- The New York Times – “After hearing that President Trump tried to persuade Ukraine to investigate a 2020 campaign rival, senior officials at the White House scrambled to “lock down” records of the call, a whistle-blower alleged in an explosive complaint released Thursday. In an attempt to “lock down” all records of the call, in particular its “official word-for-word transcript,” White House lawyers told officials to move the transcript into a separate system reserved for classified information that is especially sensitive, actions that the whistle-blower suggested showed that those involved “understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call,” according to the complaint. These and other details surrounding the call in which Mr. Trump pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., were so “deeply disturbing” to senior White House officials that an unnamed intelligence official [Note – this link includes an updated Guide to Impeachment] felt compelled to file a formal whistle-blower complaint.
- See also via The New York Times – Whistle-Blower Complaint Fuels Impeachment Fight but Not Consensus: Live Updates – A whistle-blower’s complaint accused President Trump of using his office to try to get Ukraine to help him in 2020. Joseph Maguire, the acting intelligence chief, called the controversy “unprecedented.”
- Press release: “Today, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released the declassified whistleblower complaint. The complaint can be viewed here, and the Intelligence Community Inspector General letter regarding the complaint can be viewed here Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) made the following statement: “The Committee this morning will be releasing the declassified whistleblower complaint that it received late last night from the ODNI. It is a travesty that it was held up this long. “This complaint should never have been withheld from Congress. It exposed serious wrongdoing, and was found both urgent and credible by the Inspector General. “This complaint is a roadmap for our investigation, and provides significant information for the Committee to follow up on with other witnesses and documents. And it is corroborated by the call record released yesterday. “I want to thank the whistleblower for having the courage to come forward, despite the reprisals they have already faced from the president and his acolytes. We will do everything in our power to protect this whistleblower, and every whistleblower, who comes forward. “The public has a right to see the complaint and what it reveals.”
- CNN – The whistleblower complaint, annotated – A line-by-line analysis of the report that triggered the Ukraine scandal.
- Washington Post – How one secretive Justice Department office can sway the whole government – The Office of Legal Counsel has too much power and not enough transparency.
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