Trump Says Whistleblower 'Almost a Spy'

President Donald Trump lashed out at the whistle-blower complaint that’s fueling a congressional impeachment probe and suggested that passing along allegations that he committed wrongdoing was tantamount to treason.

Speaking Thursday behind closed doors to diplomats at the U.S. mission to the United Nations in New York, Trump faulted the whistle-blower for relaying second-hand information about the president’s July phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. A recording of the comments was posted online by the Los Angeles Times.

“Basically, that person never saw the report, never saw the call, he never saw the call, heard something and decided that he or she, or whoever the hell they saw -- they’re almost a spy,” Trump said of the whistle-blower.

He demanded to know the identity of the whistle-blower’s sources. “Who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information -- because that’s close to a spy,” he said. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”