Whistleblower’s lawyer questions GOP senator’s whistleblower protection caucus membership

A lawyer representing the whistleblower, whose complaint filed to Congress was the impetus for the impeachment inquiry, questioned why Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) remains a member of the whistleblower protection caucus following a November comment about his client who brought attention to President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. 

“Sen #Whistleblower Protection Caucus was launched by bipartisan group in 2015 to raise awareness of need for adequate protections against retaliation for govt employees who call attention to wrongdoing,” attorney Mark Zaid tweeted on Thursday. 

“Why is Sen @MarshaBlackburn still member given her hostility towards #WBers?” he added. 

Sen #Whistleblower Protection Caucus was launched by bipartisan group in 2015 to raise awareness of need for adequate protections against retaliation for govt employees who call attention to wrongdoing.

Why is Sen @MarshaBlackburn still member given her hostility towards #WBers? https://t.co/tKQpegyCAu

— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) December 26, 2019

Zaid particularly referred to a Nov. 22 tweet by Blackburn in which she referred to impeachment witness Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman as the “whistleblower’s handler.”

Many Republicans criticized the anonymous whistleblower, whose complaint eventually led to the impeachment inquiry into Trump and called on the person to testify. 

In 2015, a group of bipartisan Senators launched the Whistleblower Protection Caucus to “foster bipartisan discussion on legislative issues affecting the treatment of whistleblowers and serve as a clearinghouse for current information on whistleblower developments of interest.”

Blackburn became a member of the group this year.