Trump: Naming Whistleblower Would Be 'Public Service'

'You know who it is,' he tells reporters
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 4, 2019 6:26 AM CST
Trump: Press Should Reveal Identity of Whistleblower
President Trump speaks to reporters upon arrival at the White House in Washington, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Trump is fond of attacking the press—but on Sunday, he asked the media to do something for him. The president, speaking to reporters outside the White House, urged them to name the whistleblower who reported his "perfecto" phone call with Ukraine's president, leading to the impeachment inquiry, Politico reports. He accused the media of knowing the whistleblower's identity but refusing to report it. "They know who it is. You know who it is. You just don't want to report it," he said. "CNN knows who it is, but you don't want to report it. And you know, you would be doing the public a service if you did." He later tweeted that the "Fake News Media" is "working hard" to make sure news of the whistleblower's identity "never reaches the Public."

Trump referred to reports that the whisteblower is a CIA agent, saying: "If he's the whistleblower, he has no credibility because he’s a Brennan guy, he's a Susan Rice guy, he’s an Obama guy. And he hates Trump." Andrew Bakaj, an attorney representing the whistleblower, tells the Hill that the administration's "fixation on exposing the whistleblower’s identity is simply because they’re at a loss as to how to address the investigations the underlying disclosure prompted." The Daily Beast reports that Trump also said Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who delivered what Democrats called "extremely disturbing" testimony on the Ukraine call, was a "Never Trumper." The president promised that evidence of his claim would be provided "real soon." (A lawyer for the whistleblower says his client is willing to answer questions from Republicans.)

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