Report: White House knew about whistleblower's allegations not long after Ukraine call

A week after President Trump's July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the person who ultimately filed a whistleblower complaint about the conversation anonymously told the CIA's top lawyer that the phone conversation raised serious questions, several people with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times on Thursday.

As soon as Courtney Simmons Ellwood, the CIA's general counsel, received the information, government policy required her to try to determine if there was "reasonable basis" for the accusation, the Times reports. During that time, she learned that multiple people were worried about the call, which involved Trump asking Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Ellwood went on to discuss the case with, among others, Deputy White House Counsel John Eisenberg, and they spoke with John Demers, head of the Justice Department's national security division, three people told the Times.

Eventually, Demers read a transcript of his conversation with Ellwood and Eisenberg to officials at the White House, and soon more Justice Department officials, including Attorney General William Barr, also became aware of the accusations, the Times reports. Once the whistleblower learned that the White House knew, he or she became concerned and didn't think the CIA was taking the matter seriously, resulting in the complaint being filed Aug. 12 with the intelligence community inspector general, two people with knowledge of the matter told the Times. Once a person files a whistleblower complaint, they are supposed to be protected against retaliation. Read more about the timeline at The New York Times.

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