So much for two whistleblowers. There are now at least three.
Over the past twenty-four hours we’ve seen the phrase “second whistleblower” used so frequently, both in the headlines and on social media, that Donald Trump even saw fit to go on the attack against this “second whistleblower.” Here’s the thing, though. There aren’t two whistleblowers. There are at least three – and there may actually be more than that.
The big headline is that a second whistleblower has come forward with knowledge of Donald Trump’s Ukraine scandal. This is important, because this whistleblower can corroborate what the other whistleblower said, and because this person reportedly has first hand knowledge of Trump’s actions.
But there is also a whistleblower in the Treasury Department who is alleging wrongdoing in the department’s effort to bury Donald Trump’s tax returns. This whistleblower complaint isn’t yet public, but it’s been seen by the relevant House and Senate committee chairs, and it’s serious enough that the Treasury Department Inspector General is reportedly investigating Steve Mnuchin over it. Considering how far Trump has gone to try to keep his tax returns a secret, this could end up being a bigger deal than the Ukraine scandal.
So this means we have three known whistleblowers who have gone so far as to file a complaint and bring it to the Inspector General in their department. But these are just the ones we know about. Keep in mind that we didn’t know about the first whistleblower until several weeks after the complaint was filed. It’s entirely possible, and frankly probable, that there are more than three whistleblowers, and the additional whistleblowers’ complaints just haven’t become public knowledge yet.
