“I do not think the whistle blower statute was intended to cover indirect witnesses.”
Hearsay is not allowed in as evidence in any court of law in the United States. Maybe so in banana republics.
College campuses, where they run field trials on their schemes, and then take them national.
Rape allegations. What they did to Kavenaugh, has been going on for decades now. A mere accusation gets you kicked out of school. They will ruin anybody if given the chance.
Actually there are exceptions to the hearsay rules like dying declarations and raes gesti among a few others. Beyond that whistle blower activities are covered primarily by admin law albeit some violations can become criminal violations. The nonsense in this matter is evidence of a premeditated coup against the president and IMO should form the basis for
A grand jury probe into an obstruction of a lawful government function, conspiracy and fraud.
But Congress is not a court of law.