Trump in hotter waters as second whistle-blower of Ukraine scandal comes forward

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is in hotter waters as the second whistle-blower of Ukraine scandal — with first-hand knowledge of his dealings with Kiev — has spoken with the intelligence community’s internal watchdog, the lawyer representing the official said on Sunday.

The lawyer, Mark Zaid, confirmed in an interview with ABC’s This Week that the inspector-general has interviewed the second official, who was from the US intelligence community as well. Zaid also represents the first whistle-blower who filed a complaint involving a July 25 phone call Trump held with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he asked the latter to investigate his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

The existence of the second whistle-blower followed stirrings of discontent within Trump’s own Republican Party after he called on China on Friday to investigate Biden’s son, who had business dealings with Beijing.

Republican US Senators Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, and Susan Collins all have expressed concerns about Trump reaching out to foreign countries to help him in his 2020 re-election bid.

Both developments — the telephone call and the whistle-blower complaint — have prompted the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to launch impeachment proceedings on September 24 against Trump, saying his actions jeopardized US election integrity and threatened national security.