Agence France-Presse reports:
President Donald Trump’s son published on Wednesday the name of the alleged anonymous whistleblower whose complaint fired the impeachment inquiry against Trump, breaking strict conventions for protecting officials who reveal wrongdoing in government.
Amid calls by the president himself to expose the whistleblower, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted the name of a CIA analyst which has circulated online for weeks, and linked to a Breitbart news article implying the person was pro-Democrat and anti-Trump.
AFP could not independently verify the whistleblower’s identity and is not publishing the name. But the revelation by the president’s son comes as the White House seeks to discredit the mounting impeachment effort in Congress against Trump, painting it as driven by politics.
The White House says the president nor any senior administration official was aware in advance that the president’s eldest son was going to tweet out the name of the alleged whistleblower.
I’ve also asked if they approve of his decision to do so.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) November 6, 2019
2. “The outrage on this is BS. And those pretending that I would coordinate with The White House to send out a Breitbart link haven’t been watching my feed for a long time,” Don Jr tells me via text-message in response to questions about his tweet.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) November 6, 2019
The entire media is #Triggered that I (a private citizen) tweeted out a story naming the alleged whistleblower. Are they going to pretend that his name hasn’t been in the public domain for weeks now? Numerous people & news outlets including Real Clear Politics already ID’d him. https://t.co/bcamyTaXP3
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 6, 2019
To the thugs tweeting out the name of a purported whistleblower: This may or may not be the whistleblower, but you are endangering the safety of every member of this person's family. This sort of intimidation tactic is for broken authoritarian countries and the mob. Shame on you!
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) November 6, 2019
Shocking. @DonaldJTrumpJr today tweeted out the name of alleged whistleblower. They just don't care about the laws, rules, norms. Hoping someday America will return to some sense of normal.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) November 6, 2019