Actually, it doesn’t. It’s silent on the subject of second hand information, so they just imputed that it’s OK. The regulations promulgated by the ICIG, to avoid chasing wild gooses, prohibited hearsay and rumor in reporting information. They changed both regulations and form without going through the required procedures for changing either. Both are required to go through certain steps before either can be altered, going through several layers of approval before being accepted, a several month long process. Atkinson changed both the regulations and the form in ad hoc in mid August to allow Eric Ciaramella to comply with the regulations and form in his complaint. Changing the forms ad hoc was beyond his authority.
However, even with new regulations and new form, the filing still did not meet the law because Ciaramella was filing the complaint against someone who was outside of the the Intelligence Community’s and therefore the ICIG’s jurisdiction. The ICIG just arrogated jurisdiction, even after both his and the DOJ told him he did not have jurisdiction, and sent the complaint to the Intelligence oversight committees of the House and Senate. That was beyond his authority.
Fair enough, I overstated it.
The law isn't specific but it doesn't prohibit hearsay.
The regulations promulgated by the ICIG, to avoid chasing wild gooses, prohibited hearsay and rumor in reporting information.
Funny, the ICIG said:
"...by law the Complainant – or any individual in the Intelligence Community who wants to report information with respect to an urgent concern to the congressional intelligence committees – need not possess first-hand information in order to file a complaint or information with respect to an urgent concern."
It's true that the ICIG had a rule that they wouldn't transmit a complaint to the DNI without first hand information, but that requirement was moot because the whistleblower stated on the form that he did have first hand information on some of the allegations.
Atkinson changed both the regulations and the form in ad hoc in mid August to allow Eric Ciaramella to comply with the regulations and form in his complaint.
That's not true.
"The Disclosure of Urgent Concern form the Complainant submitted on August 12, 2019 is the same form the ICIG has had in place since May 24, 2018, which went into effect before Inspector General Atkinson entered on duty as the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community on May 29, 2018..."
The whistleblower used the old form.
As the Trump-appointed ICIG said:
"In summary, regarding the instant matter, the whistleblower submitted the appropriate Disclosure of Urgent Concern form that was in effect as of August 12, 2019, and had been used by the ICIG since May 24, 2018. The whistleblower stated on the form that he or she possessed both first-hand and other information. The ICIG reviewed the information provided as well as other information gathered and determined that the complaint was both urgent and that it appeared credible."