Second Trump whistleblower comes forward with first-hand information: lawyer – World

A second complainant was presented, with first-hand information about the events that triggered an investigation of political trial against President Donald Trump for alleged abuse of power, the informant's lawyer said Sunday.

"I can confirm this report from a second # whistleblower represented by our legal team," Mark Zaid said on Twitter. “They also made a protected disclosure under the law and you cannot retaliate against them. This WBer has first-hand knowledge. "

Last Sunday, Zaid's lawyer, Andrew Bakaj, said his firm and team "represent multiple whistleblowers" in the case accusing Trump of using his office's powers to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call to investigate to political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter

It was not clear if Bakaj was using "multiples" to refer to more than two complainants. Usually, several officials would hear a call between the president and a foreign leader, while others would have access to a written transcript or summary.

The existence of a complainant who claims to have first-hand knowledge would make it difficult for the president and his supporters to dismiss the original complaint as a rumor, as they have repeatedly done.

Trump pushes back

Trump rejected the accusations in two tweets early Sunday, although he did not mention the second complainant.

He repeated his claim that Hunter Biden had received "$ 100,000 a month (Plus, Plus) from a company based in Ukraine, although he had no experience in energy … and separately received $ 1.5 billion from China to despite having no experience and for no reason apparent reason. "

He added that as president, "I have an OBLIGATION to investigate possible or probable CORRUPTION!" Other reports have said Hunter Biden received up to $ 50,000 a month as a board member of a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.

No evidence was found that Biden has done anything illegal.

Read: The story behind Joe Biden's son, Ukraine and Trump's claims

A bit unusual for a Sunday, Trump stayed at the White House instead of traveling or playing golf.

"In one of the most critical news weeks of the last three years" CNN He said in a tweet quoting presenter Jake Tapper, "The White House did not offer a guest, the president's personal lawyers and Republican congressional leaders declined to be on the show or did not respond."

But a Republican senator, Ron Johnson, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, appeared in NBC & # 39; s "Meet the Press" and rejected the suggestion that Trump had withheld military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.

"When I asked the president about that," he said, "he flatly denied it, vehemently and angrily."

& # 39; Harassment & # 39;

The last turns in the investigation of the explosive accusation occurred one day after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the congressional committees led by the Democrats leading the investigation of having "harassed and abused" the employees of the Department of State to contact them directly to obtain documents instead of consulting the lawyers of the department.

House committees issued subpoenas on Friday, including the White House, as evidence increased that Trump tried to retain US military aid. UU. To pressure Zelensky to look for harmful information about Biden, who led the majority of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate polls.

The saga of political trial investigation began after the original whistleblower, an intelligence official, filed a formal complaint with the inspector general of the intelligence community about Trump's alleged pressure on Zelensky.

An approximate transcript of the phone call later launched by the White House, as well as a series of text messages between US diplomats, seem to corroborate the original complaint.

Have a look: Trump pressured the president of Ukraine to investigate his political rival: summary of the call

Zaid recently told Washingtonian magazine that he hoped that the identity of the original whistleblower, whom Trump attacked as a traitor, was never made public.

His co-lawyer, Bakaj, previously worked in the offices of the inspector general in both the CIA and the Department of Defense in matters related to whistleblowers.