The attempt to discover the identity of the whistleblower who alleges President Donald Trump withheld military aid in exchange for a personal favor from Ukrainian officials undermines a critical element of our democracy.
By law, federal employees who anonymously report what they suspect are misdeeds by their superiors are afforded the protection of anonymity and from retribution. Examples of such reports include suspicion of abuse of authority or illegal or unethical activity such as fraud or wasteful spending.
The protections are widely used, though usually on a much smaller scale. For 2017 and 2018, more than 3,300 reports were made.
In the vast majority of cases, those who come forward are concerned citizens.
Forever in our memory is the 1968 whistleblower A. Ernest Fitzgerald, an engineer who blew the lid off the Pentagon by revealing budgets that included $450 hammers, $640 toilet seats and $7,600 coffee pots.
WHAT WE KNOW of this whistleblowers report though much has been redacted by White House officials is that he considered Mr. Trumps request of Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden as not only an abuse of his position as president but also an act that would jeopardize U.S. relations with Ukraine.
To the first point, it is not a perk of the presidency to ask a foreign power to investigate your political opponent. In fact, its illegal.
As for the second, its terrible foreign policy.
In the case with Ukraine, it seems Mr. Trump was withholding military aid as well as a private meeting in return for its digging up dirt on Biden. Thats shoddy statesmanship.
We also dont want Ukraine, Russia or China to look into Mr. Trumps political opponents or to chase down the widely debunked theory that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered with the 2016 election.
We have proof it was Russia. End of story.
Furthermore, if a country offers to help with our election system, it is solely with the purpose to further its own interests. China and Russia do not want democracy, and that of the United States in particular, to succeed.
Creating an opportunity for another country to undermine our democracy is exactly the kind of high crimes and misdemeanors, the framers of the U.S. Constitution had in mind in justifying a presidents removal from office.
MR. TRUMPS relentless efforts to discover the identity of the whistleblower and his thinly veiled threats once hes found show his disrespect for institutional protections afforded to whistleblowers.
