US President Donald Trump’s second whistle-blower, a federal employee from the IRS, remains a mystery

Democrats disclosed the existence of a whistle-blower as part of their lawsuit seeking US President Donald Trump’s tax returns.

Reading Time:4 minutes

Published: 3:19pm, 10 Oct 2019Updated: 3:54am, 24 Oct 2019

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Brian Faler on politico.com on October 9, 2019.

The Ukraine whistle-blower has turned Washington upside down, but the information dished by the Democrats’ other whistle-blower – the one at the IRS – remains a mystery.

Democrats, who disclosed the existence of the whistle-blower as part of their lawsuit seeking US President Donald Trump’s tax returns, have been vague about what the person is alleging, beyond that someone in the administration may have tried to interfere with an audit of either Trump’s or Vice-President Mike Pence’s tax return. Those audits are automatic for sitting presidents and vice-presidents.

In a court filing, Democrats said they were first approached in July by a federal employee “setting forth credible allegations of ‘evidence of possible misconduct’ – specifically, potential ‘inappropriate efforts to influence’ the mandatory audit programme”.

They did not offer additional details, though lawyers for the House said they could tell the judge more in private.

The Washington Post reported that in his complaint, the whistle-blower said he was told that at least one Treasury official had attempted to improperly influence the IRS examination. The person declined to discuss specifics in an interview with the Post.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x