President Donald Trump has never been one to shy away from a chance to flex his egomania. This past Monday, he tweeted about having signed the “Whistleblower Protection Act,” but the problem is — that’s the name of a law that’s been on the books since 1989. There’s another Whistleblower Protection Act on the books that relates to whistleblowers from the intelligence community, which is the context Trump was referring to — but that law has also been established for decades. It became the law of the land in 1998.
Trump was tweeting in reference to the whistleblower complaint that sparked the ongoing impeachment inquiry from House Democrats, who are investigating his plot to get Ukraine to produce dirt on the Bidens. That whistleblower filed their complaint under the provisions of the 1998 law, which does demand that such individuals be free from retaliation. Trump has brazenly ignored this provision and repeatedly proclaimed his disdain for the whistleblower and their sources, at least the latter of whom he suggested should be executed as spies — not an exaggeration.
During June of 2017, Trump did sign a whistleblower protection act into law, but it covered those reporting from inside the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has been plagued by accusations and stories of gross mismanagement. These issues have not ended following Trump’s legislation — suggesting that perhaps Trump should get his act together and address the tangible issues unfolding on his watch. He seems to prefer whining on Twitter about the predicaments he’s made for himself.
Meanwhile, the whistleblower protection office that Trump’s actual legislation established “took “troubling” actions, was confused about its mission and retaliated against those it was tasked to protect,” Stars and Stripes reports, based on a new report from the inspector general’s office overseeing the Department of Veterans Affairs.
They add:
‘The IG accused the former directors of the office, first Peter O’Rourke and then Kirk Nicholas, of “leadership failures” that led to “significant deficiencies” in how it operated… Investigators within the office also failed to send more serious allegations onto the inspector general or others, instead taking it upon themselves to investigate potential criminal matters, including possible felonies.’
The premise of Trump’s original tweet about the whistleblower in his case is flatly false. Although he’s lobbed accusations like espionage and treason and fraud at those involved in the case, there’s no evidence supporting any of those accusations. Instead, there is evidence supporting the whistleblower and their case as legitimate.
Still, Trump is railing on at almost every opportunity anyway. He posted on Twitter:
‘“This isn’t about Ukraine. This isn’t about Impeachment. This is about subverting Democracy!” @BillOReilly So true, and led by angry and dishonest people who hate themselves, and must hate our Country!’
Shortly before that, as public witness testimony in the probe approached, Trump added the lie:
‘Schiff is giving Republicans NO WITNESSES, NO LAWYER & NO DUE PROCESS! It is a totally one sided Witch Hunt. This can’t be making the Democrats look good. Such a farce!’
Republicans and the Trump administration have been invited to participate in the proceedings. They’re the ones who’ve come up short and failed to produce a reasonable defense.
