Attorneys for the whistleblower who filed a complaint against President Donald Trump over a phone call with the Ukrainian president say they are now representing a second complainant who has firsthand knowledge of Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
This second individual reportedly also works for the intelligence community and has already spoken to the IC’s inspector general about the information he has relating to Trump’s attempts to get Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.
“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,” Andrew Bakaj, the managing partner of the firm representing the whistleblowers, confirmed to ABC News.
It is unclear what information from the initial whistleblower complaint the second individual is able to corroborate. The first whistleblower did not have “direct knowledge” of the president’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and misreported several details of the call, according to a transcript released by the White House. (RELATED: Read The Trump Whistleblower Complaint)
The president and his allies sought to discredit the initial whistleblower complaint by pointing out that it was based on “hearsay,” an attack that will be less effective against a second whistleblower with firsthand knowledge. Trump tweeted about reports that a second individual was coming forward on Saturday night, incorrectly claiming that the individual also had “second hand info.”
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2019
“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!” the president declared.