Bending the Rules

Last week, a writer with The Federalist published a potential bombshell story alleging that “the intelligence community secretly” changed a whistleblower complaint form to eliminate “a requirement that whistleblowers provide direct, first-hand knowledge of wrongdoings.” The story ignited a firestorm of accusations after President Donald Trump demanded to know “WHO CHANGED THE LONG STANDING WHISTLEBLOWER RULES JUST BEFORE SUBMITTAL OF THE FAKE WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT? DRAIN THE SWAMP!”

On Monday, top House Republicans sent a letter to Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) Michael Atkinson seeking answers: “Based on the language on [the May 24, 2018] form, it appears that the requirement for first-hand information has been an ICIG policy regardless of how a whistleblower makes an urgent concern report. Curiously the urgent disclosure form that now appears on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence website has recently changed and no longer contains this explicit first-hand information requirement. … The timing of the removal of the first-hand information requirement raises questions about potential connections to this whistleblower’s complaint. This timing, along with numerous apparent leaks of classified information about the contents of this complaint, also raise questions about potential criminality in the handling of these matters.”

There has been pushback over the Federalist’s claim of an altered document, including a statement from the office of the ICIG noting that the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act (ICWPA) does not specify that a whistleblower must have direct knowledge to make a complaint. Furthermore, the statement says, “The whistleblower stated on the form that he or she possessed both first-hand and other information.” No specific date was given for when the original form was altered.

The questions are these: