唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统最近对匿名举报者发起公开攻击，该举报者对总统试图向外国领导人施压以调查政治对手发出警报，民主党人指责他除了危及未来举报者的生命之外，还危及该人的生命。
最近几天，总统在推特风暴和新闻发布会上无情地抨击了告密者，并否认了他7月份与乌克兰总统沃洛迪米尔·泽兰斯基(Volodymyr Zelensky)通电话时的任何不当行为。在电话中，特朗普要求泽兰斯基调查前副总统乔·拜登及其儿子涉嫌乌克兰能源公司的潜在腐败行为。
在民主党称之为威胁的言论中，特朗普指责告密者是犯有叛国罪的“间谍”，以及那些向匿名情报部门官员泄露电话消息的人。
“我想知道是谁给了举报者，是谁给了举报者信息，因为这和间谍很接近，”特朗普在周四离开纽约之前对一组美国代表团的联合国工作人员及其家人说获得经过华盛顿邮报。“你知道我们过去聪明的时候都做什么吗？对吗？间谍和叛国罪，对吧？我们过去处理它们的方式和现在有点不同。”
民主党人很快警告总统，这种言论，以及他不断的公开羞辱，不仅会危及这位举报者的生命，还会危及未来选择站出来表达对该国最有权力领导人行为的担忧的个人的生命。
“我认为总统所说的不仅仅是不负责任——这很危险，”众议院议长南希·佩洛西(加利福尼亚州)周五告诉美国有线电视新闻网，她说她“非常担心”告密者的安全。“总统对那些可能向告密者提供信息的人所说的话严重损害了政府的廉正，但总统几乎每天都这样做。”
佩洛西还说，她认为司法部长威廉·巴尔“已经变得无赖”——这是华盛顿最有权力的立法者之一对该国最高执法官员发表的尖锐评论。“他已经有很长时间了，”她补充道。
当天早上早些时候，佩洛西在MSNBC发表了同样的“流氓”言论，并指责巴尔和司法部参与了白宫的“掩盖”。
特朗普在与泽兰斯基的通话中提到巴尔和他的私人律师鲁迪·朱利安尼，暗示他们将作为特使帮助揭露拜登的信息并调查虚假阴谋论不是俄罗斯在2016年窃取了民主党全国委员会的电子邮件。
佩洛西的批评与周四几位同事的批评如出一辙，他们称特朗普的言论等同于“应受谴责的证人恐吓”，并指责他试图“阻挠国会的弹劾调查”。"
众议员艾略特·恩格尔(纽约民主党)、亚当·希夫(加州民主党)和伊莱贾·卡明斯(马里兰州民主党)在一份联合声明中说:“来自我们国家领导人的暴力威胁对整个举报者过程产生了令人不寒而栗的影响，给我们的民主和国家安全带来了严重后果。”。他们分别担任众议院外交委员会、情报委员会和监督委员会的主席。
声明继续称:“任何了解委员会调查相关情况的官员，包括了解举报人投诉主题的官员，都不得受到任何恐吓、报复或报复威胁，所有证人都必须提供给国会作证。”。
希夫表示，鉴于告密者的投诉已被公开，特朗普与泽兰斯基通话的部分文字记录也已公布，告密者希望私下与情报委员会成员讨论此事。希夫说，目前正在通过告密者的律师做出安排。
“我们国家的法律禁止阻止、恐吓或以其他方式迫使证人不向国会提供证词，”两位主席说。
DEMS ACCUSE TRUMP OF USING RHETORIC THAT ENDANGERS WHISTLEBLOWER: 'BEYOND IRRESPONSIBLE—IT'S DANGEROUS'
Recent public attacks levied by President Donald Trump against the anonymous whistleblower who sounded the alarm on the president's attempts to pressure a foreign leader to investigate a political opponent have Democrats accusing him of endangering the life of that person, in addition to the lives of future whistleblowers.
The president in recent days, in tweet storms and press conferences, has relentlessly bashed the whistleblower and denied any wrongdoing surrounding his July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during which Trump asked Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son for potential corruption involving a Ukrainian energy company.
In remarks that Democrats have characterized as threatening, Trump accused the whistleblower of being a "spy" who's committed treason, along with those who leaked their knowledge of the call to the anonymous intelligence community official.
"I want to know who's the person that gave the whistleblower, who's the person that gave the whistleblower the information, because that's close to a spy," Trump told a group of United States delegation to the United Nations staffers and their families before departing New York on Thursday, according to video of the private event obtained by The Washington Post. "You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? With spies and treason, right? We used to handle them a little differently than we do now."
Democrats were quick to warn the president that such remarks, as well as his constant public shaming, could put not only this whistleblower's life at risk—but also the lives of future individuals who choose to come forward to voice concerns regarding the actions of the country's most powerful leaders.
"I think what the president said goes beyond irresponsible—it's dangerous," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told CNN on Friday, saying that she was "very worried" about the whistleblower's security. "For the president to say what he said about those who may have supplied information to the whistleblower seriously undermines integrity in government, but the president does that almost every day."
Pelosi also said she believed Attorney General William Barr "has gone rogue"—stark comments for one of the most powerful lawmakers in Washington to make about the nation's top law enforcement official. "He has for a long time now," she added.
On MSNBC earlier that morning, Pelosi made the same "rogue" comments, as well as accusing Barr and the Justice Department being involved in a "cover-up" with the White House.
Trump made reference to Barr and to his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, during his call with Zelensky, suggesting they would act as emissaries to help uncover information about Biden and investigate a false conspiracy theory that it wasn't Russia who stole Democratic National Committee emails in 2016.
Pelosi's criticism mirrored that of several colleagues who said on Thursday that Trump's remarks equated to "reprehensible witness intimidation" and accused him of attempting "to obstruct Congress' impeachment inquiry."
"Threats of violence from the leader of our country have a chilling effect on the entire whistleblower process, with grave consequences for our democracy and national security," Reps. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said in a joint statement. They chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Intelligence Committee and Oversight Committee, respectively.
"No officials with knowledge relevant to the Committees' investigation, including knowledge of the subject of the whistleblower complaint, may be subject to any intimidation, reprisal, or threat of reprisal, and all witnesses must be made available for congressional testimony," the statement continued.
Schiff has said that in light of the whistleblower's complaint being made public and the partial transcript of Trump's call with Zelensky being released, the whistleblower wants to speak with Intelligence Committee members privately to discuss the matter further. Arrangements are being worked out through the whistleblower's attorney, according to Schiff.
"Our nation's laws prohibit efforts to discourage, intimidate, or otherwise pressure a witness not to provide testimony to Congress," the chairmen said.
