Impeachment whistleblower 'raised $227,000 on GoFundMe'

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The anonymous whistleblower whose complaint based on second-hand information is at the center of the Democrats impeachment investigation faces a complaint accusing him of soliciting money on the web.

Fox News reported the complaint was filed anonymously with the Intelligence Community inspector general, Michael Atkinson.

The anonymous whistleblower, reported by RealClearInvestigations to be career CIA employee Eric Ciaramella, is accused of violating federal law by indirectly soliciting about a quarter million dollars from mostly anonymous donors on a GoFundMe account.

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Fox News said it obtained a copy if the complaint, which was filed last week. It alleges the donations from about 6,000 individuals "clearly constitute" gifts to a current intelligence official that may be restricted by law because of the employee's official position.

So far, the GoFundMe account has raised more than $227,000, Fox News reported.

In addition, some of the donations may have come from prohibited sources, the complaint says, so the inspector general is being asked to look into whether any "foreign citizen or agent of a foreign government" contributed.

The identity of the new whistleblower is being guarded by the legal team at Tully Rinckey of New York.

Fox News said it was told the person "is the holder of a top-secret SCI security clearance and has served in government."

Spokesman Anthony Gallo of the law firm said his client's only interest "is to see the government ethics rules are being complied with government-wide."

The social media fundraising was set up by lawyers for the whistleblower who brought the complaint against the president.

The fundraising page states: "A U.S. intelligence officer ... needs your help" in the form of money.

Fox News said it reached out to lawyer Mark Zaid but got no response.

The Office of Government Ethics warned federal government employees earlier this year that they "may not accept any gift given because of the employee's official position," Fox News said, meaning the gift would "not have been given had the employee not held the status, authority, or duties associated with the employee's federal position."

There also have been warnings about "prohibited sources."

Fox News said: "The new ICIG complaint alleged that the donations through the GoFundMe page indeed constitute a 'gift' for a federal employee, and that they were made due to the whistleblower's official 'status, authority or duties.' It further alleged that the whistleblower and his legal team appeared to be exploiting their access to classified information."

Gallo wrote in the letter: "[M]y client believes ... that the federal employee you are protecting and their attorneys apparently have strategically weaponized their alleged whistleblowing activities into a very lucrative money-making enterprise using a charity incorporated under a different name than the trade name it is using for fund-raising purposes, which would appear to my client to be a clear abuse of the federal employee's authority and access to classified information."