The week after the call, the officer delivered a somewhat broad accusation anonymously to the C.I.A.'s general counsel,
Courtney Simmons Ellwood, according to multiple people familiar with the events. The initial allegations reported only that serious questions existed about a phone call between Mr. Trump and a foreign leader.
As required by government policy, Ms. Ellwood began to try to assess whether a "reasonable basis" for the accusation existed. During the preliminary inquiry, Ms. Ellwood and a career C.I.A. lawyer learned that multiple people had raised concerns about Mr. Trump's call.
