Whistleblower had 'political bias' against President Trump in favor of 'rival candidate,' according to intel IG document: report

The White House is preparing to release a document showing that intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson discovered that the whistleblower who lodged a complaint against President Donald Trump had "political bias" in favor of a "rival candidate."

Fox News reported the development late Tuesday, citing senior Trump administration officials with direct knowledge of the document. The officials did not disclose which presidential candidate the whistleblower favors.

From Fox News:

The senior administration official told Fox News that the White House had nothing to hide, that there has been no wrongdoing, and that the White House's general position has been that it will make everything possible available to Congress or the public regarding Trump's conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the complaint to the intelligence community's inspector general.

A senior administration official told Fox News there are a "few words" in the transcript that will raise eyebrows, but it is nowhere near as inflammatory as Democrats have suggested.

The development is significant because the whistleblower complaint, involving Trump's July phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky among possibly other concerns, has become the central tenant of Democrats' "impeachment inquiry" against the president.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accused Trump of violating the Constitution in announcing the inquiry Tuesday. "The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution," she said.

In response, the White House said they would release a transcript of Trump's conversation with Zelensky, Atkinson's report, and the whistleblower complaint — so long as such disclosures do not violate the law.

However, numerous reports suggest the documents, especially the phone call transcript, will be underwhelming.

The controversy stems primarily from allegations that Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden. Democrats allege Trump's intentions were to somehow sway the 2020 election.

However, Ukraine denies that Trump pressured their president.

The controversy reached a fevered pitch last week after the Washington Post reported that Atkinson classified the whistleblower complaint as an "urgent concern," meaning it legally needed to be shared with Congress.

But Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire disagreed the document met the legal definition of "urgent concern," and therefore did not need to be fully disclosed to lawmakers. Democrats framed the decision as Trump's administration withholding vital national security information from Congress.

Despite the whistleblower's bias against Trump, the Justice Department said in a memo Wednesday the accusations remained "credible.

This story has been updated to add information about the Justice Departmement's memo.