GOP Lawmakers Are Reportedly Fighting For The Release Of Ukraine Whistleblower’s Identity
While President Donald Trump wages a defensive battle against a House Democrat-led impeachment investigation into his dealings with Ukraine, the president’s top allies in the halls of Congress are reportedly quietly making a push to reveal the anonymous whistleblower’s identity.
According to The Hill, Republicans argue that knowing the identity of the individual who essentially sparked the impeachment inquiry launched by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will allow the president the opportunity to face his accuser. It would give Republicans the ability to find out any political biases or motives the individual may or may not have had when they filed the official complaint.
But Democrats have a far different view of outing the whistleblower, arguing that not only could that place the individual in actual danger but that Republicans’ attempts to determine who it is are a violation of U.S. law.
“The president’s allies would like nothing better than to help the president out this whistleblower. Our committee will not be a part of that,” House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff recently said.
“They have the right to remain anonymous. They certainly should not be subject to these kinds of vicious attacks.”
Reportedly, The Washington Post revealed that unnamed Republican lawmakers have asked questions within the closed-door depositions of witnesses in the impeachment investigation that Democrats have interpreted as a means to identify the anonymous whistleblower.
Republicans have already reportedly dialed in on an individual they believe could possibly be the whistleblower. The Hill and other media outlets appear to know who that person is, though they’ve stated that it’s generally against their policy to name such an individual.
As The Hill indicated, there are no laws that prohibit the president or members of Congress in naming the whistleblower with the exception of that person being a covert agent within the intelligence community.
“The whistleblower statute never required for anonymity,” GOP Rep. Mark Meadows said. Meadows is one of the lawmakers who has been behind the closed-door depositions.
The battle between House Democrats, Trump, and his allies will likely become more intense in the coming weeks, as Democrats plan to hold open, and even televised, public hearings of various witnesses in the impeachment inquiry investigation.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Trump’s White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham recently indicated that the administration is expecting an impeachment of the president.
“We are still obviously hopeful everybody will come to their senses and realize the president did nothing wrong. But we are prepared for an impeachment to happen,” Grisham said on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom on Friday.
