Ninety former US national security officials wrote a letter praising the anonymous whistleblower on Sunday. Within the last few weeks, the whistleblower made a complaint about President Donald Trump's communications with Ukraine which led House Democrats to begin an impeachment inquiry into Trump.Former officials from both Democratic and Republican administrations wrote, "While the identity of the whistleblower is not publicly known, we do know that he or she is an employee of the U.S. Government. As such, he or she has by law the right—and indeed the responsibility—to make known, through appropriate channels, indications of serious wrongdoing." The letter continued, "That is precisely what this whistleblower did; and we applaud the whistleblower not only for living up to that responsibility but also for using precisely the channels made available by federal law for raising such concerns." The signatories of the letter include former defense secretary Chuck Hagel, former CIA directors John Brennan and Michael Hayden and former director of national intelligence James Clapper. Now, the focus on the complaint has continued to amplify as another whistleblower comes out of the woodwork. Mark Zaid, the whistleblower's lawyer, said he will also be representing the second individual, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports the original whistleblowers claims. The whistleblowers claim that President Trump tried to leverage $400 million in aid to Ukraine secure a promise from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate a Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden, who served as a director on a Ukrainian energy company.The Trump administration has continuously tried to discredit the whistleblower, launching political attacks on the person - who is said to be a registered Democrat. Zaid has since written a letter to the chairman and members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees and acting director of National Intelligence expressing his extreme concerns for his client. "What's more, being a responsible whistleblower means that, by law, one is protected from certain egregious forms of retaliation. Whatever one's view of the matters discussed in the whistleblower's complaint, all Americans should be united in demanding that all branches of our government and all outlets of our media protect this whistleblower and his or her identity," the letter says.
"Simply put, he or she has done what our law demands; now he or she deserves our protection."
