The lawyer for the Ukraine whistleblower has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the White House demanding that President Trump stop attacking him.
Attorney Andrew Bakaj sent the letter to White House counsel Pat Cipollone on Wednesday. Bakaj is representing the whistleblower who triggered a House impeachment investigation into President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. The whistleblower filed an anonymous complaint alleging that Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine to secure an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden for political purposes.
“I am writing out of deep concern that your client, the President of the United States, is engaging in rhetoric and activity that places my client, the Intelligence Community Whistleblower, and their family in physical danger,” Bakaj wrote.
“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 continued.
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY WHISTLEBLOWER MATTER DOCUMENT UPLOAD (image view): Please see correspondence to Mr. Cipollone, Counsel to the President. pic.twitter.com/RW1TZrjzJv
— Andrew P. Bakaj (@AndrewBakaj) November 8, 2019
Trump and Republicans have argued to name the whistleblower and bring the whistleblower before the House to testify in the ongoing impeachment investigation. Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio has said the whistleblower will be on a list of GOP witnesses to subpoena for testimony, though it is unlikely Democrats, who control the subpoena power, will approve the request.
News reports have identified the whistleblower as career CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella. Ciaramella worked in the Obama administration as the National Security Council’s Ukraine director. He stayed on the NSC into the Trump administration and served briefly as acting senior director for European and Russian affairs.
The Washington Examiner reported on Oct. 7 that Ciaramella is now a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council, reporting to the director of national intelligence.
