Washington • The Democratic head of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam B. Schiff of California, learned about the outlines of a CIA officer’s concerns that President Donald Trump had abused his power days before the officer filed a whistleblower complaint, according to a spokesman and current and former American officials.
The early account by the future whistleblower shows how determined he was to make known his allegations that Trump asked Ukraine’s government to interfere on his behalf in the 2020 election. It also explains how Schiff knew to press for the complaint when the Trump administration initially blocked lawmakers from seeing it.