Intelligence watchdog now says whistleblower claimed 'first-hand' knowledge, in departure from declassified complaint
By Gregg Re, Catherine Herridge | Fox News
The inspector general for the intelligence community said late Monday that the whistleblower whose complaint touched off an impeachment inquiry claimed to have firsthand knowledge of misconduct -- a claim that appears to conflict with documents sent to Congress and the director of national intelligence.
The lengthy statement Monday was posted in response to questions, raised in the media and by congressional Republicans, about the disclosure form filed by the whistleblower, who first flagged concerns about President Trump's July phone call in which he asked the leader of Ukraine to "look into" actions by former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. The IG said the whistleblower stated on an initial form Aug. 12 "that he or she possessed both first-hand and other information."
According to the watchdog, the whistleblower "checked two relevant boxes" on the form: One stating, "I have personal and/or direct knowledge of events or records involvedâ€; and the other box stating, “Other employees have told me about events or records involved.â€
However, the declassified whistleblower complaint sent to Congress last week stated: “I was not a direct witness to most of the events described. However, I found my colleagues’ accounts of these events to be credible because, in almost all cases, multiple officials recounted fact patterns that were consistent with one another.â€
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