*WASHINGTON: *A second whistleblower has come forward, this one withfirst-hand information of the events that triggered an impeachmentinvestigation of President Donald Trump for alleged abuse of power, theinformant’s lawyer said on Sunday.
“I can confirm this report of a second #whistleblower being represented byour legal team,” Mark Zaid said on Twitter. “They also made a protecteddisclosure under the law and cannot be retaliated against. This WBer hasfirst-hand knowledge.”
Earlier on Sunday, Zaid’s co-counsel, Andrew Bakaj, said his firm and team“represent multiple whistle blowers” in the case accusing Trump of usingthe powers of his office to pressure Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyin a phone call to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
It was unclear whether Bakaj was using “multiple” to refer to more than twowhistle blowers. Typically, several officials would listen in on a callbetween the president and a foreign leader, while others would have accessto a written transcript or summary.
The existence of a whistleblower claiming first-hand knowledge would makeit harder for the president and his supporters to dismiss the originalcomplaint as hearsay, as they have repeatedly done.
Trump pushed back at the allegations in two tweets early on Sunday, thoughhe made no mention of the second whistleblower.
He repeated his assertion that Hunter Biden had been “handed $100,000 amonth (Plus,Plus) from a Ukrainian based company, even though he had noexperience in energy…and separately got 1.5 Billion Dollars from Chinadespite no experience and for no apparent reason.”
He added that as president, “I have an OBLIGATION to look into possible, orprobable, CORRUPTION!” -APP/AFP