Longtime U.S. intelligence official Fred Fleitz has accused the “so-called whistleblower” who complained about President Donald Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president of “pursuing a political agenda.”
In an opinion piece published by The New York Post on Thursday, Fleitz, the former chief of staff of the National Security Council, wrote that he is “troubled by the complaint,” which was recently declassified, “and wonder[s] how an intelligence officer could file it over something a president said to a foreign leader. How could this be an intelligence matter?”
Fleitz questions the “legalistic” references in the complaint, and notes that “such an extremely polished whistleblowing complaint is unheard of,” and proposes that the writer might have had help “from congressional members or staff.”
He goes on to claim “it looks like more than a coincidence” that Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., tweeted a complaint about Trump’s using aid to Ukraine to hurt former Vice President Joe Biden about a month ago.
“Also very concerning to me is how the complaint indicates intelligence officers and possibly other federal employees are violating the rules governing presidential phone calls with foreign leaders,” Fleitz adds.
“The content and transcripts of these calls are highly restricted. The whistleblower makes clear in his complaint that he did not listen to a call in question, nor did he read the transcript — he was told about the call by others. If true, intelligence officers have grossly violated the rules as well as the trust placed on them to protect this sensitive information.”