a commitment that Trump allegedly made during a phone call with Zelensky.

The whistleblower has not been identified, and it is not clear if Trump knows who the person is.

Trump and Zelensky spoke by phone on July 25. House Democrats requested records of that call last month as part of a separate investigation into whether Trump threatened to withhold $250 million in military aid from Ukraine if the government did not investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s business ties to the country. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has met multiple times with Ukrainian officials over the issue.

The administration approved the military aid a day after the complaint was filed, though there is no evidence that the two events are linked.

Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, forced the complaint into public view last week after he pressed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to provide the document to Congress.

Michael Atkinson, the ICIG, told the intelligence committee that he found the complaint credible and urgent, meaning that ODNI was required by law to provide it to Congress within seven days.

But Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, has refused to provide the information to Congress. Maguire said that he was not required to hand over the complaint because it dealt with privileged information involving someone outside the intelligence community.

Schiff said at a press conference on Thursday that the Justice Department directed ODNI not to provide the complaint to Congress.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.