A second whistleblower has come forward claiming to have first-hand knowledge of the phone call that triggered an impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump.
The lawyer representing the first whistleblower has told ABC News that he is now representing a second official from the US intelligence community.
Mark Zaid said this second individual has been interviewed by the head of the intelligence community's internal watchdog office.
The person has not filed a complaint.
He confirmed both officials have full protection the law to protect whistleblowers and although his new client has spoken with the inspector general, the person has not talked with the congressional committees conducting the investigation.
.@ABC EXCLUSIVE: Attorney representing whistleblower who sounded the alarm on Pres. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine tells @ABC News he is now representing a second whistleblower who has first-hand knowledge of events.@GStephanopoulos reports: https://t.co/IzQjIVlpDP pic.twitter.com/sEno7YgH9k
— ABC News (@ABC) October 6, 2019
Mr Trump allegedly pressured his Ukrainian counterpart during a telephone call in July to investigate his political rival Joe Biden, a leading Democrat contender in the White House race.
In the call, Mr Trump discussed having president Volodymyr Zelenskiy help look into the Biden family's business dealings.
The first unnamed whistleblower was so concerned the person filed a complaint, in which the whistleblower claimed US officials were so concerned about what Mr Trump said that his administration then tried to "lock down" the transcript of the conversation to cover it up.
It later emerged the whistleblower was not present for the call and based the complaint on second-hand information.
This second whistleblower claims to have been present, which would unravel much of Mr Trump's insistence that the content of the complaint is "totally inaccurate".
Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Reporting by IRN
