Are whistleblowers protected from the president?

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The Washington Post

News, True Crime, Politics

4.1 • 4.6K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2019

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

President Trump’s targeted effort to discredit, and reveal the name of, a government employee raises questions about legal protections for whistleblowers -- and the repercussions for whoever might disclose his or her identity to the public.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The fast-moving impeachment inquiry into President Trump moves forward in Washington.
0:05.4	Here are some developments so far this week to keep you up to speed.
0:10.8	House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made clear that the impeachment inquiry will focus narrowly on Trump's interaction with Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky
0:20.0	and Trump's alleged abuse of power in asking a foreign government to provide dirt on a political rival.
0:26.4	Pelosi has put House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff in charge.
0:31.2	Another thing that happened, you might remember that the Justice Department, led by Attorney General William Barr,
0:37.2	has been reviewing U.S. intelligence work surrounding the 2016 election and its aftermath.
0:42.8	Trump has hoped that investigation would discredit the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia tried to help his campaign.
0:50.8	Well, the Washington Post reported Monday that Barr had private overseas meetings with foreign intelligence officials,
0:58.0	trying to get some help with that investigation.
1:00.8	His personal involvement stoked criticism from Democrats that Barr is helping Trump use executive branch powers
1:07.4	to boost investigations aimed primarily at the president's adversaries.
1:12.6	Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's role in the Ukraine investigation broadened
1:18.0	after reports that he was on a July 25th phone call between Trump and Zelensky.
1:22.8	As part of the impeachment inquiry, the House Foreign Affairs Committee had requested several State Department officials
1:28.8	appear for depositions this week.
1:31.2	Tuesday, though, Pompeo wrote a fiery letter to the committee chair saying those officials would not be made available
1:39.2	until, quote, we obtain further clarity on these matters.
1:43.6	Each of these news moments happened alongside Trump's intensifying public campaign against the anonymous whistleblower
1:52.8	who wrote the initial complaint that set this whole process in motion.
1:59.6	Trump has led his own defense effort on Twitter suggesting the whistleblower is a fraud, questioning the person's credibility
2:07.2	and calling for his or her identity to be revealed.
	...

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