Kevyn wrote:
There is nothing to defend, an employee recognized wrongdoing and followed the proper procedure to report it and did. He did his duty to his nation, his duty to justice and his duty to the office of President.
I disagree. It does not pass the "smell test".
Between the time of Trump's July 25 phone call and the August "whistleblower complaint", "the US intelligence community quietly eliminated a requirement that whistleblowers must provide first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings".
"A previous version of the document provided by the ICIG and DNI until recently declared that whistleblower complaints must only contain first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoing - and made clear that hearsay, gossip or rumor would be rejected.
"The [Intelligence Community Inspector General] cannot transmit information via the ICPWA based on an employee’s second-hand knowledge of wrongdoing," reads the prior version of the form, which contains the bolded heading: "FIRST-HAND INFORMATION REQUIRED," and "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 concludes."
To me, it certainly appears that someone in the intelligence community made this change in policy and procedure to trigger the controversy on the issue of this complaint being required to be reported to congress.
Is it logical to rely on "repeated references to what anonymous officials allegedly told the complainant"?
Does this sound like a logical and responsible change in policy? No, it was designed to create a problem for the Trump administration, while ignoring real and actual evidence of corruption by Joe and Hunter Biden.