President Donald Trump and various members of the Republican Party, including Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), have called on Democrats to reveal the Ukrainian whistleblower's identity. In fact, during a rally in Kentucky last week, Paul called on the media to print the whistleblower's name. Since then, members of Congress have debated whether or not the whistleblower should remain anonymous.
House Intelligence Committee Member Will Hurd (R-TX) broke from fellow Republicans and said the Ukrainian whistleblower's identity should be protected during a Sunday morning interview with Fox News's Chris Wallace.
“I think we should be protecting the identity of the whistleblower,” Hurd said. “I’ve said that from the very beginning, because how we treat this whistleblower will impact whistleblowers in the future.”
According to Hurd, having whistleblower protections is "an important checks and balances" on the federal government.
Instead of having the whistleblower's identity released, Hurd wants Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff to answer questions related to his interaction with the whistleblower before it was brought to Congress's attention.
“What was his engagement with the whistleblower before the information, the whistleblower’s allegations, were transmitted to Congress?” Hurd asked. “He has misled the American public earlier in the year on what he knew about or the contact he had with the whistleblower.”
The Congressman argued that if the whistleblower's identity is to be protected, Schiff needs to come forward and testify about his involvement.