The Ukraine whistleblower who initially reached out to Democratic committee staff on the House Intelligence committee went to the intelligence community’s watchdog on October 8 to explain the nature of that contact.
CBS News’ Catherine Herridge reported on documents obtained by the outlet that show the whistleblower reached out to the intelligence community’s Inspector General (ICIG) to explain that he or she reached out to a Democratic staffer on the House Intelligence committee but was directed to reach out to the ICIG, which the whistleblower had not heard of at the time.
The document showed that the whistleblower was told: “’Do it right, hire a lawyer, and contact the ICIG.’ So that is what the COMPLAINANT did. At the time, COMPLAINANT did not even know what the ICIG was.”
The whistleblower then claimed to the ICIG that he or she did not check the box for reaching out to congress or a congressional committee because, “[b]ased on getting guidance on a procedural question, and that no substance of the actual disclosure was discussed, COMPLAINANT did not feel, based on the way the form question was worded, that it was necessary to check that box.” – READ MORE