The whistleblower at the center of scrutiny over President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine filed his complaint with the intelligence community’s inspector general after first going to the CIA general counsel, according to a new report.
Multiple people familiar with the matter told The New York Times that the whistleblower brought a broad complaint to Courtney Simmons Elwood, the CIA general counsel, the week after the July 25 phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
During the call, which formed the basis for the later whistleblower complaint, Trump urged Zelensky to open an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, a chief political rival. A readout of the call was released by the White House on Wednesday, while the complaint was released Thursday.
Elwood tried to evaluate if there was a “reasonable basis” for the concerns raised by the anonymous whistleblower and spoke with John Eisenberg, a deputy White House counsel, the Times reports.
According to the newspaper, the initial allegations brought to the CIA counsel only reported that major questions existed about one of Trump’s calls with a foreign leader, with the counsel later learning that multiple people raised concerns about the call.
However, as the process dragged out, the whistleblower reportedly became concerned his allegations were not being taken seriously, particularly after finding out Elwood had contacted the White House.
The whistleblower then decided to formally submit a complaint with Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community’s inspector general, a move that provides extra legal protections.
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Whistleblower filed Trump Ukraine complaint after going to CIA general counsel: report https://t.co/KCO2QWTJ5W pic.twitter.com/j2ynTgqpAk
— The Hill (@thehill) September 27, 2019
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