Nunes had met his source for the information one day earlier at the White House grounds, with a spokesman for Nunes claiming this provided "a secure location" to view the material. Although Nunes had characterized his intelligence sources as whistle-blowers whose identities he had to protect, "The New York Times" reported that they were actually White House officials Ezra Cohen-Watnick and Michael Ellis, while "The Washington Post" reported that along with Cohen-Watnick and Ellis, a third man, National Security Council lawyer John Eisenberg, was involved.