Whistleblower's attorney says they drafted complaint 'entirely on their own'

Source: ABC News | October 2, 2019 | Benjamin Siegel and James Gordon Meek

AAttorneys for the whistleblower at the center of a growing impeachment inquiry related to President Donald Trump and a phone call he had with the president of Ukraine are pushing back on any suggestion their client worked with a member of Congress to write the complaint that sparked a new push by congressional Democrats.

“The Whistleblower drafted the Complaint entirely on their own. Legal counsel Andrew Bakaj provided guidance on process but was not involved in the drafting of the document and did not review it in advance,” Mark Zaid, an attorney for the whistleblower, told ABC News. “In fact, none of the legal team saw the Complaint until it was publicly released by Congress. To be unequivocally clear, no Member or congressional staff had any input into or reviewed the Complaint before it was submitted to the Intelligence Community Inspector General.”

According to a spokesperson for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, the whistleblower contacted the committee before raising concerns about alleged wrongdoing with the intelligence community inspector general.

“Like other whistleblowers have done before and since under Republican and Democratic-controlled Committees, the whistleblower contacted the Committee for guidance on how to report possible wrongdoing within the jurisdiction of the Intelligence Community,” Patrick Boland, the spokesman, wrote in a statement. “Consistent with the Committee’s longstanding procedures, Committee staff appropriately advised the whistleblower to contact an Inspector General and to seek legal counsel.”

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