(CNN) Justice Department national security lawyers were first alerted to the whistleblower complaint regarding President Donald Trump's conduct involving Ukraine more than a week before the formal referral, officials briefed on the matter told CNN on Thursday.

The general counsel for one of the intelligence agencies alerted the national security division at Justice Department on August 14, as required under the agency's rules, that they had received a complaint from an employee, the officials said. The New York Times was first to report the origin of the complaint.

The earlier disclosure of the complaint to the administration will likely raise more questions about the handling of the complaint and efforts by the administration to block Congress from seeing its details.

Justice officials were told the complaint had to do with Trump's July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The White House was also made aware of the complaint before the formal referral, according to The New York Times

Justice Department lawyers went to the White House to review the transcript of the call. They then alerted officials at the Justice Criminal Division and the Deputy Attorney General's Office that Attorney General William Barr was mentioned on the call. Barr was informed later that his name was mentioned.

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