House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) called Republican efforts to have the whistleblower testify in the impeachment inquiry “despicable.”
Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, and other Democrats are united around keeping the whistleblower’s identity shielded, an idea some Republicans have supported as well.
But others have called for the person who filed a complaint against President Donald Trump to either be identified or at least go before Congress to testify behind closed doors.
“There is no need for this whistleblower, period,” Hoyer told reporters on Wednesday, reported The Hill. “And every time Republicans continue to harp on the whistleblower is simply and solely and clearly an attempt to not only intimidate this whistleblower, but to intimidate others from coming forward. I think it’s despicable.”
Attorney Mark Zaid, right, speaks about Khalid Pitts and Diane Gross's unfair competition lawsuit, against President Donald Trump in Washington on March 9, 2017. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Trump has repeatedly said he wants to know the whistleblower’s identity and Republicans motioned on Wednesday to have the whistleblower testify to Congress.
Focus also shifted, in part, to one of the attorneys representing the whistleblower. Mark Zaid in 2017 called for a “coup” against Trump in missives on Twitter unearthed recently.
Zaid defended the tweets, saying, “Those tweets were reflective and repeated the sentiments of millions of people.”
After the press briefing on Wednesday, Hoyer took to Twitter to send several missives, including one that said, “I also told reporters that it is wrong and dangerous for the GOP to target the whistleblower, putting that person’s safety at risk and undermining future whistleblowers from coming forward.”
