New whistleblower may give Democrats fresh leads

WASHINGTON - US House Democrats leading an impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine may have fresh information to work with after a new whistleblower stepped forward with what the person's lawyer says is firsthand knowledge of key events.

With Congress in recess for another week and many Republicans reticent to speak out, a text from attorney Mark Zaid - saying that a second individual could corroborate the original whistleblower's complaint - gripped Washington and potentially heightened the stakes for Trump.

Zaid, who represents both whistleblowers, said that the new whistleblower works in the intelligence field and has spoken to the intelligence community's internal watchdog.

The original whistleblower, a CIA officer, filed a formal complaint in August with the intelligence community's inspector general and triggered the impeachment inquiry. The document alleged that Trump had used a July 25 telephone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, prompting a White House cover-up.

The push came even though there was no evidence of wrongdoing by the former vice-president or his son, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. Trump and his supporters deny that the president did anything improper, but the White House has struggled to come up with a unified response.

A second whistleblower with direct knowledge could undermine efforts by Trump and his allies to discredit the original complaint. They have called the complaint politically motivated, claimed it was filed improperly and dismissed it as unreliable because it was based on secondhand or thirdhand information.

A rough transcript of Trump's call with Zelensky, released by the White House on Sept 25, has already corroborated the complaint's central claim that Trump sought to pressure Ukraine on the investigation.

Text messages from US State Department officials revealed other details, including that Ukraine was promised a visit with Trump if the government would agree to investigate the 2016 election and a Ukrainian gas company tied to Hunter.

Representative Jim Himes, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said word of a second whistleblower indicates a larger shift inside the government.

"The president's real problem is that his behavior has finally gotten to a place where people are saying, 'Enough,'" Himes said.

As for Trump, rather than visiting his nearby golf course in Sterling, Virginia, he stayed at the White House on Sunday, where he was busy tweeting.

"The great Scam is being revealed!" Trump wrote, continuing to paint himself as the victim of a "deep state" and hostile Democrats.