Republicans abandon tradition of whistleblower protection at impeachment hearing

Efforts to out the Ukraine whistleblower could have a chilling effect, put U.S. security at risk, experts say

On Oct. 8, Alan Souza, the lead Republican lawyer on the House Intelligence Committee, wrote an email to Mark Zaid, the lawyer representing the person who first anonymously disclosed concerns that President Donald Trump was pressuring Ukraine for his own political gain.

In the email, Souza assured Zaid that the panel “always maintains the confidentiality of the whistleblower,” according to a reference to the email in a Nov. 6 letter to the committee from Zaid’s law firm that is reproduced on its website.

Souza’s message to Zaid was that the committee takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard the identity of people — like the Ukraine whistleblower — who choose to anonymously report alleged wrongdoing through official channels provided for in law.

View the complete November 19 article by John M. Donnelly on The Roll Call website here.

Jordan: Republicans to subpoena whistleblower to testify in public hearing

The Hill logoRepublicans intend to subpoena the government whistleblower to testify in the House’s impeachment investigation into President Trump‘s dealings with Ukraine, according to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

The effort is not likely to bear fruit, as Democrats have rejected the idea of outing the anonymous figure, citing safety concerns, and they have veto power over any GOP subpoena requests for witness testimony.

But Trump and his Republican allies in the Capitol have made the whistleblower a central part of their defense, casting doubts about the figure’s political motivations even as they readily acknowledge they don’t know the person’s identity.

View the complete November 7 article by Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.

White House claims it had no advance knowledge president’s son was about to out whistleblower

AlterNet logoDonald Trump Jr. Wednesday morning appears to have outed the whistleblower whose formal complaint against President Trump led directly to the start of a damning impeachment investigation. The president’s eldest son, who just began a tour to promote his new book that attacks the left, took to Twitter to engage in what some claim is an illegal act.

Trump Jr. posted a tweet linking to the website Breitbart, which used to be run by the president’s former campaign manager and former White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor.

The title of the article includes the name of the alleged whistleblower. NCRM will not publish that name nor will we link to tweets or articles that do.

View the complete November 6 article by David Badash from The New Civil Rights Movement on the AlterNet website here.