Members of the media expressed outrage Wednesday after Donald Trump, Jr. tweeted about a Breitbart News article whose headline included the alleged name of the whistleblower behind House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry — despite the fact that the name has been public for weeks now.
In a report last week, RealClearInvestigations claimed that CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella is the alleged “whistleblower” whose complaint forms the basis of the impeachment inquiry, although various sources had been speculating about Ciaramella for weeks prior to that.
From RealClearInvestigations’ report:
“[Ciaramella] was moved over to the front office” to temporarily fill a vacancy, said a former White House official, where he “saw everything, read everything.”
The official added that it soon became clear among NSC staff that Ciaramella opposed the new Republican president’s foreign policies. “My recollection of Eric is that he was very smart and very passionate, particularly about Ukraine and Russia. That was his thing – Ukraine,” he said. “He didn’t exactly hide his passion with respect to what he thought was the right thing to do with Ukraine and Russia, and his views were at odds with the president’s policies.”
“So I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the whistleblower,” the official said.
As noted by Breitbart, Ciaramella worked closely with individuals who were involved with the infamous anti-Trump dossier produced by Fusion GPS and allegedly paid for by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
Donald Trump, Jr. shared the article on Twitter, remarking “Because of course he did!!!”
Because of course he did!!!
Alleged ‘Whistleblower’ Eric Ciaramella Worked Closely with Anti-Trump Dossier Hoaxer https://t.co/v5kDe0X62u
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 6, 2019
The tweet instantly provoked condemnation from President Trump’s detractors.
“Ciaramella’s name has been tweeted out by Trump supporters repeatedly in the past month. But now, for the first time, the president’s eldest son has tweeted out an article with his name,” wrote journalist Yashar Ali in a tweet that has since been deleted.
“Ciaramella, according to 3 sources, is indeed the whistleblower,” Ali added, strangely giving further credibility to the belief that Ciaramella is the whistleblower despite the journalist’s argument that the whistleblower’s identity should not be made public.
Commentator Yossi Gestetner called Ali out on his strange rebuke of the president’s son.
BREAKING! @yashar outs the Whistleblower as Eric Ciaramella. Yashar tweeted that 3 sources confirmed this info to him.
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) November 6, 2019
The younger Trump himself replied to the journalist’s censure.
I love the outrage about me tweeting an article about the “alleged” whistleblower… also good to know you have other sources confirming.
Those thinking I coordinated with The White House to tweet out a @BreitbartNews article haven’t been watching my feed much. Didn’t happen! https://t.co/CEOZBmcX4p
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 6, 2019
But Ali wasn’t alone. Other public figures were quick to pile on Trump.
1/WB NEWS ALERT:https://t.co/N28BVKvk6i
Statement of November 6, 2019, Concerning the Suspected Identity of the Whistleblower
Identifying any suspected name for the whistleblower will place that individual and their family at risk of serious harm.
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) 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
Publicly naming a whistleblower doesn’t harm just the person who came forward, it’s intimidation to prevent others from doing so. Trump claims Ukraine was about preventing public corruption, but now campaigns to intimidate witnesses who might bring public corruption to light here https://t.co/sHYoOteVsf
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) November 6, 2019
Remember when trump told us his sons would not be involved in politics and then they went on fox every godddamn night and junior outed a lawfully protected whistleblower?
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) November 6, 2019
How is illegally circulating the name of someone protected by whistleblower laws, thus putting them at risk, not a violation of Twitter rules, @jack? Anyone who did that should be immediately banned. They should also be prosecuted & if your rules permit it, so should you.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) November 6, 2019
Trump’s now apparently successful effort to expose the identity of the whistleblower is a dangerous and chilling abuse of power intended to silence others who patriotically report evidence of his corruption. Regardless, the already substantiated facts against him are damning.
— Evan McMullin (@EvanMcMullin) November 6, 2019
Senator Dianne Feinstein even released a statement excoriating “attempts by the president and congressional Republicans to publicly identify the whistleblower.”
“The demand to reveal this whistleblower are purely punitive — clear retaliation for having brought wrongdoing to light,” the senator continued. “I urge my House and Senate colleagues to protect this whistleblower as they would any other.”
As Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told reporters, “There is no law preventing anybody from saying the [whistleblower’s] name.”
“There’s nothing that prevents me from saying it now,” Paul said on Fox News this week. Despite this, the media is going out of its way to avoid naming Ciaramella as the alleged leaker.
That includes Fox News, whose management has reportedly forbidden network hosts from using Ciaramella’s name. The order extends to some of the network’s most popular on-air personalities, such as Sean Hannity. Last Friday, Jeanine Pirro, host of Justice With Judge Jeanine, told viewers that she and other employees “apparently can’t say Ciaramella’s name.”
“You know what, I will play the game for a little bit,” Hannity told his viewers on Monday. “I will take the lawyers’ threats that they’re going to sue me; it wouldn’t go anywhere.”
As TNA has reported, Ciaramella is an anti-Trump zealot who will say or do anything to get President Trump impeached: He previously pushed the discredited conspiracy theory that Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed President Trump to fire former FBI Director James Comey.
And his choice of a lawyer is instructive: The whistleblower’s attorney, Mark Zaid, tweeted in January of 2017, ““#coup has started. First of many steps. #rebellion. #impeachment will follow ultimately.”
Image of Donald Trump. Jr.: Screenshot of Fox News Channel video
Luis Miguel is a writer whose journalistic endeavors shed light on the Deep State, the immigration crisis, and the enemies of freedom. Follow his exploits on Facebook, Twitter, Bitchute, and at luisantoniomiguel.com.