NBC reporter Ken Dilanian revealed a conversation he had with a former CIA officer about the recent revelations that President Donald Trump made a promise so extreme that an intelligence officer filed a whistleblower complaint.
"This is galloping your horse over the cliff with a guidon streaming. You can only do it once; you are finished however it turns out, so it had better be worth it. I suspect it is," Dilanian quoted the CIA officer.
He repeated the moment during his appearance on MSNBC Thursday, noting that he hasn't gone as far as The Washington Post reports saying that the person overheard a promise or learned about the promise that Trump made to a foreign leader.
"What I can tell you is that it’s absolutely extraordinary for this to have happened," he explained. "Intelligence officers who are detailed to the National Security Council are privy to all sorts of secrets. They see things they disagree with. They are nonpolitical. They don’t file complaints because Donald Trump did something they didn’t like."
He went on to cite the source, who warned it was a "career-risking move."
"One of my sources said this is galloping off a cliff with your flag flying, you only do it once, your career is over once it’s done," Dilanian continued. "They’re saying they’re going to protect the identity of this whistleblower, [but] many people inside the White House will quickly know who it was. So, it must have been something so outrageous to this person to file this complaint up the chain knowing that eventually, something like this would happen. The intent was to get this to Congress. Of course, the director of national intelligence is taking the position that Congress is not entitled to it and the question right now is whose decision was that really? Donald Trump’s? Bill Barr, the Attorney general or Joe Maguire, the acting DNI?"
Watch his full comments below: