Americans are demanding swift punishment against Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) after he publicly blurted out the name of the alleged whistleblower who came forward to out President Donald Trump’s bribery scheme with Ukraine.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday night, Gohmert delivered a rant while the committee debated the articles of impeachment against Trump and named the whistleblower despite the fact that the whistleblower’s identity is supposed to be protected by law and House chairmen have specifically forbade members from revealing the person’s identity.
Of course, Republicans have been itching to blurt out the name for some time as Trump demands the whistleblower testify so he can direct his supporters to interrogate him or her or take revenge.
Americans were shocked that Gohmert committed such a violation, and immediately took to Twitter to call for consequences ranging from censure to being thrown in jail and even being expelled from Congress.
Naming whistleblowers harms national security by chilling them from coming forward, encouraging them to leak or, even worse, staying silent when they uncover abuse. https://t.co/RPH1a9mdWO
— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) December 12, 2019
House Republicans just committed an incredible and outrageous breach.
The President threatened the whistleblower with violence, and whether the person just named is the whistleblower or not they were just put in real danger. This is unacceptable and there should be consequences. https://t.co/yyzK5KNKGS
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) December 12, 2019
Louie Gohmert naming the alleged whistleblower is a matter of intimidation. They’re absolutely determined to terrify any potential witness or critic. This is how cabals work. This is how totalitarianism works.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) December 12, 2019
“Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.”- Louie Gohmert -expel him from Congress for outing the whistleblower. @SpeakerPelosi https://t.co/OdGqKVkYfN
— Barbara Malmet (@B52Malmet) December 12, 2019
I am so embarrassed that Louie Gohmert would name the whistle blower during a televised hearing. This is sadly typical of what we have seen from him over the last fourteen years. It is disgusting.
Chip in to hold him accountablehttps://t.co/WdyHrbaZ71 https://t.co/hoUlhhZ2Bb
— Hank Gilbert (@Hank4Texas) December 12, 2019
It’s funny– there was a name in there I didn’t recognize, and I didn’t connect it until now. He’s been warned. There will be legal and ethical consequences. https://t.co/fxdxnGPrVH via @politico
— Elizabeth C. McLaughlin (@ECMcLaughlin) December 12, 2019
Louie Gohmert ain’t too smart and should be put in jail for outing the whistle blower. https://t.co/ygSmZqpDuV
— Don Harris (@Don_E_Harris) December 12, 2019
@replouiegohmert must be expelled from Congress immediately, then thrown in jail. This is shameful, disgusting and criminal.#GohmertResignhttps://t.co/I1QsSqiXxA
— (the) RB (@rsbru01) December 12, 2019
It’s not enough for Gohmert to be merely reprimanded, he should lose his committee assignments and be expelled from Congress and jailed for breaking a key law put in place in guarantee that whistleblowers can come forward without fear of reprisal. An example must be set to remind Republicans that they have a duty to protect the whistleblower instead of the criminal president. And if that means they all get expelled from Congress and jailed, so be it.
Featured Image: Wikimedia
