President Donald Trump has hit back at the whistle-blower controversy. Photo / AP
President Donald Trump has hit back at the whistle-blower controversy. Photo / AP
President Donald Trump has labelled an intelligence community whistleblower behind an explosive complaint against him as "close to a spy" and darkly hinted at "treason" — which carries the death penalty.
He also labelled the US media as "scum" and "animals" and his political rival Joe Biden as "dumb as a rock" as the scandal involving the President widens.
It comes after more than a week of drama in Washington around the secret complaint, which has now been released in full after some details were reported on by media, prompting Democrats to push for impeachment.
THE GREATEST SCAM IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS!
In it, the unidentified whistleblower alleges Mr Trump abused the power of his office to "solicit interference from a foreign country" in next year's US election and then sought to cover-up the evidence.
It largely concerns a July phone call between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and alleges the President pressured his counterpart to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The White House released a transcript of that phone call on Wednesday, which confirmed Mr Trump asked Mr Zelensky to assist the US investigation into Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election and to look into the Biden family, although it did not show he explicitly threatened to pull US aid as had been earlier reported.
Republicans have been critical of the whistleblower, who was not a direct witness to most of what the complaint goes on to describe but instead cites "officials" and media reports from outlets including The Hill, The New York Times, Bloomberg and Fox News.
The nine-page complaint — which the administration initially withheld from Congress for weeks — was declassified and released on Thursday with several redactions by the House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Democrat Adam Schiff, ahead of testimony to House investigators from Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence.
Immediately after its release Mr Trump wrote in a since-deleted tweet, "The Democrats are trying to destroy the Republican Party and all that it stands for. Stick together, play their game and fight hard Republicans. Our country is at stake."
Trump appeared to threaten the whistleblower and his sources, telling United Nations staffers he wanted to find out their identities. Photo / AP
He later wrote, "Liddle' Adam Schiff, who has worked unsuccessfully for three years to hurt the Republican Party and President, has just said that the Whistleblower, even though he or she only had second hand information, 'is credible.' How can that be with zero info and a known bias. Democrat Scam!"
In a statement on Thursday, the White House said "nothing has changed with the release of this complaint, which is nothing more than a collection of third-hand accounts of events and cobbled-together press clippings — all of which shows nothing improper".
'THAT'S CLOSE TO A SPY'
The whistleblower was a Central Intelligence Agency officer who was detailed to work at the White House but has since returned to the CIA, The New York Times reported on Thursday citing "three people familiar with his identity".
"His complaint made public Thursday suggested he was an analyst by training and made clear he was steeped in details of American foreign policy toward Europe, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of Ukrainian politics and at least some knowledge of the law," the paper wrote.
"The whistleblower's expertise will likely add to lawmakers' confidence about the merits of his complaint, and tamp down allegations that he might have misunderstood what he learned about Mr Trump."
Andrew Bakaj, the lead attorney for the whistleblower, told the paper, "Any decision to report any perceived identifying information of the whistleblower is deeply concerning and reckless, as it can place the individual in harm's way. The whistleblower has a right to anonymity."
Earlier on Thursday, leaked audio published by the LA Times revealed Mr Trump appeared to threaten the whistleblower and his sources, telling United Nations staffers he wanted to find out their identities.
"I want to know who's the person who gave the whistleblower the information because that's close to a spy," he said. "You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart with spies and treason, right? We used to handle it a little differently than we do now."
Under US law, treason is punishable by death. A person "owing allegiance to the United States" is guilty of treason if they levy war against the US or "adhere to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort".
At the same event, Mr Trump also lashed out at the media and Mr Biden. "You know, these animals in the press. They're animals, some of the worst human beings you'll ever meet," he said.
"They're scum. Many of them are scum, and then you have some good reporters, but not many of them, I'll be honest with you."
He added, "Then you have sleepy Joe Biden who's dumb as a rock. This guy was dumb on his best day, and he's not having his best day right now. He's dumb as a rock. So you have sleepy Joe and his kid, who's got a lot of problems, he got thrown out of the Navy — look, I'm not going to, it's a problem … so we won't get into why."
'DEEPLY DISTURBED'
In the August 12 complaint, the whistleblower claims senior White House figures tried to "lock down" information of the July phone call, leaving other White House officials "deeply disturbed" by their colleagues' efforts to bury it.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi endorsed an impeachment investigation in light of the Ukraine revelations. Photo / AP
The whistleblower said at least 12 US officials shared "credible" accounts that were "consistent with one another". "In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple US Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election," he wrote.
