White House knew about the whistleblower immediately after finishing his call — despite legal safeguards: report

On Thursday, The New York Timesreported that the White House became aware of the anonymous whistleblower's complaint about President Donald Trump's call to the president of Ukraine shortly after the call took place.

This is despite the existence of legal safeguards that are supposed to allow whistleblowers to advance their complaints without the knowledge of people who could retaliate against them.

The whistleblower, who was revealed to be a CIA officer in a different Times story, discussed concerns about the president's attempt to extort dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, and the White House's improper use of classified storage procedures to keep these calls concealed, with the top lawyer at the CIA in addition to filing the whistleblower complaint.

Lawyers brought the matter to the Justice Department. Attorney General William Barr was made aware of the whistleblower but did not participate in discussions of how to proceed.