Interview sought
A source says the FBI asked to talk with the whistleblower who sparked the inquiry
WASHINGTON — The FBI last month requested an interview with the whistleblower whose complaint fueled the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and Ukraine, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
An agent from the FBI’S Washington field office reached out to the whistleblower’s lawyers last month to seek an interview about the substance of the complaint, according to the person, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the request with
The Associated Press.
The person said it was clear from the FBI that the whistleblower was not regarded as the target of any investigation but rather a potential witness. It was not immediately clear what specifically the FBI might be looking into.
The requested interview has not taken place.
An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment on the request, which was first reported by Yahoo News.
The whistleblower filed a complaint Aug. 12 about Trump’s phone call weeks earlier with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Realclearinvestigations in October published the name of the person they believe is most likely the whistleblower: 33-year-old Eric Ciaramella, a CIA analyst.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY., named Ciaramella during a Wednesday interview on a Washington-based radio station and said he should be brought in to testify in the impeachment hearings to clarify whether he is indeed the whistleblower.