"This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President's main domestic political rivals. The president's personal lawyer, Mr Rudolph Giuliani, is a central figure in this effort. Attorney-General Barr appears to be involved as well."
Later in the document the whistleblower said, "The White House officials who told me this information were deeply disturbed by what had transpired in the phone call … because of the likelihood … that they had witnessed the president abuse his office for personal gain."
DAMNING ALLEGATIONS
"In the days following the phone call, I learned from multiple US officials that senior White House figures had intervened to 'lock down' all the records of the phone call, especially the official word-for-word transcript of the call that was produced as is customary by the White House situation room," the complaint said.
In a particularly damning claim, the whistleblower alleged, "White House officials told me that they were 'directed' by White House lawyers to remove the electronic transcript from the computer system in which such transcripts are typically stored. The transcript was loaded into a separate electronic system that is otherwise used to store and handle classified information of an especially sensitive nature."
This was suspect because, as one White House official allegedly told the whistleblower, "the call did not contain anything remotely sensitive from a national security perspective".
Multiple officials told the whistleblower that "this was 'not the first time' under this administration that a presidential transcript was placed into this codeword-level system solely for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive — rather than national security sensitive — information".
Activists rally for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington. Photo / AP
The whistleblower believes these actions by key White House officials indicate that they "understood the gravity of what had transpired".
The complaint also says multiple US officials reported that Mr Giuliani travelled to Madrid one week after the call to meet with one of Mr Zelenskiy's advisers, and that the meeting was characterised as a follow-up to the telephone conversation between the two leaders.
Late on Wednesday, most Republicans who got an advance look at the complaint were quiet or defended the president as they left a secure rooms. But at least one Republican said he was concerned by what he had read.
"Republicans ought not to be rushing to circle the wagons and say there's no 'there' there when there's obviously a lot that's very troubling there," said Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, a GOP member of the Senate intelligence panel who has been an occasional critic of Mr Trump. He added that "Democrats ought not be using words like 'impeach' before they knew anything about the actual substance".
Mr Trump, whose administration had earlier baulked at turning over the complaint, said on Wednesday afternoon that "I fully support transparency on the so-called whistleblower information" and that he had communicated that position to House Republican leader Representative Kevin McCarthy of California.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in reaction, "If this was all so innocent, why did so many officials in the White House, in the Justice Department and elsewhere make such large efforts to prevent it from being made public?"
Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., talks to the media after Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified before the House Intelligence Committee. Photo / AP
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who on Tuesday endorsed an impeachment investigation in light of the Ukraine revelations — prior to the release of the transcript or the full whistleblower complaint — said the content of the complaint "lifts this into whole new terrain".
"The President betrayed his oath of office, our national security and the integrity (of America's elections)," she said.
Mr Schiff said the whistleblower "has given us a road map" for the impeachment investigation. In the Senate, which would hold a trial if the House voted to impeach Trump, there was an undercurrent of concern among Republicans.
Many Republicans declined comment about the complaint, saying at midday they had not read the whistleblower report. But a few mounted defences of the president and attacked the whistleblower's credibility.
Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who made several trips to meet with the Ukrainian president including the inauguration mentioned in the report, brushed off critics "impugning all kinds of nefarious motives here". "This has been blown way out of proportion," he said.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
The document, with its precise detail and clear narrative, will likely accelerate the impeachment process and put more pressure on Mr Trump to rebut its core contentions and on his fellow Republicans to defend him.
The complaint also provides a road map for corroborating witnesses, which will complicate the president's effort to characterise the findings as those of a lone partisan out to undermine him.
The House and Senate intelligence committees have also invited the whistleblower to testify, but it is uncertain whether the person will appear and whether his or her identity could be adequately protected without Mr Maguire's blessing.
The unidentified whistleblower submitted a complaint to Michael Atkinson, the US government's intelligence inspector general, in August.
The inspector general found that the whistleblower showed "some indicia of an arguable political bias" favouring "a rival political candidate" but also determined the allegation "appears credible".
Mr Maguire then blocked release of the complaint to Congress, citing issues of presidential privilege and saying the complaint did not deal with an "urgent concern". Mr Atkinson disagreed, but said his hands were tied.
