[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 27 (Monday, February 10, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S954]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Whistleblowers

  Mr. President, now, on whistleblowers, in the aftermath of the 
President's impeachment trial, the President has begun dismissing 
members of the administration who testified in Congress, including 
Lieutenant Colonel Vindman and Ambassador Sondland. The President also 
dismissed LTC Eugene Vindman. This was vindictive, nasty, typical of 
President Trump, and for no other reason than he was the brother of LTC 
Alexander Vindman.
  This morning, senior adviser to the President Kellyanne Conway said 
these were not likely the last of the firings. This is a textbook case 
of witness retaliation. Not only is the retaliation against Lieutenant 
Colonel Vindman, the anonymous whistleblower, and others like them 
shameful; it is also illegal. It is illegal. All Federal employees have 
the right--the legal right--to make protected disclosures to Congress 
and to inspectors general anonymously and free from reprisals. Even the 
Founding Fathers were concerned about whistleblowers and protecting 
them.
  This country is being turned inside out, and too many people are 
going along. If something is going on that is wrong in government, 
don't we want to encourage government employees to bring that forward? 
Don't we? Well, not President Trump, because he is the government, and 
what is good for him--or what he thinks is good for him--he thinks is 
good for America, even when they diverge.
  So the rights of whistleblowers are being challenged like never 
before, creating a chilling effect among those who in previous 
administrations might have come forward to expose abuses of power, 
waste, and fraud. Whistleblowers save the taxpayers money. Again, it 
used to be bipartisan. The Senator from Iowa has always been defending 
whistleblowers, but all of that goes away now that Trump is President. 
Without the courage of whistleblowers and the role of inspectors 
general, the American people would never have known how the President 
abused his power in Ukraine.
  Now the President is taking steps to punish anyone who came forward, 
out of spite and out of a desire to prevent future whistleblowers from 
potentially reporting on the President's misconduct. Make no mistake 
about it, the President is conducting a deliberate campaign to 
intimidate anyone who might blow the whistle on his conduct or the 
conduct of those under his direction. He feels this cannot be 
tolerated.
  So today I sent a letter to all 74 inspectors general in the 
executive branch, requesting that they immediately investigate any and 
all instances of retaliation against anyone who has made or in the 
future makes protected disclosures of Presidential misconduct to 
Congress or to an inspector general.
  Members of the administration take an oath to protect and defend the 
Constitution. Some of them bravely stepped forward to tell the truth 
about the President's efforts to solicit foreign interference in the 
2020 elections, and for that, for telling the truth under oath--which 
the President didn't allow his allies to do--for these people doing 
their patriotic duty to their country, they are being summarily 
dismissed from their jobs by a vindictive President.
  Our Founders believed that truth was fundamental to the government 
and, indeed, the survival of the Republic. As the President takes steps 
to punish anyone in his administration who tells the truth, it is 
incumbent on the independent watchdogs in our government to protect 
whistleblowers like Lieutenant Colonel Vindman and others who put their 
lives and livelihoods on the line to protect our freedoms. I was glad 
to hear the Chief of Staff say that Vindman, within the military, was 
protected. At least there is some honor left in this government.