Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said past statements the whistleblower’s attorney made are evidence that the impeachment investigation against President Trump is a partisan attack.
Johnson appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press with host Chuck Todd on Sunday to defend the president against impeachment proceedings kicked off by a whistleblower complaint. Johnson pointed to the whistleblower’s attorney, Mark Zaid, as evidence the whistleblower may be motivated by partisanship and not merely concern for the country’s interests.
“I am sympathetic with President Trump, as he has been tormented since the day after his election,” Johnson said after Todd accused him of blaming the president’s impeachment trouble on everyone but the president.
“Now, if this whistleblower is to be lionized by the Washington Post, then maybe we ought to take a look at who he hired,” Johnson continued. “He hired Mark Zaid, who said, ‘Coup has started. First of many steps. Impeachment will follow ultimately.’ Now, that is not an unbiased officer of the court. So, there is something going on here, Chuck. That’s my point.”
Johnson was referencing a tweet Zaid sent out on Jan. 30, 2017, just days after Trump was inaugurated.
“#coup has started. First of many steps. #rebellion. #impeachment will follow ultimately. #lawyers,” Zaid said.
#coup has started. First of many steps. #rebellion. #impeachment will follow ultimately. #lawyers https://t.co/FiNBQo6v0S
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) January 31, 2017
News reports suggest that the whistleblower is career CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella. The 33-year-old analyst was Ukraine director on the National Security Council during the end of the Obama administration. He stayed in the post during the early months of the Trump administration when he was briefly 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.
