FBI wants to question the whistle-blower: Agent has been in touch with CIA worker’s attorney to schedule formally speaking to him – but not explained why
- An FBI agent requested in October that the agency be granted access to question the whistle-blower
- It is not clear why the FBI wants to question the anonymous whistle-blower or what the interview would be centered on
- The whistle-blower’s complaint sparked the Democrats impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump
- Democrats say they will continue to protect the identity of the whistle-blower, who has been identified only as a male CIA analyst
- GOP request to question the whistle-blower in the impeachment hearings have been denied by House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff
The FBI is requesting an interview with the anonymous whistle-blower in the intelligence community whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump.
An FBI agent in Washington D.C. reached out to lawyers representing the whistle-blower in October requesting to question the individual, revealed to be a male CIA agent, source familiar with the matter told Yahoo News.
Although the whistle-blower’s identity has still not been revealed, some outlets have reported the name of an individual matching that description and Republicans have requested the whistle-blower be called to testify as part of the impeachment hearings.
Republicans also want to call former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter to testify as part of the impeachment proceedings regarding his previous board position at Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holding.
Democrats say they will continue to protect the identity of the whistle-blower and will not give in to the GOP’s request.
The FBI wants to question the anonymous whistle-blower at the center of the allegations that led to the impeachment inquiry to Donald Trump. An agent has reached out to the whistle-blower’s lawyers
The whistle-blower complaint alleges that Trump’s (left) call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky (right) was inappropriate – even though the male CIA analyst was not present during the call and only heard about it second-hand
Even though the FBI has asked a lawyer for the whistle-blower to allow them to question the CIA analyst at the helm of the Democratic inquiry, no interview has been scheduled.
It is unclear of the whistle-blower’s lawyers will agree to the questioning and what the scope of the FBI interview would be.
The revelations of the FBI request comes as Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have made continued efforts to reveal the identity of the whistle-blower – especially in questioning of witnesses during public hearings this week and last.
The whistle-blower filed a complaint in August with the intelligence community inspector general where he revealed the nature of Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which he alleges was inappropriate, despite only hearing about the conversation.
The complaint was publicized in late September.
A transcript of the call revealed that Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate political rival Joe Biden. Democrats insisted this amounted to a quid pro quo since the White House froze military aid to Ukraine in the days before the call.
After a series of closed-door meetings in October and November, Democrats launched public hearings last Wednesday.
Now, a week later, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland appeared for his testimony, where he said definitively that the president did set conditions for agreeing to a meeting with Zelensky, who was looking to earn clout as newly inaugurated president of Ukraine.
Democrats insist they will continue to protect the identity of the whistle-blower, and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (left) denied GOP requests to question the whistle-blower as part of the impeachment inquiry. Here Chairman Schiff is picture beside Republican Ranking Member Devin Nunes (right) at a the first public hearing in the impeachment proceedings last week
The FBI’s request to question the whistle-blower made no reference to the slew of threats that have been made against the individual and the lawyers representing him.
Sources familiar with the discussions say the FBI has made no reference to the threats against the whistle-blower.
In September, the Justice Department confirmed it had reviewed the whistle-blower complaint and determined there was no violation of campaign finance laws by the president when he requested Kiev investigate Burisma.
This caused the DOJ to determine that ‘no further action was warranted.’
However, those at the FBI felt the Justice Department move was a partisan decision to avoid an inquiry into the president altogether, sources indicate.
‘[There were] guys who wanted to run with it,’ a former senior official said. ‘People were pissed off.’
The former official said others within the FBI were wary and “didn’t want to touch [the whistleblower complaint] with a 10-foot pole because of the Russia investigation.”