Joaquin Castro: We’re on the Verge of Trump’s Rhetoric ‘Bringing Harm’ to Whistleblower

Congressman Joaquin Castro, one of the Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, expressed concern today about President Donald Trump‘s attacks on the intel whistleblower.

Trump has been trashing the whistleblower for days, saying he wants to know who they are and tweeting, “Like every American, I deserve to meet my accuser, especially when this accuser, the so-called ‘Whistleblower,’ represented a perfect conversation with a foreign leader in a totally inaccurate and fraudulent way.”

Democrats have been publicly alarmed by Trump’s attacks on the whistleblower. Republican senator Chuck Grassley weighed in today with a statement defending the whistleblower.

Castro told Jake Tapper, “The president at this point has been very abusive of the Whistleblower Protection Act and really is basically on the verge of not only revealing the identity or getting somebody else to reveal the identity of the whistleblower, but also bringing harm to that person. It’s getting quite scary, the president’s behavior and his words and what that could conjure up.”

He said he expects the whistleblower is under full federal protection, but added, “We don’t know if somebody in the White House who may know the person’s identity is going to leak it. But the federal government should be committed to keeping this person safe, wherever he or she is.”

Tapper questioned Castro about his colleague Maxine Waters saying today Trump should be imprisoned and put in solitary confinement. The CNN anchor said, “With all due respect, that does not seem to be in keeping with what Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said should be the tone when it comes to impeachment, that it should be done with regret, and prayerful and respectful and solemn and that seems to be something else.”

Castro said Waters is a “very passionate person” and added, “I think all of us want to make sure this process is a fair one, that there is due process for the president, and all of the other witnesses that are going to come forward.”

You can watch above, via CNN.

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