Trump lashes out at whistleblower and renews attack on House intelligence chair
USA - Lawyers acting for the whistleblower at the centre of the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump’s attempts to solicit foreign help for his re-election campaign have warned that their client’s personal safety is in danger, partly as a result of the president’s remarks. After they did so, Trump continued to attack the whistleblower on Twitter and also suggested the chair of the House intelligence committee be arrested for treason. Andrew Bakaj, the lead attorney for the unnamed intelligence official who sounded the alarm about Trump’s conduct relating to Ukraine, expressed fears on Sunday that the whistleblower could be put “in harm’s way” if his or her identity were made public.
In a letter to the acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire, Bakaj pointed directly at Trump’s aggressive statements that he said prompted “concerns for our client’s safety”. The letter, first reported by 60 Minutes on CBS News, quotes Trump’s comments on Thursday to staff at the US mission to the UN in New York. In his remarks, made behind closed doors but reported by the New York Times, the president made a thinly-veiled threat that showed disdain for the institutional protections afforded to whistleblowers under federal law.
“I want to know who’s the person who gave the whistle-blower the information because that’s close to a spy,” Trump said. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? With spies and treason, right? We used to handle them a little differently than we do now.” Bakaj said the indirect nature of Trump’s comment in referring to the person who fed the whistleblower the information “does nothing to assuage our concerns for our client’s safety”. The lawyer added that individuals were also offering $50,000 rewards for information that would out the intelligence official. In an accompanying letter to senior Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate, Bakaj made an impassioned plea to the political leadership of both parties to “speak out in favor of whistleblower protection”.
(The Guardian)