Intel Community Secretly Gutted Requirement Of First-Hand Whistleblower Knowledge

[Ubiquitous]

Federal records show that the intelligence community secretly revised
the formal whistleblower complaint form in August 2019 to eliminate the
requirement of direct, first-hand knowledge of wrongdoing.

Between May 2018 and August 2019, the intelligence community secretly
eliminated a requirement that whistleblowers provide direct, first-hand
knowledge of alleged wrongdoings. This raises questions about the
intelligence community’s behavior regarding the August submission of a
whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump. The new
complaint document no longer requires potential whistleblowers who wish
to have their concerns expedited to Congress to have direct, first-hand
knowledge of the alleged wrongdoing that they are reporting.

The brand new version of the whistleblower complaint form, which was
not made public until after the transcript of Trump’s July 25 phone
call with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and the complaint
addressed to Congress were made public, eliminates the first-hand
knowledge requirement and allows employees to file whistleblower
complaints even if they have zero direct knowledge of underlying
evidence and only “heard about [wrongdoing] from others.”

The internal properties of the newly revised “Disclosure of Urgent
Concern” form, which the intelligence community inspector general
(ICIG) requires to be submitted under the Intelligence Community
Whistleblower Protection Act (ICWPA), show that the document was
uploaded on September 24, 2019, at 4:25 p.m., just days before the
anti-Trump complaint was declassified and released to the public. The
markings on the document state that it was revised in August 2019, but
no specific date of revision is disclosed.

The complaint alleges that President Donald Trump broke the law during
a phone call with the Ukrainian president. In his complaint, which was
dated August 12, 2019, the complainant acknowledged he was “not a
direct witness” to the wrongdoing he claims Trump committed.

A previous version of the whistleblower complaint document, which the
ICIG and DNI until recently provided to potential whistleblowers,
declared that any complaint must contain only first-hand knowledge of
alleged wrongdoing and that complaints that provide only hearsay,
rumor, or gossip would be rejected.

“The [Intelligence Community Inspector General] cannot transmit
information via the ICPWA based on an employee’s second-hand knowledge
of wrongdoing,” the previous form stated under the bolded heading
“FIRST-HAND INFORMATION REQUIRED.” “This includes information received
from another person, such as when an employee informs you that he/she
witnessed some type of wrongdoing.”

“If you think that wrongdoing took place, but can provide nothing more
than second-hand or unsubstantiated assertions, [the Intelligence
Community Inspector General] will not be able to process the complaint
or information for submission as an ICWPA,” the form concluded.

Markings on the previous version of the Disclosure of Urgent Concern
form show that it was formally approved on May 24, 2018.

Here is that original Disclosure of Urgent Concern form prior to the
August 2019 revision:

https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/05242018-DUCF-
ICIG-DNI.jpg

Here is the revised Disclosure of Urgent Concern form following the
August 2019 revision:

https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/09242019-DCUG-
ICIG-DNI.jpg

The Ukraine call complaint against Trump is riddled not with evidence
directly witnessed by the complainant, but with repeated references to
what anonymous officials allegedly told the complainant: “I have
received information from multiple U.S. Government officials,”
“officials have informed me,” “officials with direct knowledge of the
call informed me,” “the White House officials who told me this
information,” “I was told by White House officials,” “the officials I
spoke with,” “I was told that a State Department official,” “I learned
from multiple U.S. officials,” “One White House official described this
act,” “Based on multiple readouts of these meetings recounted to me,”
“I also learned from multiple U.S. officials,” “The U.S. officials
characterized this meeting,” “multiple U.S. officials told me,” “I
learned from U.S. officials,” “I also learned from a U.S. official,”
“several U.S. officials told me,” “I heard from multiple U.S.
officials,” and “multiple U.S. officials told me.”

The repeated references to information the so-called whistleblower
never witnessed clearly run afoul of the original ICIG requirements for
“urgent concern” submissions. The change to the “urgent concern”
submission form was first highlighted on Twitter by researcher Stephen
McIntyre.

The complainant also cites publicly available news articles as proof of
many of the allegations.

“I was not a direct witness to most of the events” characterized in the
document, the complainant confessed on the first page of his August 12
letter, which was addressed to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen.
Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the respective chairmen of the House and Senate
intelligence committees. Hearsay is generally inadmissible as evidence
in U.S. federal and state courts since it violates the constitutional
requirement that the accused be given the opportunity to question his
accusers.

