Whistleblower’s Lawyers Agree Their Client’s Testimony Is Now Irrelevant

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 11: The US flag is visible on the House side of the U.S. Capitol building where Marie Louise Yovanovitch, former United States Ambassador to Ukraine, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, D... WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 11: The US flag is visible on the House side of the U.S. Capitol building where Marie Louise Yovanovitch, former United States Ambassador to Ukraine, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., October 11, 2019, to answer questions related to the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Yovanovitch spoke to lawmakers in a closed meeting. (Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

It seems House Democrats and the whistleblower’s lawyers are on the same page when it comes to whether the whistleblower who shed light on President Trump’s Ukraine scheme needs to testify.

In a Washington Post op-ed Friday, the whistleblower’s lawyers Andrew Bakaj and Mark Zaid wrote that although speculation of their client’s identity has only grown — noting how President Trump and his supporters have been on a crusade to expose the still-anonymous official — “the reality is that the identity of the whistleblower is irrelevant.”

Earlier Friday, the Post reported that Democrats now feel that the whistleblower’s initial complaint has become increasingly irrelevant amid the ongoing testimonies of Trump administration officials.

Bakaj and Zaid agreed with the Democrats’ sentiment, citing the White House-released memo of the now-infamous July call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the text messages provided to the House by former U.S. special representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker and the congressional testimonies by figures with knowledge of the circumstances that the whistleblower’s complaint first raised.

“Much of what has been disclosed since the release of our client’s complaint actually exceeds the whistleblower’s knowledge of what transpired at the time the complaint was submitted,” Bakaj and Zaid wrote. “Because our client has no additional information about the President’s call, there is no justification for exposing their identity and all the risks that would follow.”

Read Bakaj and Zaid’s op-ed in the Washington Post here.

Latest News
16
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Much to the Revanchist Trump’s frustration…since he cannot personally intimidate, threaten or belittle the WB who started his impeachiness!

  2. The whistleblower laid out the map for the Democrats to follow, and they have picked up a lot of information thanks to that. There is plenty more yet to come, especially of subpoenas are actually followed, and so far everything has supported the whistleblower report. It actually would be good to hear from them, if only to get more details on the shenanigans they witnessed in the WH, and we’ll get the Republicans screaming about the “secret with trial!” if they don’t come forward…but they have done their service to the nation and don’t need to live in fear of death by being exposed.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

10 more replies

Participants

Avatar for discobot Avatar for jackster Avatar for blandsten Avatar for george_spiggott Avatar for drriddle Avatar for hagarwood Avatar for midnight_rambler Avatar for noonm Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for maximus Avatar for billyjoe Avatar for seveneagles Avatar for kovie

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: