Whistleblower lawyer sends cease-and-desist to White House over Trump’s attacks
Andrew Bakaj, one of the attorneys for the whistleblower whose report led to House Democrats’ impeachment proceedings, sent a cease-and-desist letter to White House counsel Pat Cipollone, telling President Trump to stop attacking his client, CNN reports.
“I am writing to respectfully request that you counsel your client on the legal and ethical peril in which he is placing himself should anyone be physically harmed as a result of his, or his surrogates’, behavior,” Bakaj wrote, adding that the president is “engaging in rhetoric and activity that places my client, the Intelligence Community Whistleblower, and their family in physical danger.”
{mosads}Since the public release of the whistleblower report, Trump has continuously attacked the whistleblower in an attempt to discredit what was said in the report.
The report alleges that Trump used the power of his office to solicit a political favor from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The partial transcript of Trump’s July 25 phone call with Zelensky shows that Trump pushed multiple times for Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden over business dealings in Ukraine.
Bakaj’s letter cites instances in which Trump told reporters that revealing the name of the whistleblower would “be doing the public a service,” the news network reports.
“These are not words of an individual with a firm grasp of the significance of the office which he occupies, nor a fundamental understanding of the significance of each word he articulates by virtue of occupying that office,” wrote Bakaj in his letter.
Bakaj continued: “Should anyone be physically harmed, my co-counsel, Mark Zaid, and I will not hesitate to take any and all appropriate action against your client.”
“Those who are complicit in this vindictive campaign against my client, whether through action or inaction, shall also be responsible, be that legally or morally,” the lawyer asserted.
The Hill reached has out to Bakaj and the White House for comment.
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