The anti-Trump complaint also made several false claims that have been
directly refuted and debunked. While the complaint alleged that Trump
demanded that Ukraine physically return multiple servers potentially
related to ongoing investigations of foreign interference in the 2016
elections, the transcript of the call between Trump and Zelensky shows
that such a request was never made.

The complainant also falsely alleged that Trump told Zelensky that he
should keep the current prosecutor general at the time, Yuriy Lutsenko,
in his current position in the country. The transcript showed that
exchange also did not happen.

Additionally, the complaint falsely alleged that T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, a
U.S. State Department official, was a party to the phone call between
Trump and Zelensky.

“I was told that a State Department official, Mr. T. Ulrich Brechbuhl,
also listened in on the call,” the complaint alleged. Shortly after the
complaint was released, CBS News reported that Brechbuhl was not on the
phone call.

In a legal opinion that was released to the public along with the phone
call transcript, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal
Counsel (OLC) determined that the complainant’s submission was
statutorily deficient and therefore was not required to be submitted to
Congress. The White House nonetheless declassified and released the
document to Congress late Wednesday evening.

“The complaint does not arise in connection with the operation of any
U.S. government intelligence activity, and the alleged misconduct does
not involve any member of the intelligence community,” the September 3
OLC opinion noted. “Rather, the complaint arises out of a confidential
diplomatic communication between the President and a foreign leader
that the intelligence-community complainant received secondhand.”

“The question is whether such a complaint falls within the statutory
definition of “urgent concern” that the law requires the DNI to forward
to the intelligence committees,” the OLC opinion continued. “We
conclude that it does not.”

It is not known precisely when the August 2019 revision to the
whistleblower complaint form was approved, nor is it known which, if
any, version of the Disclosure of Urgent Concern form the complainant
completed prior to addressing his complaint to Congress.

Reached by phone on Friday afternoon, a Director of National
Intelligence official refused to comment on any questions about the
secret revision to the whistleblower form, including when it was
revised to eliminate the requirement of first-hand knowledge and for
what reason.

--
Watching Democrats come up with schemes to "catch Trump" is like
watching Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Road Runner.

[Siri Cruise]

In article <eKednQ8Tsqru1BLA...@giganews.com>,

Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> Federal records show that the intelligence community secretly revised
> the formal whistleblower complaint form in August 2019 to eliminate the
> requirement of direct, first-hand knowledge of wrongdoing.

And once again iDJT and wingnut coalition aren't complaining that iDJT broke
laws but that iDJT got caught breaking laws. Allegedly.

--
:-<> Siri Seal of Disavowal #000-001. Disavowed. Denied. Deleted. @
'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' /|\
The first law of discordiamism: The more energy This post / \
to make order is nore energy made into entropy. insults Islam. Mohammed

[TrumpCountryUSA]

On 9/27/2019 6:05 PM, Ubiquitous wrote:
> Federal records show that the intelligence community secretly revised
> the formal whistleblower complaint form in August 2019 to eliminate the
> requirement of direct, first-hand knowledge of wrongdoing.

That's a lie.

[John Carlson]

On 9/27/2019 6:05 PM, Ubiquitous wrote:

> [bullshit snipped]

Every word of this is a lie. The procedure for lodging a "whistle-blower"
complaint is laid out in law, and the "intel community" - there's a great
instance of a right-wingnut bogeyman - doesn't get to alter it.

[BeamMeUpScotty]

"The CIA is still running a *counterintelligence* operation against the
Presidency"


The time line for the law being manipulated is going to show that it was
done so that the Whistle blower could legally file the complaint....
showing that it was orchestrated and the operation was a conspiracy of
more than just the person filing the whistle blower complaint. It
required corruption farther up the ladder.....

Like the Comy corruption and lying there's more to the CIA
counterintelligence operation than has been exposed.


And why is the CIA involved in U.S. politics, they are a foreign spy
agency..... NOT to be used on U.S. soil.


This was a U.S. operation.... they were blowing the whistle outside the
AGENCY and inside the U.S. which is under the law for the CIA illegal
spying inside the UNITED STATES.


The crimes are starting to show that the CIA and the "WHISTLE-BLOWER"
are colluding and conspiring and spying inside the United States.

Since when is the CIA supposed to spy on the PRESIDENT? Internal spying
was illegal, reporting information from illegal spying is illegal.



*Someone in the CIA needs to go to prison*



--
That's Karma

[NoBody]

On 9/30/2019 8:59 AM, #ReamMeUpTheAssSnotty, brain-damaged fucktard who
rode his scooter into a tree while not wearing a helmet, stupidly bawled:
> [bullshit]

The CIA was *never* running a "counterintelligence operation" against
Trump. You agree.