The New York Times has what it believes are new details regarding the identity of the whistleblower dominating the headlines this week. According to the Times' sources, the complainant is a male CIA officer who was at one point assigned to work at the White House.
The whistleblower's attorney, Mark S. Zaid, told the Times to cease and desist because it was putting his client in danger.
Whistle blower atty. Mark S. Zaid responds: "Publishing details about the whistleblower will only lead to identification of someone, whether our client or the wrong person, as the whistleblower. This will place this individual in a much more dangerous situation" https://t.co/NMCVZnTXZz
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) September 26, 2019
But, New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet is quoted in today's piece defending the outlet's "right" to publish the new information.
Dean Baquet, our executive editor, explains why we chose to publish the information about the whistle-blower https://t.co/5BtDXYpoiz pic.twitter.com/s0mZaivG3t
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 26, 2019
The whistleblower complaint, which was first reported last week, accused President Trump of trying to pressure the leader of Ukraine to look into his 2020 political rival, Joe Biden, during a July phone call. Rumor had it he threatened to withhold military aid from Ukraine if President Zelensky refused. The White House released the transcript of the call on Wednesday. While it did reveal that Trump asked about the Bidens' ties to Ukraine, it showed no evidence of quid pro quo. The House Intelligence Committee then released the complaint itself earlier today. In it, the whistleblower admits that he was not a direct witness to the events.