President Donald touted a report providing more information about a possible political connection of the Ukraine whistle-blower, who the president has already ripped as a ‘partisan’ with possibly treasonous sources.
Late Tuesday the president retweeted an article by Washington Examiner columnist and conservative commentator Byron York. The article establishes an undefined connection between the whistle-blower and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.
The whistle-blower, who alleges misconduct on Trump’s part, has already been identified as having a Democratic affiliation, although many members of government are members of one of the two main political parties.
A person with knowledge of the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community’s recent testimony to the House, however, indicated there was an additional ‘professional relationship.’
President Donald Trump retweeted an article that connected the Ukraine whistle-blower to an unidentified Democratic presidential campaign
‘The IG said [the whistleblower] worked or had some type of professional relationship with one of the Democratic candidates,’ a source told the Examiner.
Another source told the paper: ‘The IG said the whistleblower had a professional relationship with one of the 2020 candidates.’
Neither source was quoted saying the person worked for one of the candidates, or that the work relationship was on a campaign.
The House Intelligence Committee, which Trump on Tuesday compared to a Kangaroo Court, did not immediately respond to a request for further information Tuesday evening on Yom Kippur.
The IG, Michael Atkinson, had provided vague information in a letter to the House Intelligence Committee in August, writing the whistle-blower had ‘some indicia of an arguable political bias … in favor of a rival political candidate.’
The whistle-blower in a complaint alleges the president asked the President of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens to help his own 2020 reelection. An unsealed call shows Trump bringing up the Bidens with the Ukrainian president.
Who could it be? Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Andrew Yang, Beto O’Rourke and Julian Castro Third 2020 Democratic Party Presidential Debate, Houston, USA. A report connected the whistle-blower to one of the 2020 candidates
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING: President Trump tweeted an article suggesting possible bias on the part of the whistle-blower
The letter was signed by former Pentagon officials, diplomats, and security experts
The article didn’t clarify if it was a top-tier candidate
The president wrote along with the retweet: ‘This is just the beginning, thank you to @ByronYork!’
The president has previously gone after the whistle-blower, identified by the New York Times as a CIA officer who has been detailed to the White House at some point, and demanded the right to face his accuser.
The Washington Post reported that House Democrats may interview the whistle-blower at an off-site location to protect their identity, amid concerns it could leak.
In remarks caught on video, Trump said: ‘I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistle-blower the information? Because that’s close to a spy.’ He continued: ‘You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now,’ he said, referencing execution.
A group of 90 national security professionals has applauded an unidentified whistle-blower.
‘While the identity of the whistleblower is not publicly known, we do know that he or she is an employee of the U.S. Government. As such, he or she has by law the right—and indeed the responsibility—to make known, through appropriate channels, indications of serious wrongdoing,’ the officials wrote.
‘That is precisely what this whistleblower did; and we applaud the whistleblower not only for living up to that responsibility but also for using precisely the channels made available by federal law for raising such concerns,’ said the security officials, who served Democratic and Republican presidents.