DONALD TRUMP'S OWN FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICIALS SIGN OPEN LETTER SAYING UKRAINE WHISTLEBLOWER DID NOTHING WRONG AND DESERVES PROTECTION

BY CHANTAL DA SILVA ON 10/7/19 AT 4:41 AM EDT

Dozens of former national security officials—including several who once served under President Donald Trump—have signed an open letter honoring the first whistleblower to come forward in the Trump-Ukraine scandal and demanding their protection.

Signed by 90 former national security officials, the letter came as news broke that at least one other whistleblower had come forward in the case, seeking to flag concerns around Trump's July 25 phone call, in which he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

"While the identity of the whistleblower is not publicly known, we do know that he or she is an employee of the U.S. Government," the letter, signed by prominent officials, including former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, states. "As such, he or she has by law the right—and indeed the responsibility—to make known, through appropriate channels, indications of serious wrongdoing."

"That is precisely what this whistleblower did; and we applaud the whistleblower not only for living up to that responsibility but also for using precisely the channels made available by federal law for raising such concerns," it continues.

Calling for the whistleblower's protection, the letter's signatories praised their efforts, asserting that "a responsible whistleblower makes all Americans safer by ensuring that serious wrongdoing can be investigated and addressed, thus advancing the cause of national security to which we have devoted our careers."

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