A former staffer for Rep. Devin Nunes Devin Gerald NunesOvernight Defense: Stopgap spending measure awaits Senate vote | Trump nominates former Nunes aide for intelligence community watchdog | Trump extends ban on racial discrimination training to contractors, military Trump nominates former Nunes aide to serve as intel community inspector general Sunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election MORE (R-Calif.) who joined the White House in February was reportedly so deeply involved in feeding President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE negative information about Ukraine that Trump thought he was in charge of the nation's portfolio at the National Security Council (NSC).

Politico reported Wednesday that Kashyap Patel, a former aide to Nunes whom The New York Times previously reported was the author of a memo released by House Republicans accusing federal intelligence officials of harboring a bias against the president, was among those who influenced Trump's beliefs that Kiev is rife with corruption and interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of the Democrats.

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Politico's report is based on an account of House impeachment inquiry testimony from Fiona Hill, the president's former top adviser on affairs in former Soviet countries including Ukraine.

The news is the first confirmation of support for Trump's aggressive Ukraine policy from a member of the NSC, and comes as the former national security adviser, John Bolton John BoltonJudge appears skeptical of Bolton's defense of publishing book without White House approval Maximum pressure is keeping US troops in Iraq and Syria Woodward book trails Bolton, Mary Trump in first-week sales MORE, reportedly instructed officials involved in back-channel deals with Kiev to inform White House lawyers.

“If true, this sort of activity seems wildly outside the scope of anything a counterterrorism senior director at NSC should be spending their time on,” said Josh Gelzer, who held Patel's position on the NSC previously, according to Politico. “What’s more, it politicizes a piece of the NSC staff that administrations of both parties have worked for decades to keep as apolitical as possible.”

The White House did not immediately answer a request for more information on Patel's role, while a spokesman for Nunes told The Hill in response to questions about Patel's work for the congressman: "Fake news never sleeps."

Trump's alleged effort to get Ukraine to investigate his political rivals is at the center of House Democrats' impeachment effort.