On Wednesday, Zaid and Bakaj declined to confirm or deny in a statement to the Washington Examiner that Eric Ciaramella, 33, a career CIA analyst and former Ukraine director on the NSC, was the whistleblower after a report by RealClearInvestigations. -Washington Examiner
In September, House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, who lied about contacts with Ciaramella (and hired two Ciaramella associates as staffers) said that the whistleblower "would like to speak to our committee."
We have been informed by the whistleblower’s counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI as to how to do so.
We‘re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this week.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 24, 2019
Once Ciaramella's status as a CIA officer and his links to Biden emerged, however, Schiff backtracked. On October 13 he changed his tune, saying "Our primary interest right now is making sure that that person is protected."
Attorneys for Ukraine call whistleblower new statement on speculation about the intelligence community employee’s identity. pic.twitter.com/UdsmSQ226P
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) November 1, 2019
