Ivanka Trump Tells Her Dad: Don’t Tweet the Whistleblower’s Name!
Asawin Suebsaeng
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The Daily Beast•November 12, 2019
Photo Illustration by Kristen Hazzard/The Daily Beast/Photos GettyFor weeks, Donald Trump has known the name of the alleged whistleblower who filed the anonymous complaint in August and sparked the impeachment inquiry bedeviling this administration.
Since learning the name, the president has gossiped on numerous occasions about this individual’s biography and alleged political biases with confidants, friends, lawyers, administration officials, family, and cable-news personalities, according to four people with knowledge of the conversations.
He’s spoken to so many people behind the scenes about the whistleblower, many of those close to the president are genuinely surprised he hasn’t already tweeted, retweeted, or publicly uttered the name, given his colossal public fury at the still-unnamed individual and his lawyer.
Those in Trump’s inner circle—including White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and the president’s daughter and senior White House aide Ivanka Trump—have specifically told the president when asked that it would be unwise for him to publicly blurt out the name at this point, the sources say.
Even Fox News star Sean Hannity, a regular Trump confidant who wages almost nightly war against the allegedly anti-Trump “deep state” on his Fox News and radio broadcasts, hasn’t pushed the president hard to out the alleged whistleblower, even when the two have gossiped about this individual. When asked about conversations with President Trump regarding the whistleblower’s identity, the Fox News host said in an email to The Daily Beast, “I never reveal my sources,” before quickly pivoting to complaining about the president’s enemies such as “#QuidProQuoJoe” Biden and his son, “‘no experience’ make millions Hunter” Biden.
Still, few expect the dam to hold for long, in spite of federal protections covering government whistleblowers.
“It is not a matter of if but when he will say it,” said one senior administration official who has discussed the name with Trump and also made a point of advising him against saying or posting to Twitter the name—for now. “It’s my sense he is waiting for more cover from others before he does,” the senior official added.
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