GOP Sen. Grassley Defends Whistleblower, Scolds Media and Pols Using ‘Uninformed Speculation’ As a ‘Partisan Weapon’

President Donald Trump has been on a days-long tear over the intel whistleblower, but today Republican senator Chuck Grassley issued a statement defending the whistleblower and saying they “ought to be heard out and protected.”

“This person appears to have followed the whistleblower protection laws and ought to be heard out and protected,” Grassley says. “We should always work to respect whistleblowers’ requests for confidentiality. Any further media reports on the whistleblower’s identity don’t serve the public interest—even if the conflict sells more papers or attracts clicks.”

Grassley, chairman and co-founder of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, swipes at “uninformed speculation wielded by politicians or media commentators as a partisan weapon,” saying it’s counterproductive.

He adds, “When it comes to whether someone qualifies as a whistleblower, the distinctions being drawn between first- and second-hand knowledge aren’t legal ones. It’s just not part of whistleblower protection law or any agency policy. Complaints based on second-hand information should not be rejected out of hand, but they do require additional leg work to get at the facts and evaluate the claim’s credibility.”

In a statement, GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley pushes back on attacks on the whistleblower, saying the individual “appears to have followed the whistleblower protection laws and ought to be heard out and protected.”

He also says there’s no legal distinction if the info is second-hand. pic.twitter.com/czIYTEsMwR

— Haley Byrd (@byrdinator) October 1, 2019

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