whistleblower has a right under laws championed by this Committee to remain anonymous and to be protected from harm.
The impeachment inquiry, moreover, has gathered an ever-growing body of evidence—from witnesses and documents, including the President's own words in his July 25 call record—that not only confirms, but far exceeds, the initial information in the whistleblower's complaint. The whistleblower's testimony is therefore redundant and unnecessary. In light of the President's threats, the individual's appearance before us would only place their personal safety at grave risk.435
Until President Trump's attacks on the whistleblower, Republicans and Democrats were united in protecting whistleblowers' right to report abuses of power and be free from retaliation.436 For example, Ranking Member Nunes, serving in 2017 as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, spoke in defense of whistleblowers, stating: "We want people to come forward and we will protect the identity of those people at all cost."437 He also stated:
As you know, and I've said this several times, we don't talk about sources at this committee. ... The good thing is, is that we have continued to have people come forward, voluntarily, to this committee and we want to continue that and I will tell you that that will not happen if we tell you who our sources are and people that come—come to the committee.438
Other Republican Members of Congress have opposed efforts to expose the whistleblower. For example, Senator Charles Grassley stated:
This person appears to have followed the whistleblower protection laws and ought to be heard out and protected. We should always work to respect whistleblowers' requests for confidentiality. Any further media reports on the whistleblower's identity don't serve the public interest—even if the conflict sells more papers or attracts clicks.439
Senator Richard Burr, the Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, affirmed that he would "never" want the identity of the whistleblower revealed and stated, "We protect whistleblowers. We protect witnesses in our committee."440
Senator Mitt Romney also called for support of the whistleblower's rights, stating: "[W]histleblowers should be entitled to confidentiality and privacy, because they play a vital function in our democracy."441
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