Donald Trump Jr. condemned for tweeting alleged whistleblower's name despite death threats

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

last updated 6 November 2019

Donald Trump Jr. is throwing caution to the wind at someone else's expense.

Credible mainstream media sources have so far refused to speculate on the name of the whistleblower who launched President Trump's Ukraine scandal, especially because the whistleblower's lawyer has warned of possibly violent consequences for their yet-unnamed client. But that didn't stop the president's son from tweeting out the name right-wing sites are circulating on Wednesday, ignoring any death threats against the whistleblower that come with it.

The whistleblower's concerns originated with a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump seems to tell Zelensky he won't get U.S. aid money unless he investigates the 2016 U.S. election and former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. The whistleblower report eventually turned into an official impeachment inquiry into Trump, and testifying witness have since corroborated the whistleblower's outline of a quid pro quo between Trump and Zelensky.

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While one New York Times report did hint at the whistleblower's identity, a name has been publicized by right-wing sources, with Trump's son now even getting involved, despite whistleblower protection laws. The whistleblower's lawyer didn't acknowledge if that name was correct in a Wednesday statement, but did explicitly condemn Trump Jr. and other sources for explicitly furthering a dialogue that "will simply place that individual and their family at risk of serious harm." Kathryn Krawczyk

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.