On Saturday, a second whistleblower with more direct knowledge of President Donald Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was contemplating filing a formal complaint. Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson is said to have interviewed this second person who corroborated the first whistleblower's allegations.
One of the attorneys representing the initial whistleblower, Mark Zaid, told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos they now represent the second whistleblower.
.@ABC EXCLUSIVE: Attorney representing whistleblower who sounded the alarm on Pres. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine tells @ABC News he is now representing a second whistleblower who has first-hand knowledge of events.@GStephanopoulos reports: https://t.co/IzQjIVlpDP pic.twitter.com/sEno7YgH9k
— ABC News (@ABC) October 6, 2019
Attorneys from the legal team took to Twitter to reiterate their announcement.
NEWS UPDATE: I can confirm this report of a second #whistleblower being represented by our legal team. They also made a protected disclosure under the law and cannot be retaliated against. This WBer has first hand knowledge. https://t.co/zYkUYgJ0mE
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) October 6, 2019
IC WHISTLEBLOWER UPDATE: 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. No further comment at this time. https://t.co/05b5aAVm2G
— Andrew P. Bakaj (@AndrewBakaj) October 6, 2019
President Trump tweeted about the entire Ukraine scandal, slamming the media's attempt at protecting former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
It is INCREDIBLE to watch and read the Fake News and how they pull out all stops to protect Sleepy Joe Biden and his thrown out of the Military son, Hunter, who was handed $100,000 a month (Plus,Plus) from a Ukrainian based company, even though he had no experience in energy,...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2019
....and separately got 1.5 Billion Dollars from China despite no experience and for no apparent reason. There is NO WAY these can be legitimate transactions? As lawyers & others have stated, as President, I have an OBLIGATION to look into possible, or probable, CORRUPTION!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2019
Democrats have used the initial whistleblower's complaint to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Trump. The president released an unclassified, unredacted version of the transcript, which showed no quid pro quo.
