Whistleblower’s Lawyer Sends WH Cease And Desist, Cites Endangerment Of Client

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting at the White House on October 21, 2019 in Washington,DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The whistleblower’s lawyer sent the White House a cease and desist letter Thursday, warning that the President’s constant stream of vitriol is putting his client in “physical danger.”

“I am writing to respectfully request that you counsel your client on the legal and ethical peril in which he is placing himself should anyone be physically harmed as a result of his, or his surrogates’, behavior,” attorney Andrew Bakaj wrote to White House counsel Pat Cipollone in a letter obtained by CNN.

Trump and other Republicans have been hammering the whistleblower lately, trying to distract from more damaging impeachment inquiry narratives by insisting that he has duplicitous reasons for keeping his identity a secret.

For Democrats, the whistleblower has been steadily losing relevance to their probe, as other witnesses with fewer concerns about being identified have corroborated the original complaint.

Latest News
49
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Trump and his regime’s consigliere are lawless. How will a cease and desist letter from a lawyer have any impact?

  2. That’s right! I entirely forgot about executive privilege for immunity of crimes committed when instructed by the President.

    I really want to mark this as snark, but you just know with these dangerous clowns that it’s only a matter of time.

  3. Ah, these things sure do take on a life of their own. It’s just like the “Who promoted Peress?” fad that broke out during the McCarthyism period.

  4. Avatar for pwmesq pwmesq says:

    I agree with the practical reality here, but the lawyer has got to do this for his client at the very least.

  5. When illegal actions cease to have lawful relevance - these actions then are tried in the court of public opinion.

    This is what we’re dealing with.

    No one - it seems - is ever going to pay a price for ignoring subpoenas or outing a whistleblower - therefore the payoff - tilting public opinion, managing the ‘narrative’ - is absolutely worth the so-called ‘risk’ of breaking the law.

    Back that up with a wink and a nod at a presidential pardon and it’s the “Wild West Whitehouse”.

    The ‘party of personal responsibility’ - has none. Just as they have no ‘family values’ and only ‘paper patriotism’. These fuckers have always ALWAYS viewed Orwell’s 1984 as an instruction manual, not a cautionary tale.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

43 more replies

Participants

Avatar for fess Avatar for butlerknights Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for losamigos Avatar for tacoma Avatar for lastroth Avatar for khaaannn Avatar for esperia Avatar for jtx Avatar for bankerpup Avatar for noonm Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for jmacaz Avatar for uneducated Avatar for michaelryerson Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for demosthenes59 Avatar for euglena4056 Avatar for enn Avatar for lanabill Avatar for pwmesq Avatar for randome Avatar for Akimbo

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: