Well now. It appears that the “second-hand” account of one whistleblower is about to take a back seat to a “first-hand” account of a second individual reportedly with more direct knowledge of what went down in that infamous Phone Call involving Donald J. Trump.
What might the president’s defenders say to the second person who might come forward with information on what Trump said to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zellenskiy?
The plot is getting thicker than a vat of gravy.
As National Public Radio reports: Lawyer Mark Zaid, who is part of a team of attorneys representing the initial whistleblower, tells NPR that the new whistleblower has talked to the inspector general of the intelligence community but has not filed a complaint, which Zaid says is not necessary in order for the individual’s account to be protected.
“By law, when a witness is interviewed by the IG, that constitutes a protected disclosure, provides them legal protection from retaliation,” Zaid tells NPR.
The second whistleblower reportedly is an individual with direct knowledge of what the two heads of state said to each other on July 25. What intrigues me is that the Whistleblower No. 2 lawyer’s willingness to announce what might be in store is that No. 2 well might corroborate what No. 1 said in that memo released to the public a couple of weeks ago.
What did No. 1 say? He or she said Trump pressured Zellenskiy into helping with Trump’s re-election; he asked for dirt on Joe Biden, a possible 2020 campaign opponent; he held up the deployment of military equipment that the United States had promised Ukraine in its fight against Russia-backed rebels; and that the White House is working to cover it up.
All of that came after the White House released a memo of the phone call that revealed it all in the first place!
So, we have the president’s words released by the White House. We have a whistleblower, believed to be an individual in the intelligence community, revealing some serious wrongdoing. Now we might have a second whistleblower with more direct, first-hand, ringside knowledge of what went down.
Are the walls closing in on the president?
I believe they are.