Fred Fleitz, who recently served as chief of staff to former National Security Adviser John Bolton and is the CEO of the Center for Security Policy, has questioned the origins of the complaint about President Trump and Ukraine.
He spoke after a redacted version was released publicly on Thursday morning.
“As a former CIA analyst and former NSC official who edited transcripts of POTUS phone calls with foreign leaders, here are my thoughts on the whistleblower complaint which was just released,” he said.
First, he said, “This is not an intelligence matter. It is a policy matter and a complaint about differences over policy. Presidential phone calls are not an intelligence concern. The fact that IC officers transcribe these calls does not give the [intelligence community inspector general] jusrisdiction (sic) over these calls.
Second, he said, “It appears that rules restricting access and knowledge of these sensitive calls was breached. This official was not on this call, not on the approved [dissemination] list and should not have been briefed on the call.”
“The way this complaint was written suggested the author had a lot of help. I know from my work on the House Intel Commitee staff that many whistleblowers go directly to the intel oversight committees. Did this whistleblower first meet with House Intel committee members?” – READ MORE