Did House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff have the inside details about the Trump whistleblower two weeks ago?

Earlier this month, the California Democrat announced a “wide-ranging investigation” into allegations President Trump was trying to pressure Ukraine’s government into aiding his reelection campaign.

Schiff ordered the investigation on Sept. 9, hours before he received the first of two letters from the intelligence community inspector general revealing the existence of a whistleblower complaint. Multiple news outlets reported this week that the complaint involved, at least in part, a phone conversation between Trump and recently elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Inspector General Michael K. Atkinson's letter didn't provide Schiff with the details, but some Republicans say they suspect Schiff knew them already and was orchestrating a headline-grabbing story from his perch on the intelligence panel.

Earlier on the day the Atkinson letter arrived, Schiff demanded the Trump administration turn over documents and correspondence related to Trump’s alleged attempts to get Ukraine government officials to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Included in his list was the transcript of Trump's July 25 call with Zelensky, which news reports say alarmed the whistleblower.

Schiff insisted to reporters Thursday that he doesn’t know the details of the complaint and accused the president of “trying to stifle whistleblower complaints" and blocking the information from reaching Congress.

Joseph Maguire, Trump’s acting director of national intelligence, is restricting Atkinson from providing any details about the complaint, Schiff charged after he and other intelligence panel members met privately Thursday with Atkinson.

But news reports soon emerged saying it involved the call with Zelensky and matched Schiff’s comments about the matter Sept. 9.

In a press release that day, Schiff announced an investigation by the intelligence, foreign affairs, and oversight panels into efforts by Trump and his attorney former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani to get Ukraine government officials to turn over information about Joe Biden, the leading Democratic presidential candidate.

Trump and Giuliani have been seeking data on Biden’s role, while he was vice president under Barack Obama, in pressuring the Ukraine government to fire a prosecutor targeting a Ukrainian gas company on whose board Biden’s son Hunter served.

“While his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani pressures Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 campaign, Trump withholds vital aid Ukraine needs to defend against Russia,” Schiff tweeted Sept. 9.

Schiff’s representative did not respond to a request for a comment about the fact the Ukraine investigation was ordered the same day Atkinson sent the letter about the whistleblower complaint.

The congressman contends he does not know the identity of the whistleblower or the nature of the complaint and has threatened to take the Trump administration to court to win access to the information.

Schiff’s announcement of the Ukraine investigation also followed a New York Times investigation into the matter.

In his Sept. 9 letter to White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Schiff demanded the Ukraine call transcript be turned over to the committee by Sept. 16, a deadline that passed without any cooperation from the White House.

Two days later, the first leaked whistleblower story appeared in the news.

[Also read: 'This crosses the line': Biden angrily accuses Trump of abusing power regarding Ukraine call]